By Myles R. and Shabd S.
We started the day off with a quick breakfast (if you were awake). Following this we packed our luggage, loaded the bus, and continued our journey.
Our journey today was along a road known as the Golden Circle. Well-known sites along the Golden Circle are þingvellir (a national park), Geysir (a very old geyser), and Gullfoss (a two-tier waterfall).
When we arrived at þinvellir park, we went to an outlook spot in hopes to see Iceland’s biggest lake (Þingvallavatn), but we weren’t able to see the amazing view due to the misty conditions. The cold forced us to go into the museum, where we checked out the interactive exhibits.
After this, we went to the gift shop where many either bought snacks or trinkets. Leaving the gift shop, the weather had cleared up, allowing us to have a fantastic view of Þingvallavatn. On our way back we traveled through a micro-fault line before arriving to the bus. Although we had snacks, we went for a proper lunch at Iceland’s famous tomato farm/restaurant, where we had an amazing tomato soup complemented by fresh bread covered with authentic Icelandic butter in a 50/50 (50% bread 50% butter) ratio.
After lunch we headed to the 2nd best (according to Björn our tour guide) ice cream shop in Efstidalur.
On our way to the Geysir, Björn quoted, “You look around and see a lot of nothing. That’s basically Iceland”.
Once we arrived at Geysir, we took pictures of all the crevasses that it had created in the surrounding area. Geysir has not erupted in over 10 years, however, Strokkur, a nearby geyser, erupts about every 10 minutes. After a long wait it erupted and we got mind blowing pictures of the event.
Then we headed back to the bus where we would then go to the Secret Lagoon hot spring. Once we arrived we had to watch a short introduction video of the do’s and don’ts of the hot spring. Then we went to get changed and ready. At the lagoon we had met another student group from the UK and we had long talks about both American and UK culture.
As time went on we had to say goodbye to our new friends and head over to the new hotel. Once we arrived we checked in set our bags and then we would have dinner in the hotel.
One of the key lessons we learned on day 3 was at the park where our guide Björn explained to us about the equality of women in Iceland. He had stated that Iceland had been ahead of its time when it came to gender equality; women were granted inheritance rights equal with those of men in 1850. Iceland maintained its progress, and in 1980, they chose the world’s first elected female leader – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, Iceland’s first woman president. In 2009, Iceland elected Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, its first female prime minister, as well as the world’s first openly LGBTQ+ head of a government.