...always changing probably...: Þingvellir National Park

Our third and final stop on the tour was something I found rather fascinating. I had no idea about the history and uniqueness of this area before coming here. Our tour guide gave a short speech about this area but I missed the first part because we all had to go to the bathroom when we arrived. However, I read the signs and loved learning about Þingvellir or Thingvellir if you don't know how to pronounce the Icelandic letter "Þ".

This was the site of Iceland's first Parliament in 930 AD and marks the beginning of Iceland as a nation. Iceland was settled some 50 years earlier by mostly Norse and Celtic people and soon there was a need for settling disputes and establishing laws. This is the place that they selected due to a number of reasons. It was a central location for many settlements and it had plenty of firewood, grazing for the livestock and fresh drinking water.

I thought one of the funniest comments from our group was, "Why are there no buildings?" I guess maybe it was a fair question because when someone tells you this is a "Parliament" you think of a grand building like many other countries. Well, I guess in 930 AD things were rather rustic (duh) and they never bothered to build anything as nature did a good job of providing for them. I loved our tour guide's answer of, "Well, the Icelandic people are rather hearty and they can handle the harsh environment."

The other really neat part of this area was being able to stand on top of the Eurasian plate and look down on the North American plate. As the tectonic plates move away from each other, the land in between falls away and creates these straight cliffs and flat valleys. Plus, the view was simply amazing.

One of the things we saw on our way to Þingvellir was one site where they filmed The Wall in Game of Thrones. I believe the structure at the bottom is the remains from the filming of the gate into The Wall. Much of The Wall was CGI (like the massive height) but I can see why the show makers picked this site.

This is a scene from Game of Thrones that I believe was filmed at the location we photographed above.

Here are two views from the top of the Eurasian plate looking down at the North American plate. The top photo with the white church is near the site of the Parliament.