We spent half a day seeing some of the principal attractions along the Golden Circle route. Þingvellir (the beginning consonant sound is “th”) is the site of the first Parliament in 930. The valley here is also the point at which the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are separating. A wide waterfall, Gullfoss, is fed by glacial melt, yet it is also relatively near the Geysir hot spring, now somewhat quiet, though its sister geyser, Strokkur, erupts regularly every 6-10 minutes, energized by a geothermal system with subsurface temperatures thought to be about 240°C. Our first night’s dinner was at a restaurant (in Hveragerði) that used the geothermal properties of the area to cook some of its food. We stayed at the Ork Hotel in Hveragerði, but were slightly disappointed that the hotel’s large waterslide was closed for repairs.