Tom`s travels: Iceland (17-18/12/17)

After finishing our semester in the US, we decided to stop for a few days in Iceland on the way back to Europe. After leaving Chicago Airport we reached Keflavik airport several hours later and arriving there early in the morning. We had decided to rent a car to use also the next day traveling around the island. Thus after picking it up at the airport we reached Reykjavik and headed to the city first as our check-in would be later in the afternoon. We parked the car and headed to visit the Hallgrímskirkja, built between 1945 and 1986 it is the largest church in Iceland and known for its unusual and particular appearance. The interior, being it Lutheran and modern, is simple and unadorned so of no particular interest. As we exited the church, it was already 10am yet the sun was just rising and the sky was still quite dark, typical of places so far north. We then walked down the main street through the city center, looking at the main shops lining the street mostly catered for tourists. From there we reached the modern concert hall Harpa, located right by the water. We went up to the first floor to have a nice view over the town and ocean. We thought then to grab some food and opted for a place called Icelandic Street Food. The place was really tiny but we managed to grab two seats. We then ordered our food, Ania took a pancake while I had soup. When I got mine I was little dumbfounded, I had paid 15 euros for a little cup filled with soup. I had known Iceland was expensive yet I did not assume so much so. However I then rejoiced and completely changed humor when I found out I could refill it as many times as I wanted for free, which I ended up doing three times. After lunch, I was full and satisfied agreeing that the price fully covered for the meal I had just had. We then walked through the shopping street once more before heading back to our car and finally to our Airbnb, tired as we still hadn't gone sleeping since the day before. The next morning we left right before sunrise, so around 10 am, and headed east to tour a bit the so-called Golden Circle, a circuit road including some of the most famous sights on the island. Our first stop was the Thingvellir National Park, a historical, cultural and geological site of importance for the country. It lies in the rift marking the line between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, and it used to be the site of the Althing, the national parliament of Iceland, which met there from 930AD until 1798. After parking our car, we went out and walked a bit around the rift valley even though it had started to rain quite heavily. After exploring the area we went back in and continued on our journey. After driving through volcanic landscape covered in snow we eventually reached an area where some hot springs were very active. This is the location of the famous Geysir, the hot spring which gave the name to the phenomenon called geyser around the world. After seeing the springs we got in the car once again and headed on eventually reaching the impressive waterfalls, Gullfoss. Probably the most known in the whole island, it is huge and a sight to look at despite it being partially frozen as we were there. It was still raining heavily so we decided to get back in the car feeling quite drenched. From there we then drove all the way back to Reykjavik, reaching the capital right after sunset. As we stopped for gas though, I, unfortunately, tuned my body in the wrong way and my shoulder decided to pop out once again after more than a year of it not happening. As Ania could not drive due to not having a driver's license, I luckily managed to drive and change gears with just my left arm finally taking us to our Airbnb. After a rest and relatively good night sleep the next morning we left early and still driving the same way as the night before, managed to reach the airport drop the car off and take our flight to Hamburg.