Blast from the Past: The Watering Hole

Somehow, the name of this place was never recorded in my travel diary! I do know it was a natural spring on a small farm in Iceland, probably in the Western part of the country. What was really interesting about this spring is that it is both naturally carbonated and has a lot of natural iron in it- hence the orange-ish color of the water! The farmers who own it simply have a bucket hanging next to the spigot, so for a donation you can take as much as you'd like. I personally found the iron to be a bit much, but one of my classmates really liked it. If you ever find yourself in Iceland, try looking for one of these naturally carbonated springs. It really is a one-of-a-kind experience!

Blast from the Past: Seljalandsfoss

If you remember my post about Skogarfoss, I mentioned the smaller Seljalandsfoss but had no photos. I guess I somehow skipped it! So, here is a photo from behind the waterfall. Pretty neat, huh?

Blast From the Past: Skogafoss

Skógafoss (Skoh-gah-foss) is a very big, very wet, and very famous Icelandic waterfall! This thing is SO huge that a group of students were standing about 300 yards away and still got completely drenched. There is also a path along the waterfall's right side that leads to the top. The view from there is just amazing, making the long steep trip completely worth every step!

Later, we drove a short way to visit Seljalandsfoss (Sell-ya-lands-foss), which also flows from the Skoga River. This waterfall is very well-known for having a path the goes behind the water! One of our friends very nearly got a cold shower when she stood directly behind the falls and a gust of wind tore through them. Luckily she was wearing her rain gear! Seljalandsfoss had many pretty trails and caves around them that we got to explore, and where I took this photo.

Blast from the Past: Thingvellir

Today's flashback looks at Thingvellir National Park. This park is absolutely gorgeous, and it's huge! There's many reasons why it's one of the most famous sites in Iceland. In this photo, you can see both the North American and Eurasian plates. This is the only place in the world you can see a plate boundary- all the others are underwater!



The rocks in and around Thingvellir are volcanic basalt. Due to the way that basalt cools, it often forms these honeycomb-shaped columns. Basalt is the most common rock on Earth! The waterfall here has a story behind it; according to the stories, early Icelanders took it upon themselves to change the coarse of the stream and actually created this waterfall. There is actually some archaeological evidence that suggests this may be true!