Golden Circle

The forecast for today doesn't look too, good, and sure enough it starts to rain as we're waiting for our tour bus. We waited for about 20 minutes, then phoned the tour company. They didn't have our correct pickup, but then came to collect us. Several other passengers being picked up at the cruise had issues , so we were a bit late starting. It didn't affect the day though. We were on a small group tour through East West Tours, and it was very good with a fantastic tour guide. 17 people total.

First stop at Thingvellir National Park, in the rift valley where the North America and European plates meet. The lake is the largest in Iceland, and it's also the site of the ancient Viking parliaments. It's a very pretty area, with good paths to walk around on. Luckily the rain had stopped by this point. I was here in 2017, and it's certainly a lot busier now.

Next we drove through a farming area with mostly dairy farms. We stopped at one that has well known organic ice cream - delicious! Then on to the Geyser geothermal area. The Strokkur geyser erupts every 5 to 10 minutes, so it's an easy one to catch. Then it's a fairly short drive over to Gullfoss, a very impressive waterfall. There is a path that you can get quite close to it, feel the spray and appreciate the power of the water.

We then had a very interesting stop at a tomato farm and restaurant called Fridheimar. It's apparently the busiest restaurant in Iceland, and it sure looked like it today although we were there at an off peak time. We first had a tour of the green houses. It's incredible to see these huge tomato plants, they must of been over 10 feet tall and covered with tomatoes. Because hydro power and geothermal is cheap here, it's a great place for greenhouse growing despite the long winters. The restaurant is located right in the greenhouse. We had their best know item, tomato soup with fresh baked bread. Both were fantastic. It was raining again when we got on the bus, but by our final stop at Kerid volcanic crater it had almost stopped. The crater was quite deep with a lake at the bottom, and paths that you can walk around on. The volcanic rock here is a deep red, making a lovely contrast with the water and the surrounding green hills.

We arrived back in Reykjavik about 6pm, so about a 9 hour tour. A tiring day but very good, and the weather was better than expected and didn't affect our touring.

We went up for a local beer at the Sky Lounge at our hotel - lovely view over the harbour. At our guides suggestion we decided to try a casual restaurant in a foodhall - sort of an upscale food court. It was called Fjarhusid which means Sheephouse. We both had lamb soup and a local beer. There was a little more rain as we walked there so it was a good night for soup.

Now to check in for our flight tomorrow, and organize our bags.