Woke up and headed out to do the Golden Circle, a popular group of attractions east of Reykjavik. At least half the enjoyment of visiting places in Iceland is the drive there. It's hard not to pull off the road to take a picture.

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is the site on which the original Icelandic general assembly (Alþing) was established around 930 AD, and at which many major events in Icelandic history have taken place, and is today a national shrine. The park is in the rift valley and marks the crest of the mid-Atlantic ridge (the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates), which makes for some beautiful scenery at the canyon between the plates.

 The Öxarárfoss waterfall in Thingvellir Nat'l Park.

We continued on the Golden Circle to the Geysir Hot Spring, a geothermal area of geysers and boiling mudpits. Alhough the main Geysir is not currently active (it used to be, and was taller than even Old Faithful), there are a bunch of smaller active geysers, including the very active Strokkur, which erupts every 5-10 minutes.

Next was Gullfoss ("Golden falls"), one of the most popular tourist attractions in Iceland--and for good reason. A huge, 2-step waterfall plunges into a canyon. And right next to the parking lot, so no hiking! --which the kids enjoyed. Ada and I took pictures while the others rolled their eyes with impatience. Ada is learning about exposure - we went over some basic principles like how to balance shutter speed and aperture depending on the feeling you want from the water, and how useful density and gradient filters can be. Also doing our best to balance foreground/background, and draw the observer into the scene with diagonal lines. She has a great eye!

We then got on the Ring road and continued East, staying the night at Midgard Base Camp near Hvolsvöllur.