First stop: Iceland!

We had fair warning from a few special people that Iceland would rock our socks off. They did not lie. It was pretty darn incredible. It's hard to believe that so many geological marvels can be found on an island the size of Kentucky! So I will do my best to relay Iceland's awesomeness, but it's really best in person.

In our quick visit, we went on the Golden Circle tour, which actually covered a lot of ground in five hours and walked through the city of Reykjavik. A few of the highlights:

Gulfoss Waterfall. The picture doesn't quite capture the immense size because it cascades down into a valley, but for reference, those dots on the ledge are people. It's giant.

We wore our hoods not because it was rainy, but because of the mist the waterfall gives off.

Next up, the geysers. Steaming land.

The geyser erupts every few minutes.

A crater lake from one of the many volcanos on the island. (And no, our trip was not interrupted by the volcano eruption, but these was some wishful thinking of a getting "stuck" in Europe...)
This is the gap between the North American plate and the Eurasian plate, which are slowly growing apart from each other. This is apparently causing a bigger body of water to form between the plates, which inevitably means that in MANY years Iceland may break apart into two separate land masses. It's the one place on land in the world where you can actually drive from one tectonic plate, not be on a plate and then drive back onto another. Gosh, I feel like a geology nerd, but this stuff is fascinating!

Where Icelandic parliment was founded in 930 AD.

Hallgrimskirkja Church

The view of Reykjavik from the top of the church. Don't you love the colorful houses?

The most famous "restaurant" in Iceland is apparently a hot dog stand. I'm not even kidding. They are very proud of it. I will admit, the hot dogs were delish.

Icelandic pancakes! We dug in so quickly, I almost forgot to take a picture. They were very similar to Swedish pancakes, but came with an amazing rhubarb jam.

This one is for you, Maddie.