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| My new best friend for a little while. |
We began the last day of our tour with a visit to the Fridheimar Horse (and Tomato) farm. This friendly little man greeted us when we arrived. Since I had been catless for almost a week, I bonded with him immediately. He was obviously used to company and acted as a master of ceremonies to the horse show that followed.
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| Another new best friend. |
Icelandic ponies are small and purebred, of course. They are unusual in having mastered all five gaits, which the occupants of the farm, including a small boy of three, demonstrated for us. We socialized with the ponies afterwards. They are the most docile horses I've ever been around in my life.
Then we repaired to a huge greenhouse that supplies a third of the tomatoes, grown year-round, to the surrounding grocery stores and supermarkets. We helped ourselves to some of that sweet fruit before boarding the bus again.
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| The old man |
Our next stop was the Geysir Geothermal Area. "Geysir" means "old man," and in fact, the eldest of the geysers seemed to be retired and living on social security. The younger whippersnappers were friskier, though.
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| I want this bathtub. |
I'd like to have a bath just like this hot spring pool to soak in at the end of a hectic day.
We also stopped at the Gulfoss Waterfall, a three-tier glacier runoff that looks like it would be fun to whitewater raft down.
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| Let's go rafting. |
But I suppose I thought that because I'm basically a landlubber. And I was safe and dry above.
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| Parliamentary justice is served... |
Our very last stop was to the "Parliament Hill" in the Binvellir National Park near Reykjavik.
This Icelandic parliament was established in the tenth century. Chiefs of the various clans and tribes would meet here once a year in the spring to settle disputes and try criminals.
If, for instance, a man was found to have coveted his neighbor's wife, or worse yet to have acted on the impulse, he would be thrown over the cliff. Hmmm--couldn't help wondering what might have happened to our elected politicians caught in compromising positions. Congressional hearings unnecessary. Taxpayer dollars saved. Problem solved.
Offending women, too, were placed in cloth sacks and tossed over the edge.
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| Here and there. |
This site is geographically significant, as well, since it's at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge--look one way to see the North American tectonic plates; look the other to see the Eurasian tectonic plates. It is literally a continental divide.
