Iceland it is a relatively young island formed by the separation of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates about 16 million years ago . A whole world for mortal human beings, but a sigh for Earth.
However, this mysterious island, which the Greeks believed to be inhabited by mythological beings and attracted the imagination of Jules Verne, has the democratic honor of having the oldest national parliament – not continued – in the world . And, furthermore -how could it be otherwise in Iceland-, it is surrounded by an impressive nature.
It is as if Mother Nature, in a way, has decided to keep a close eye on the steps of early norse settlers that populated the island. She surrounded that parliament with powerful waterfalls, volcanic craters, massive fissures and geysers capable of expelling hot water more than 100 meters high.
Man had colonized the island and was trying to set the rules of the game, but nature reminded her who was the owner of those lands . Forever.
Today, that hodgepodge of human and natural powers draws tens of thousands of visitors each year. Thus was born the gold circle –or Golden Circle–, commercial name given by some marketing genius to a land where the closest thing to the golden metal is the lava of its volcanoes.
Thingvellir is a place that appeals to both history buffs and natural attraction buffs.
THINGVELLIR AND THE ALTHING, THE OLDEST PARLIAMENT IN THE WORLD
The Parliament Plains –Spanish translation of Thingvellir– is a place that attracts both lovers of history like those of the Natural attractions.
And it is that from its highest viewpoint you can contemplate an overwhelming landscape presided over by the waters of Lake Thingvallavatn , which with its 84 km2 is the second largest lake example in Iceland, and one of the deepest. On its waters appear volcanic islets formed thousands of years ago.
Hengill volcano , active and located south of Thingvellir, and the huge cracks shown here and there remind us that Iceland remains a living body that grows and develops , as the separation between the North American and Eurasian plates continues at a rate of about two centimeters per year.
Of course, Thorsteinn Ingólfsonn -Son of the Norwegian Ingólfur Arnarson, Iceland's first settler- knew nothing of the geological importance of this enclave when he chose it for the establishment, in the year 930 , of the Althing, the world's first national parliament.
It seemed like an ideal place to him. for the vastness of its plains and the perfect acoustics that its volcanic walls and unfathomable cracks gave it.
Buildings like this remind others that stood there a millennium ago.
A) Yes, here the laws of an Iceland governed by , until then, by 48 regional chiefs or caciques – called *godar*– and its national democratic importance has endured to this day.
In medieval times, each session of the Althing became a real event in the country . The Plains of Parliament were visited by the curious, merchants, ranchers, minstrels, fighters, hustlers and all kinds of motley beings in what became a kind of huge fair that lasted several days.
The Althing moved to Reykjavík in 1844 , but Icelanders have continued to cite here to celebrate important events such as the achievement of independence –with respect to Denmark–, in 1944, or the thousand years of Christianity, in 2000.
Today, visitors tour the place , both on wooden walkways and paved roads, fields, cracks and the lake shore, trying to listen, on each rock, the story of a young country that has suffered a lot under the yokes of Norway and Denmark.
Tried to silence those cries, the waters of the Öxará river , the Thingvallavatn's sole power source, thunder down the Öxarárfoss waterfall , in a show that serves as a foretaste of Gullfoss natural wonder.
It is impossible not to be speechless before Gullfoss.
The most daring put on a neoprene suit and dive into the icy and transparent waters of the Silfra crack , more for telling that they dived in the place where America separates from Europe than for the beauty of the underwater view.
Near Silfra, some small houses and a church they remember the farm that stood there nearly a millennium ago. Today they serve as an occasional home for the members of a government that directs the course of a people that, at last, is free.
GULLFOSS, THE GOLDEN WATERFALL
An hour from Thingvellir, another magnificent crevasse, about 30 meters deep , engulfs the powerful flow of the beautiful Gullfoss waterfall.
Here, the water of the river Hvítá It descends two steps almost consecutively. The first is less tall, but it is very wide and can be seen perfectly. The second is spectacular water vapor hides part of it.
Two paths have been created in order to admire Gullfoss in its fullness. The lower allows you to approach until almost touching the water , noticing in every pore of our being the incredible power of water falling down the crack. While the superior gives away a landscape print difficult to forget.
Nor should anyone forget that we can enjoy this wonder of nature thanks, in part, to the tireless struggle of a woman, Sigrídur Tómasdóttir.
Sigrídur lived, at the beginning of the 20th century, in a farm that occupied part of the land where Gullfoss is located . When her father wanted to sell that part to foreign investors who wanted to build a dam for hydroelectric power, she Sigrídur started a tireless campaign against that plan.
Gullfoss is a visual spectacle.
Finally, her father backed out of the deal, but it was too late and they lost their case in court. Sigrídur then threatened to throw himself into the waters of the great crack of Gullfoss , but, finally, she did not have to carry out her fateful plan since foreign investors stopped paying the concession to the Icelandic government and, over time, the lands passed into state hands and became a protected place.
A sculpture of Sigrídur looks today next to the Gullfoss waterfall , remembering that man and nature are also united by great passions.
GÉYSIR, THE FATHER OF ALL GEYSERS IN THE WORLD
A few kilometers from the water vapor that emanates from the Gullfoss crack, another steam covers a small extension of pools that exude an intense smell of sulfur.
This is Geysir (“spout”, in Spanish), a small enclave that houses, among others, a huge spout 20 meters in diameter that was capable of expelling boiling water under pressure at more than 100 meters high.
Although this geyser was sadly blocked by the negligent action of the human being -people began to pour all kinds of things into the hole to cause bursts of water with greater frequency–, the name of the same served to designate this natural phenomenon throughout the planet.
Next to the silent mouth of the original geyser, there is another, named Strokkur , whose constant bubbling invariably degenerates into impressive explosions every 5 minutes , throwing the water up to about 20 meters high. People mill around him, camera in hand, ready to get the most coveted video or photo.
Boiling water under pressure at more than a hundred meters high, the Géysir seems like a thing of fiction.
The landscape is completed with several lagoons of colorful waters , sealed with ropes from which hang signs that warn that the liquid element exceeds here 100 degree heat.
And it is that Mother Nature shows her might in Iceland . A land where man decided to settle despite the harsh conditions. A land where Thor and Odin seem present in every waterfall, every volcano, every fissure, every glacier, every mountain... Perhaps to remind people that even the gods must respect and pay homage to the Mother who cares for us.