Iceland Day 1 (Pingvellir NP, Strokkur Geyser, Gullfoss, Skogofoss, Horses)

9:30am in Reykjavik - sunrise lasted over two hours.

 

We had read on a blog somewhere that if you see a hotdog, eat a hot dog because you never know when there is a chance for food next.  We did.  Good too.  Mac salad, bacon pieces, bacon wrapped hot dog on a grilled bun for $4.  This will end up being the only meal we eat today.  Every place (few and far between was closed by 8pm)  Going through Reykjavik, nothing opened until 11.  Thank goodness we packed a carry on full of snacks!

 

 



Pingvellir National Park is a protected national shrine.  It means "Parliament Plains".  Iceland preserved this area because many important decisions and laws were established here - including becoming a Christian country.  They got the preservation idea from the US after the establishment of the National Park Service.



Small churches were everywhere across the island.  Most had white walls and a red roof.  This one was a bit more unique.

Hay bails look like colored marshmallows



Icelandic Horses are very stunning and eye catching.  Very different than traditional horses.  They appear miniature almost like a pony but are considered "horses"

Icelandic Horses

Strokkur Geyser

See the ice blue water!  Shannon had to catch it quick or the steam hid the color. -Ryan

Aren't those colors amazing!  Nice that we were here when there was all snow cover.  -Ryan

These geysers are only a few hundred yards off the road. Many things are real close to the parking areas.-Ryan

Gullfoss Falls

Again, you can drive right up to this falls.  Amazing! -Ryan

Skogafoss Waterfall

Lots of REALLY big 4X4's in Iceland.

Sorry for the sideways pictures... -Ryan

One of thousands "unnamed" waterfalls to the left of Skogafoss

 



A White Owl landed in front of our car while we were taking our first nap of the evening.  This is the best photo that we could get on short notice in the dark and only half awake.

After a few hours nap, we made our way to just outside Vatnajokull NP where the ice cave outfitters were.  We wanted to get there early to see about walking onto one of their tours today (online showed full tours.)  We found a nice stone lot to sleep the rest of the evening.  Very cloudy and no aurora visible anywhere on the island.  When we woke up in the morning, it was still dark.  We were surprised to discover the next day after our hike that we had a front row view to the glacier all night and didn't realize it.  This is what it looked like during daylight.