Skalholt, Keriđ, Hveragerđi

Day 5:

Leaving our lovely horse ranch in the country, we headed straight south to join up with the Ring Road. Our first stop along the way was at Skálholt Cathedral. Another relatively large cathedral compared to the tiny churches dotting the landscape elsewhere. This is the 10th church on the same spot, spanning over 1,000 years. I'm not exactly sure what terms like "diocese" and "suffragan" mean, but it's definitely a significant location for the Church of Iceland. Not to mention, its location is stunningly beautiful!

Next along our journey was Kerið, a volcanic crater. It was believed that Kerið was a result of a volcanic explosion that blew the top off, like Crater Lake in Oregon, but it turns out it was most likely a slow flow of magma leaving the reserve and collapsing the cone. Not the "pew pew 'murica!" way, but the result is nonetheless incredible. We walked the ridge, then made our way down to the water inside (which isn't due to rainfall, but rather the crater reaching the level of groundwater in the area). The volcanic rock is red instead of the black color we come to expect, which makes for an otherworldly look to the whole area.

We made our way down to Selfoss for a famous Icelandic hot dog lunch (not a joke, they love hot dogs!) and to check out a handmade wool shop where we picked up a couple of knit goodies. In Selfoss, the same river from Gullfoss changed names, widened, and meets the ocean. It was pretty neat to see that progression!

Our final stop for the day was in Hveragerði, a town that has changed a lot over the past of decade. The whole town sits on top of a geothermal spring and in the middle, there has historically been a geothermal park gated off where people can check out different springs and such. But now those springs are all dried up after a massive earthquake in 2008 shifted where the hot water ended up making its way to the surface. New springs popped up and old ones dried up... Iceland keeps you on your toes. Anyway, up the hill from the town is a steaming river where keen bathers can take a dip. It's quite a hike to get up to it, so only half of our group made it. And of that duo, one is pregnant, so we only dipped our hands in the river, but it was quite the spectacle! Barely above freezing temperature outside with a bunch of half naked tourists laying in a stream... strange.

On to the next, the south coast!Read more