We started the day with a marvelous breakfast and then headed out to Thingvellir National Park. I must say the roads are fascinating in Iceland. They go on and on forever with very little signage and no billboards. The scenery was gorgeous. Mountains spring up out of nowhere, and the mountain peaks in the distance are covered with snow. All along the way, there are magnificent Icelandic horses in the fields, sheep dotting the landscape, and occasional herds of cows.
With Linda's navigation, we finally found the entrance into the park. We stopped to get our bearings and then headed out to locate the parking lot. It was quite a way into the park. As we parked the car, we noticed this little booth that had a sign which said “pay for parking here.” Not being really sure what to do, we went into the visitor center to ask the park ranger. He told us we could pay now or before we leave. We chose the second option.
Thingvellir National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a place where the tectonic plates have split apart, and gorges have opened up. You can also see how the land has changed over many, many years. We meandered around the park for quite a while, taking in the magnificent views of huge rock walls, waterfalls, and historical buildings.
The next stop on our agenda was to view the Geysir geothermal area where geysers erupt. Linda found it on the map, and we set out. As we turned onto the street that led into the parking lot, we all decided not to stop as there was no place to park, it was too far to walk and extremely crowded. It turns out we didn't need to get out the car to see the geysers, they erupted right as we were passing by field.
We then made our way to the Gullfoss falls. When we pulled into the parking lot, I wasn't really sure what we'd see. Sandy set out to find a little snack, and the rest of us headed down the path. We climbed to the top of the stairs, but you really couldn't see much. As we walked down the stairs,the view opened and up my mouth dropped. I could not believe the view in front of me. The falls went in both directions, water spraying out from the bottom of each drop. Mary Ellen, Linda, and I headed up the trail to the top of the falls. Kathleen set out in the opposite direction. As we got to the top of the falls, the spray was harder and harder making the ascent very slippery and making us very wet. But when you got to the top, it was well worth it. I stood on the rocks at the top, took a bunch of pictures, and got separated from Mary Ellen and Linda. I headed back down to the bottom and went in the opposite direction. When I turned around to look, I could not believe my eyes. There was the most magnificent view I had ever seen with the rainbow covering about half of the falls.
I headed back to go find the others. At the top of the stairs, I saw Kathleen. After running around the gift sho, I located Mary Ellen and Linda by the van. However, no Sandy. We were looking for her everywhere. Mary Ellen went back down the path to try to find her. I went back into the gift shop to try to find her. We were looking all over the place for at least half an hour. We were starting to get very concerned when she finally turned up saying that she had been sitting at the top of the steps waiting for us.
By this time we were all getting very, very hungry. it was around 4:30 in the afternoon so we set out to find the Fridheimar Tomato Farm. The tomato farm is an area of several greenhouses, and all they grow are tomatoes of all shapes and colors. Sandy commented that one of the tomato plants was growing as tall as a tree. It really was! This place also has a restaurant and a wine bar and bistro. We ended up eating in the wine bar as the restaurant was closed. Iif you ever want to check this place out–make sure to have reservations for the restaurant. The wine bar is known for its tomato soup and fresh baked bread. Three of us ordered this; it was so worth it. Mary Ellen said it was freaking amazing. We also got salads to go along with it, so by the time we were finished we had had dinner. I'd love to go back again and try something else. After we finished, we headed back to the hotel and settled in for the evening.
Tomorrow we're checking out from our hotel and going to see more waterfalls.