La abuelita viajera: Datos interesantes sobre el Parque Nacional Thingv...

La abuelita viajera: Datos interesantes sobre el Parque Nacional Thingv...: Como mencioné en el blog anterior, el Parque Nacional Thingvellir, declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la UNESCO, es un lugar donde...

La abuelita viajera: Datos interesantes sobre el Parque Nacional Thingv...

La abuelita viajera: Datos interesantes sobre el Parque Nacional Thingv...: Como mencioné en el blog anterior, el Parque Nacional Thingvellir, declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la UNESCO, es un lugar donde...

grandma's wanderlust: Interesting facts about Thingvellir National Park....

grandma's wanderlust: Interesting facts about Thingvellir National Park....: As I mentioned in the prior blog, Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a place where you can find many exciting p...

Interesting facts about Thingvellir National Park.

As I mentioned in the prior blog, Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a place where you can find many exciting places. Here are some facts about some of them.

I hope you also find them to your liking.

Parliament

The flag marks the spot where the Parliament use to be

Thingvellir is the birthplace of the oldest existing parliament in the world. This venue for the highest parliament in the land was selected due to its central location, making it easy for the citizens of the nation to attend the proceedings. Besides, it´s southern location and having these sessions during the summer, ensured good weather, (well, this is Iceland, so good weather is debatable). 

The river running through it was diverted so they could have access to fresh water, and the fields were perfect for camping and for the grazing of the horses.

Here is where all the laws where passed, and quarrels were executed. All the population was permitted to attend; however, only the chieftains were able to vote. 

I can image these sessions as a big party, where everybody got together to party and get drunk, after being isolated for months at a time in their own homes due to the harsh winters and distances between dwellings. So, these legislative sessions were also a place to make friends, find a spouse, and settle quarrels, that i imaging there were many. After all, these were Vikings, and as you know, they loved to fight. 

In 1262 Iceland submitted to the Norwegian king, and the parliament was dismantled.

The drowning pool.

The bridge is over the spot where the drowning occurred

The drowning pool is a beautiful, peaceful lake, however, in 1850, the Danish king took possession of the country and beheaded the Catholic priest and his two sons. The country became Lutheran, and the king became the head of the church. He wanted a country void of sin, and the way to achieve it was by killing all the sinners. 

Thingvellir´s primary role became the passing of judgment and harsh punishment. And the sentence had to be enforced by those who filed the grievance.

There were four types of punishments. 

Death by drowning, which was usually reserved for women found guilty of “loose morals.” They used to put the women inside a bag full of stones, and they were thrown into the lake to drown. 

Hanging for thieves. 

Beheading for murderers and male adulterers, which usually was done by a blunt ax.

Death by burning at the stakes, for convicted alleged practitioner of witchcraft. Once again, only women were sentenced and burn.

These punishments were practiced until the 1800’s.

On the other hand, Thingvellir is the largest natural lake in all of Iceland, and it is form by the melting crystal clear waters of a glacier. There are many brown trout and arctic char, making it a great fishing place. Its waters have an average temperature of -4° C = 24.8° F. it has a visibility of 12 meters = 39.37 ft, and a depth of 114 m = 374 ft.

It is also great for divers because the waters are so clear that you can see the continental plates.

The tectonic plates.

There are many tectonic plates in the world, however, this is the ones we know the most because they are the ones that separate the North American and Eurasia continents.

Iceland is sitting on top of hot rocks on the earth mantle. This is one of the reasons for the many volcanic eruptions on the island.

The rift

Here you can see the rip between the continents as well as the natural wall separating the continents. 

This rift is caused because Iceland is growing about 2 centimeters = 0.78 inches per year, forcing the plates to separate. You are actually, standing on the American side of the plates, looking at the Eurasian side on the other side of the rift. Wonderful experience.

As I mentioned on the prior blog, I won’t joke about the wall, (even that I want to).

Tundra

Tundra

As you can see the landscape is all rocks cover in moss. These rocks are lava, basalt, and pumice rocks, and because they are all cover with moss,you are not allowed to walk on them, as you would leave your imprint for ever on them. And these rocks are the reason that there are no trees in Iceland. 

There were some forests in Iceland, however, when the settlers came, they used the wood to build houses, and for heating and they depleted the small forests around the country. Now a day, the government established a forestry service and a soil conservation agency, and they are planting birch trees.

