Another fun day in Iceland. After a glorious sleep last night, we woke up early and hopped on the "Golden Circle" bus tour. We toured around the countryside, driving through some lava fields on route to Gullfoss, which is one of the more famous waterfalls in Iceland. It was spectacular and the trails around it allowed you to get up close and personal. It rained lightly most of the day (Scotland raining!), but didn't bother us at all. From our stop at the waterfall, you could see Langjokull, a huge inland glacier.

Our next stop was Geysir, which is a geothermal field with hotsprings and geysers. The biggest, Geysir, hasn't erupted since 2000, but the smaller one (pictured above), erupts every 10 minutes or so. Very cool.

Exploring the countryside allowed us to learn much about geology and volcanic activity. The landscape in Iceland reminds me at times of Scotland or even Newfoundland, but it is much more barren. Whereas those places are green and lush, Iceland is green with moss and lichen, but in the place of trees and forests are small shrubs and lava rock. It is absolutely beautiful, especially this time of year when the shrubs are turning fall colours.

There was much talk on our bus about the volcanic eruptions of Iceland. We saw a couple of active volcanoes on our ride. Mt. Helka, which used to be considered the gates of hell, is predicted to erupt within the next couple of months!

Our last stop was at Thingvellir National Park, where early Icelandic parliament met starting in the year 930 A.D. and where the North American tectonic plate meets the Eurasian plate.

Heading to London tomorrow, hoping to hit a hot spring on the way back to the airport!