The last thing we did on the bus tour that you must think lasted AN ETERNITY since it is taking me that long to post about it thanks to the damn hackers that keep taking down LiveJournal…turdbuckets!…was visit theTingvellir valley, which is where the Icelandic people held their ting or assembly every year since the 12th century. They don’t hold it there NOW, of course. Now they have a capitol with government buildings and such-like but personally I think they SHOULD hold it there, because it is truly beautiful.
A ting was where the people met to review the laws, hold court, meet people, fight, marry, buy stuff from each other and execute criminals. It was probably the big event of the year for the small population of the country. But that isn’t what makes the place so cool. What makes it cool is that it lies directly on the tectonic rift that divides Iceland and is literally splitting it in half. Part of Iceland lies on the North American tectonic plate and part on the Eurasian plate. You can actually SEE where the ground has been pulled apart over the millenia. Iceland is separating to the tune of 2 centimeters PER YEAR. That is nearly an inch!
We got off the bus in the valley and walked up to the edge of the gorge that lines it. Our tour guide told us she would keep yodeling “U-U-U-U-U!” so that we could find her (and the group) easily and she stopped and talked about things as we went but we were laughing too much about the yodeling so we ended up walking faster and passing the group by and exploring on our own. The top of the gorge gives a fantastic view over the entire rift valley: stunning landscapes river beds, ancient lava fields and greenery.
I still can’t post directly on Livejournal or reply on anyone’s posts or comments. I can’t upload photos directly, but the client is working for the moment so I’ll try to get the Iceland trip done in the next day or so! I haven’t even had a chance to talk about my mom being here or anything we’ve done since we returned FROM Iceland and I have to go back to work tomorrow: WAH!
Bright Burbly Belated Birthday Wishes to Chuck!