Iceland's Golden Circle tour

Site of the parliament in front of the lake Þingvellir

As I mentioned before, there is no public transport, so if you want to go to any place, you need to rent a car or take one of the many tours offered all over the place.

Renting a car is expensive, as it is the gasoline and parking, besides, I don’t like to drive for an extended period of times and not being able to see anything besides tundra. So, we took the tours.

The first one we did was Golden Circle Classic with Reykjavík Sightseeing at 13500 ISK for both of us = US$ 125.66.

The first stop was to see Þingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of the oldest existing parliament in the world. The general public could observe the proceedings of the law council; however, only the chieftains were allowed to vote on the new rules and regulations enacted.

This is also the place where criminals were hung, beheaded, or drowned. It also is they burned at the staked the women believed to be witches, during the witch hunts of the late XVII century.
Besides, vengeance was a tradition, so this was the place were many bloody encounters happened.
It is a beautiful site and being able to walk where the oldest parliament convened was wonderful.

Tectonic plates wall

Here is also where the gigantic tectonic plates wall that separates America and Eurasia. (I don’t want to make a political joke, but it is hard not doing it when you see this gigantic natural wall separating North America from the rest of the northern hemisphere). This wall has pulled apart, and the resulting rift valley is right there before your eyes on the shores of Iceland’s biggest lake.

Geyser

The second stop was to see the Geysir Hot Springs, the home of the one-and-only original geyser and Iceland’s most iconic natural attraction.  The Geyser spouts every few minutes, however, if you are standing close to it, as we were, you don’t actually see it, as it is swift and all you see is the steam. I would recommend to stay farther away and then you would be able to see it in its full force. 

From there we went to see Gullfoss Waterfall, which is a glacial river that cascades down 32 meters = 105 ft. Beautiful waterfalls and great views of the park surrounding them. 

It was a great day, with magnificent sites, especially the Tectonic plates, I always wanted to see them, and now I had.

My beautiful granddaughter

Iceland

Iceland

Ísland

Iceland is a small Nordic island in the North Atlantic just south of the Arctic Circle. It measures 40000 sq. miles = 103.000 sq. Km and it has a population of 329.000. Most of the people live in Reykjavík. As you can imagine the rest of the island is vast open spaces which are formed by the lava from the 130 volcanoes on the island.

When I visited the Arctic Circle in the Scandinavian countries, I was at a higher latitude than here, and I was wearing short sleeves shirts during the day, in the mornings, and at night I needed a light sweater, so I figure that here will be the same. How wrong I was. It is freezing in here. I read about Iceland weather before coming here, and it said that despite the high latitude Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and that the summers are chilly. Well, this is not chilly, this is freezing. In the Arctic Circle in the Scandinavian countries, the landscape is green, here is tundra, so of course it is cold.

Oh well… live and learn.

I arrived at Keflavik International Airport two days before my granddaughter’s arrival. There is no public transport outside of Reykjavík, so I took a shuttle bus to Bus Hostel which is located at the bus terminal and an easy 15-minute walk to the center.

I visited the city, but I did not want to do much as I wanted to do it all with Hailey, so I went to visit one of many swimming pools. I went to Sundhöll Reykjavíkur which is located at Barónsstígur 45a, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland, which is a couple block from Hallgrímskirkja church, besides it was recommended by the hostel. Great place, all the swimming pools are thermal waters at different temperatures. There is also a couple of saunas and three hot tubs. You pay at the entrance and receive a bracelet. First thing is to get naked and shower in a typical women shower, meaning no partitions. There es a big poster signaling the essential parts you need to wash more carefully, and there is also a woman watching to make sure everybody showers with soap. If for some reason the woman is not there for a minute or two, the other ladies showering keeps a watch on each other, and if somebody doesn’t shower the proper way, they tell on you. I did not witness this, but I have been told that it happens. The reason for this is that there's a very low level of chlorine in the swimming pools, so, everyone is required to wash thoroughly before going in.

I love the hot springs and saunas, so I enjoyed myself very much, especially when, due to my age, I did not have to pay the 900 ISK = U$S 8.17 to get in. And if felt even better when they card me to make sure I was the age I claimed to be. 

When you are having fun, or you are late, time goes so fast; however, when you are waiting, time doesn't move. And here I am, seating at the Keflavik Airport waiting for her to arrive and to start our year together.

As she walked through the doors, at 6 am, my heart skipped a beat and tears flowed down my cheeks, and once she was in my arms everything felt right. 

So, here we commence our adventure.