Wednesday, March 25: The Golden Circle (Iceland)

Every day here has been amazing but Wednesday was a particularly great one. With a blizzard and potential road closures predicted for Thursday--and having learned our lesson about ignoring country-wide weather warnings--we adjusted our itinerary for today to make sure we fit in everything we wanted to see  along the Golden Circle. 

We started our day at Gullfoss, the giant waterfall. It was absolutely frigid outside, but we persevered along the icy walkway to see the falls from a few different angles. Every famous sight in Iceland inspires awe, and Gullfoss is humbling in its violence and power, especially on a stark winter day like this one was, the water rushing through ice. Frozen, we went into the cafe for a hot drink before moving on.

Our next stop was the Geysir geothermal field. We watched Strokkur a couple of times and walked along the pathway, winding around boiling pools and lots of steam. It definitely feels like humans are not supposed to be here--this is nature's realm, and it doesn't care one iota about all the people who have been foolish enough to touch or step into these boiling pools and who, surely, are responsible for all of the DO NOT TOUCH THE WATER signage posted throughout.

Being as cold as we were, it seemed a little crazy that our next stop was the Secret Lagoon in the little town Fludir, said to be Iceland's oldest natural swimming pool. Compared to the pricey and touristy (and fabulous) Blue Lagoon, the Secret Lagoon is much more rustic, and it cost only a few dollars to go in and rent towels. I'd read a lot about it online and had pre-warned everyone about the communal showers. But we found, instead, that there were narrow partitions in each locker room, giving a gesture toward privacy that was enough for even my skeptical teenage girls to feel comfortable. 

We showered, changed into our suits, and shivered our way to the outdoor pool. It was worth the brief period of discomfort--the water was hot, there were pool noodles to float around on, and the setting was spectacular. There was a small geyser and little geothermal pools around one side; miniature houses (?) on another; a cold plunge and two shallower hot tubs; and a gentle, natural gravelly bottom. I can't describe it adequately--suffice to say it did feel like a secret discovery, especially since, for a little while, we were almost the only people there. 

We floated and relaxed for over two hours. Who knew we were all such lagoon people, even Mom and Dad, who are generally not big fans of swimming? They loved it. We all did. The kids said they liked it even more than the Blue Lagoon. It really did feel like a magical place, and it will definitely be one of our very favorite parts of this trip.

We all enjoyed the video we were required to watch upon arrival, which explained that there were boiling pools behind the lagoon and that we should "NEVER EVER GO IN THEM," and that children should be monitored at all times because, if left alone, trolls would take them. Iceland humor!

None of us wanted to leave, but by two-thirty we were all getting very hungry, so it was time to go. We changed and took a few minutes to walk the pathway around the lagoon, then headed to the car.  

We had a lunch reservation at the Fridheimer tomato greenhouse for tomorrow, which we were sorry we would have to miss because of the impending storm, but we decided to venture there to see if we might get lucky with a cancellation. And we did! We had a delicious lunch inside the greenhouse. We all ordered the all-you-can-eat tomato soup and bread buffet. Bees buzzed around the plants next to our table. We plucked leaves from a basil plant on our table to add to the soup. We ordered (virgin) bloody Marys, and tomato-based desserts. Andrew asked our server a lot of questions about tomato production. We set a new record with the bill, but truly all you can do in Iceland is laugh when it comes to prices. We are not here to save money or miss experiences. The conversion is too hard to do in our heads anyway.

It was hard to go back into the cold after the warm greenhouse, but we bundled up again and drove on. 

Our next stop: the Kerid crater, a volcanic crater lake that is 6,500 years old. There is a walkway of sorts along the rim. Mom and Dad walked it for a bit until the paved pathway turned to rocks, and decided to wait for us at the start. Andrew and the kids and I went on. There is no guardrail or barrier, and people posing for selfies and photos at the edge were hard for me to look at--one step too many and they'd pitch right into the crater. Below, two people were actually walking on the frozen surface of the lake, which truly seems insane. Lucia got annoyed when I wouldn't let her get close to the edge at a spot where a group of older girls asked her to take their picture. She told me she was going to come back here one day and take a picture of herself right at the edge and send it to me. (And I truly hope she does. I just don't want to watch it.) This crater was one of my favorite sights of the day.

Our final stop was back in Selfoss--we wanted to see Bobby Fischer's grave, in a tiny cemetery outside an even tinier church. One chesspiece (a king) was on the gravestone. His story is troubling and sad, the gravesite remote and simple. I'm glad we ventured there.

We made a trip to the Bonus supermarket in Selfoss, joining Icelanders to get some provisions for tomorrow's storm, then headed home. We had a late snacky dinner, played a few rounds of No Thank You, which I'd brought with us, and then called it a day. One of our best yet. 

I love it here, and I love it here in winter. And I love this house Andrew found for us in the middle of nowhere, even though getting here requires going over a slippery, narrow land bridge with nothing to stop our giant rental car from plunging over the sides.