In Search of Steaming Sheep Sh*t

Yesterday was our rental car day. John and Von had flown away to Grimsey as we mentioned. So we rented a car and went north east of Reykjavik to explore. Along the excellent highway, through gently rolling farmland, we spotted an unusual church on a hillside.

We think it was Lutheran, but who knows. We decided as we went, that we would just stop and look at what ever caught our eye. 

The road took us to probably the most important historic site in the country. It is called Pingvellir. There are no buildings here except a small church and small chalet

It is the site where the tectonic plates between America and Eurasian are slowly pulling apart. I think of it as a zipper.

This was the founding location of Iceland's Parliament in 930 AD. It was also on this spot in 1000 AD the decision was made for Iceland to be a Christian nation. And in 1944 Iceland declared her independence from Denmark where this flag now stands.

Every year until 1798, when Iceland was taken over by Denmark, the laws of the land were read at this site. Sentences were passed. Drowning seemed to be the favoured method of dispatch.

You enter the area down a long sloping walkway from road level.

The tectonic plates are actually pulling apart here and there are numerous chasms filled with clear water and a lake has formed in the valley that has developed.

We spent a couple of hours walking around the site reading plaques and just enjoying the oddness of the place.

A river plunges over the cliff at one point making for a lovely waterfall. A couple from Calgary were on hand to take our picture there.

Geothermal heat plays a large part in Iceland's life. After we left the valley, we took ourselves to see a large plant that produces energy from the Earth's core. It no longer gave tours, but we stopped to paddle in a small stream that was just a bit to hot to stand in. There was also a goodly supply of sheep droppings that were very fresh.

Lunch was next and in a little town up the road we found a restaurant where they served very good soup and bread baked by Mother Earth.Just outside this village, so we were told by local residents, it was a short walk to a thermal bathing site. So off we went and parked. Sure, the path led on a bit of an upward slope. And sure it said 3.5 K. But, as Kathy Graham says, "We're walkers, we walk." We made it to the 3.5 K marker. We made it to the 4 K mark. And we could see where the path continued upward

around the hill in the distance. So, at that point, we decided to turn back. The sun was by now beginning to slide down the sky and it was just too far.

The country was beautiful and we were very happy that we had done what we did. 

We came back to the car and headed home to Reykjavik where we found a thermal swimming pool and soaked our aching, old limbs in lovely warm water. We had a great day and enjoyed hearing about John and Von's adventures up on Grimsey. It seems the polar bears did not get John. In fact we will show you a picture soon of him wrestling the bear and winning.