Þingvellir National Park

Öxarárfoss with the sky replaced in photoshop.

Þingvellir National Park in Iceland is one of the main attractions on what is called "The Golden Circle", which includes Gullfoss and Geysir. Þingvellir is in a rift valley where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet, and push each other up. You can walk directly where these two plates meet in what resembles a small canyon.

Here is where we took a small hike to Öxarárfoss waterfall. In my photo, I've tried a new photoshop technique for doing a sky replacement. So what you see in that photo is fake. The sky more closely resembled the photo of the couple walking the path. The weather was rainy that day and we very nearly cancelled our plans to head to Geysir and Gullfoss on account of icy roads. But after a lunch of potato chips and candy, things started to clear just enough that we continued the journey.

Þingvellir, sometimes spelled Thingvellir, is also known as the "Fields of Parliament" as it's where the early viking inhabitants held the Althing. It is regarded as the oldest parliament in the world having started in 930.

It can be an incredibly difficult spot to photograph without the capability to do aerial photography. Looking over the large gash in the earth must be amazing. But even without the view, standing there feels primal. And ancient.

Walking in the rift of Þingvellir National Park

Rain falls on mossy rock in Þingvellir National Park