Iceland

We're off! beginning with the 190 mile "Golden Circle", a very popular tourist route.

Þingvallavegur parking viewpoint.  We stopped at a lot of viewpoints.

A first taste of the crowds we occasionally encountered: for example, here at the Thingvellir National Park.  Only 25 miles from Reykjavik, it is one Iceland's most popular tourist destinations.  This walk is in a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.

Öxarárfoss - our first waterfall (Foss is the icelandic word for waterfall)

This small river from Öxarárfoss was moved over a thousand years ago, to channel the water into a ravine. The purpose was to provide water for viking chieftains and members of the Icelandic parliament (Alþingi) that met at the site in the 9th century Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland from the year 930 until the last session held at Þingvellir in 1798.

Waiting patiently for Geysir to erupt - it bubbled up about 10 feet once while we watched .  In its heyday it hurled boiling water up to 200 feet in the air.  Geysir comes from the Icelandic verb geysa, "to gush".  

Gullfoss Waterfall, it is considered Iceland's most famous waterfall...