Moving On...

Well, today was our last day in Iceland. Bittersweet. It feels like we’ve just gone on such an incredible, full adventure together. Crazy to think that we have another 3 months traveling.

Our last sight was a hike through Thingvellir National Park. We slept nearby, and we are on the earliest schedule we’ve been on for years. So we arrived before the Visitor’s Center even opened. It was so nice to have the paths to ourselves. Thingvellir lies on the boundary of two tectonic plates. Most of the park is down inside the rift created by tectonic activity. We walked by a foss, overlooked the biggest lake in Iceland, and stared down into the clear water filling one of the smaller rifts. The water is fairly deep, but because it’s filtered by the rocks that surround it, you can see perfectly all the way down to the bottom.

During the entirety of our hike out, we crossed paths with no more than 10 people. We gained a lot of satisfaction from beating the crowds. Because Thingvellir is part of the Golden Circle and only 40 minutes from Reykjavik, it’s one of the most touristy places on the island. On the walk back to our car, we walked through the incoming crowd; there were hundreds of people milling about at the Visitor’s Center and standing on the wooden overlook platform that had been empty just one hour prior. On our drive back to Reykjavik, we passed 20 or so tour buses packed with people on their way to the park. We feel lucky that we had time to explore the entire Ring Road. The Golden Circle is certainly impressive, but the sights throughout the rest of the country are just spectacular. It’s hard to compare.

We spent the afternoon milling about in Reykjavik. It’s much more charming and enjoyable than our sleep deprived selves were able to appreciate on Day One. There are murals on many of the buildings. Colorfully painted pathways and walls dot the city. From one of the main downtown streets, there's a view to the water down almost every little side street. Every block has cute little cafes. We stopped at one of them to enjoy a delicious latte and finish yesterday’s blog post.

Dad, I remember you telling me once that you thought it was ridiculous that mothers are sometimes told they can't breastfeed in restaurants. I thought you would appreciate this cafe's sign :)

 

Fittingly, we ended our time in Iceland the same way it began: grabbing a couple delicious pylsurs from Bæjarins Beztu.

Our game of My Cows became very exciting this afternoon! Nolan took a heavy lead with a ‘Marry My Cows’ call that brought him to over 600 cows (compared with my 240). Fortunately for Monisha, she spotted a cemetery merely 30 seconds afterwards. Her ‘Kill Your Cows’ brought a swift end to Nolan’s lead (the score now 240-0). She continued to find success with two more church spottings, bringing her total to 960 cows, with Nolan still at 4 * 0. Sadly, Nolan was the first to see the next cemetery on our way to the airport, leaving us both cowless. With zero cows apiece, we are able to legally get by customs.

After successfully watching the newest episodes of Game of Thrones and Rick and Morty in the airport, we are off! Iceland, it’s been magical. Norway, here we come :)