A Weekend in Iceland [part 2]
3:01 PM
Read part 1 here.
On my second day in beautiful Iceland, it was time for the Golden Circle. The Golden Circle is a route comprised of incredible views and Icelandic wonders. Since I had previously booked my tours through Island Travel -my package was called Winter Wonderland- we had transportation set up.
After our daily breakfast at the local bakery, nearly at 8 AM, we started the adventure. It was raining a lot as we headed to our first stop: Gullfoss Waterfall.
Gullfoss Waterfall
Do you know when no matter how much do you want to explain to someone about how beautiful a place is, you run out of words? Gullfoss Waterfall is one of them. I had never seen a gift of nature so majestic, so breathtaking. It’s one of those things you could stare at forever.To see the waterfall, you have to walk through some trails. The wind was CRAZY. Rain wouldn’t stop either, so I tried -and failed miserably for the most part- to cover myself with an umbrella.
Tip #4: Staying dry - Bring with you a plastic poncho or completely water-proof (not water-resistant) clothing. I was wearing water-resistant clothing and I ended up trying to dry my coat in the hand dryer at the bathroom. My body stayed dry because I was wearing two layers of clothing but still, I wouldn’t risk it again.
Geysir Hot Springs
Despite the cold, I was excited to see the next attraction: the geysers. The Hot Springs Area includes some restaurants, a store and a hotel so I headed to the store to buy a rain poncho. After only finding waterproof coats with prices over 200 euros, I accepted the fact that I would have to deal with the drizzles.Walking towards the geysers area, I started to see small ones. Each one has a sign with its name on it.
Then, I saw the main attraction: the huge Geysir.
It was really difficult to capture it’s eruption on camera, but here’s my best attempt:
Tip #5 Protecting your camera - The mix of rain, wind and steam made taking pictures very difficult. I suggest you take a GoPro or a a camera in a waterproof case because otherwise you will be risking to damage your camera. Somehow mine survived (shoutout to Canon!) but I was stressed during the whole trip.
Thingvellir National Park (in Icelandinc, Þingvellir)
I was already exhausted by this point, mostly because I felt like I was fighting -and losing- against the power of nature. But there was one stop left: The Thingvellir National Park. This park -part of UNESCO’s World Heritage- is in a volcanic zone. Our tour guide told us that it is in the middle of two tectonic plates: the North American plate and the Eurasian plate so it’d be like being in two continents at once. Well, sort of.I thought I’d see snow, but I wasn’t lucky. Nonetheless, the views were breathtaking:
I would love to go back to this park and enjoy it during summer. It must be amazing to walk around for hours and enjoy it without having to worry about rain or cold.
After nearly 8 hours of walking under the rain -and championing the art of wearing so many layers of clothing for the first time in my life- we headed back to Reykjavik. As I saw that the rain wouldn’t stop, I knew that our Northern Lights Tour would most likely get cancelled once again. I was right. The clouds wouldn’t allow us to see the aurora boreal. That night was our last chance since we were leaving the next day. A bit disappointed, I promised myself to go back. Although the Northern Lights are still on my bucket list, I successfully checked off the next amazing place I’ll tell you about on my next post: the Blue Lagoon.
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Stay tuned for part 3 of this travel diary. You can follow me on Twitter & Instagram to find out first. Have you ever wanted to visit Iceland? Tell me on the comments below :)
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