We lined up a full day of activities for today, and the weather cooperated! First we contined on the Ring Road to Hrollsvollur and found the new Saga Center there. It offers a basic display about medieval Iceland, and in particular discusses Njal's Saga, which tells of events set (for the most part), in that part of the island. Overall I thought the Saga Center fell short of what it could be, but for someone who has not studied early Iceland and has not read sagas, it would be more interesting.

Leaving Route 1 (the Ring Road), we headed inland to see a reconstructed Viking Age longhouse near Stong. This reconstruction is based pretty accurately on a longhouse buried by ash from nearby Mt. Hekla, which hid most of the time in clouds while we drove by. We spent about an hour there while I shot pictures to make two outdoor and two indoor panoramas of the building (the interior ones each having three rows of photos so as to provide much more of a "look up" and "look down" capability once stitched). This turf building lacks much of the material (tools, furniture, wall hangings, etc.) that would not survive as part of the building, but the building itself gives a very good impression of what a longhouse was like, and I highly recommend the trip there even though it's somewhat out of the way.

We went from Stong to Geysir across some good dirt roads, so that Shelley could see the geysirs erupt. On my earlier trip it was rainy and overcast, but on this one the sun shone, revealing a glacier within sight of the geysirs that we didn't know was there on our first visit, nearly a month ago. What a difference the weather makes! After Geysir, we drove over to Thingvellir and walked around there for a while. Again, with the improved weather, we could see across this vast valley, easily following the rifts that show where Iceland pulls apart at the center 2 cm a year. We had great views across the lake here as well.

The Icelanders certainly don't play up the history of the area, and don't provide any information placards about the importance of the history of the Althing. Nor do they point out where the events of the sagas took place or provide clues about where archaeological remains may lie. It seems like they could do a lot more to educate people about the importance of the valley, although a new visitor center is under construction here which may take on this role soon.

For a formal end to our 10th anniversary trip, Shelley and I had been planning on a fancy dinner in Reykjavik. I had already selected the place (The Pearl), but we had to find lodging. We ended up at the hostel out in Njardvik, almost to Keflavik, so we had a bit more driving to do, but we found the place, changed for dinner, then drove 25 km back to town. They admitted us, and we enjoyed the most expensive dinner that either of us has ever eaten (and we didn't even order wine!). We got the full view of the city in the setting sun because the restaurant takes two hours to rotate the full circle and that's how long dinner took (I had the five-course set while Shelley mixed and matched).

By the time we left, it was completely dark, so we went a short ways down a side road and watched the aurora for a while. It was not as impressive this time for me, although still quite nice, but fine for Shelley's first viewing. We had some light pollution from the city and the moon, and were further south. Still, the lights proved fascinating and eery, as they weave back and forth -- celestial ribbons of pale green that shimmer, fade in and out, and shimmer and contract and expand as they wave across the sky.