Iceland! Part 4: The Golden Circle - A LEGIT Photo Essay

Day 3 of our journey was total tourist central... but SO well worth it! If you go to Iceland, you are 99% likely to embark on the Golden Circle tour, which takes you from Reykjavik to central Iceland. While the tours may vary in terms of the stops that you make, you are DEFINITELY going to be hitting up the national park (Pingvellir), a waterfall (Gullfoss), and this valley (Haukadalur) which contains two popular geysers.

It really was quite amazing to see some of Iceland's finest natural beauties. I couldn't get over how well-PRESERVED everything was! This is what happens when people actually have respect for and take care of their environment as a natural duty in life. Sigh. Love those Icelandic folks.

The BEST part of the tour was our GUIDE! His name was something that sounded like the name of that volcano that erupted last year, so instead, he went by the name of Gummi. Sigh. Heart goes pitter patter. My only, ONLY regret of this day trip was that I didn't snag a picture with good ol' Gummi. SIGH- he seriously is a winner in that Adorable Little Old Man department. He knew EVERYthing about his country and the PRIDE that he had in Iceland's history and folklore was clearly evident. PITTER PATTER PITTER PATTER is going that heart of mine, believe you me!

In any event, I think the pictures from this trip speak VOLUMES more than I can justify in the writing of a blog post (a first, I know), so without further ado, I present to you some highlights of the beauty that can only be the Golden Circle of Iceland...

The start of our tour... not such a bad view, huh?

Gullfoss! AKA: One spectac waterFALL.

One of my favorite pictures of the entire trip... just a simple little stream, but with the most unbelievably clear water you can imagine (unfortunately, the picture doesn't do the water clarity justice...).

Just driving along... you know, the usual.
Weee! Mountains!

I'm not sure WHAT this was, but doesn't it look like such marshy goodness? It's hard to tell we're even on planet Earth at this point.

Speaks for itself, yes?

If you squint just a tad, you can make out the glaciers in the (VERY) far distance!!

That geyser was just about ready set to ERUPT.

I want to frame this.

An amazing crater that was one of the last stops on our trip... check out those COLORS! Unreal.

Sigh. A+, Iceland. Gigantic round of applause, if you will.