Day 8

Day 8

Another cold and windy day, but by now were getting used to it.  I have been wearing 2 layers under my jacket and staying warm.  A fairly long drive this morning along the west coast through the town of Borgarnes and a stop at the Icelandic Settlement Center.  The center has very good exhibits about the early Viking and Norwegian settlements in Iceland.  We both found it very interesting and educational.  The next stop was the Snorri Saga Center. Snorri Struluson was one of the great Viking leaders between 1179 and 1241.  He was considered one of the most influential men in the early developmet of Iceland and its governance.  This was also very informative and educational.  A quick stop at the Dieldartunguhver hot spring, the largest hot spring in Europe. Guess what our next stop was??  A waterfall, actually this water fall is very different in that the the water flows right out of the rocks and it pretty cool.  The falls are named Barnafossar (Child falls)  The story behind the name is that there was a stone arch built over the falls. The family who lived there was going to church, but two of the children did not go. They we told to stay away from the arch but did not listen and were playing on the arch.  When the family came home, the could not find the kids who had fallen of the arch into the falls.  The mother demanded that the arch be torn down so no other kids would fall into the falls.

A long drive around the Hvalfjorour Fjord and them to Pingvellir National Park.  This is where the European continental plate meets the North American continental plate.  The plates are moving further apart by about 2 cm every year.  The Continental Ridge is the main reason for all of the volcanic activity in Iceland.  You can actually walk right down the middle of where the 2 plates are moving.  Most of the large activity took place about 2000 years ago.  Just a short drive to our hotel, It really a farm with a few cabins, but a very nice and friendly place.  Its a working dairy farm out in the country.  

Oh, I forgot to mention the 6km tunnel under the Fjord we drove through today.  The toll was $8.82 US, very expensive just like everything else here.  Our dinner at the farm was $86.47 US and it wasn't anything special.  I was going to have a cocktail but it was $18 US and $35 US for a beer.

The farm has an outdoor hot tub with water right out of the ground.  We tried it out but the water was way to hot to even get in.  I'm guessing it had to be over 110 degrees.

So we are almost all the way around the Island.  And few stop tomorrow including the Blue Lagoon for some swimming and then back where we started in Reykjavik.  We have 2 nights there and will leave for home on Sunday afternoon.