fh_trips | The Area Around Þingvallavatn, Wednesday Afternoon & Evening

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island summer jaunt 2011

The Area Around Þingvallavatn, Wednesday Afternoon & Evening

It might have been Eric, or the squirrels, or the moose, or a very intrepid Danish NPC who had talked the Vikings into this. That was something the Viking women who showed up at the causeway didn't share. To be fair, since they only spoke old Norse, it would've been kind of hard for them to.

But one of them did have a sign that read, somewhat jaggedly, 'Þour'. They had even attempted to squiggle the bottom line of the first character in such a way that it kind of looked like a 't'.

They had planned a tour of the general area and its bounties, as a way to say thank you for all the interesting meat they had managed to procur on the island ~~Þus~~ thusfar. Past the waterfalls, to the hot springs, to the valley of the AlÞing, Þhingvellir itself-- it was really quite lovely.

Of course, Fandomites could just go to the village and get hopping drunk and maybe start a barfight instead.

God knows that's what the Vikings themselves were planning to do.

[[ ocd up! have at! Viking Village | The Lake | Öxaráfoss Waterfall | AlÞing and Almannagjá Valley | Hot Springs | OOC ]]

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In case you'd rather not go on the tour: save your feet, and get drunk. Or buy fish. Or beads.

Edited 2011-05-11 11:11 (UTC)

It's really quite lovely, although the land itself is covered in formations made out of volcanic rock, and there seems to be an alarming amount of deforestation going on. Still, the long stretches of plain are pretty, and there are tiny waterfalls to be found here and there, and flowers peek out from between the cracks of the rock.

If there was anything Dolf could use right now, it was a distraction. And clean air. And a long walk.

... and the sound of children around him, but he couldn't have everything. Still, he would take this distraction with both hands and follow, keeping his eyes trained on his surroundings and enjoying the freedom of it all.

Part of him wanted to break away from the tour and just get lost in it.

Scully was boggling. The Vikings at graduation and the picnic were one thing, complete changes of scenery were another. "Can you believe this?" she muttered, wandering by, and nodded to Dolf.

"Yes," Dolf said, looking almost confused by the question. "It's just time travel."

These things were slightly less surprising to him than to most people.

"'Just.'" Scully gave him a rueful look, then admitted, "Compared to magic, it's at least a little more comprehensible... but I'm still not used to how easy it is." She shook her head, then squatted down to pick a little yellow flower, looking out to the horizon. "You've dealt with time travel before?" She couldn't remember talking to Dolf about this before, or if it came up at the Support meetings.

"Before I came here, my father was helping some other scientists with a time machine," Dolf explained. "One day I convinced them to let me try it. I got stuck in the Middle Ages for a while."

He was only a few centuries further back in time than he'd been back then, and it looked - and smelled - much the same in a lot of ways.

Scully's surprised look was tempered with curiosity. "That had to be difficult. And why did you ask them to let you try it? And why would they let you?" Good grief.

"They needed something more sophisticated than a guinea pig," Dolf said, with a shrug. "And me, I like history. Wouldn't you take the chance to see the knights at Agincourt or the Acropolis while it was being built? I talked them into it. It was still worth it. This is worth it too."

That conclusion surprised him privately, but he didn't look like it did.

"I would be too cautious to take that chance. Bubonic plague, famine, wandering hordes... Then again, I'm female." What might happen to any lone girl or woman was different from what might happen to a teenage guy, in any time or place. She looked around and admitted, "But this is a nice part of the past to be visiting."

There's a gorgeous waterfall (http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/europe/thingvellir03.shtml) here that clatters down into the lake below. Sometimes sentences are carried out here, but right now it lays abandoned, if not quiet.

When Sam made the decision to go back to school, he really didn't think he'd get to explore Iceland too. The fact that he was now living on a moving island was jarring but adjustable. It helped that Ashley and Brooke could still find him no matter what and bring him news of Ramon's recover and home in general.

Sam pulled his jacket around him tighter and balanced himself on an outcropping of rocks away from the waterfall but close enough to hear it and see it. Seattle had nothing like this. The endless amounts of rain that poured down gutters and puddled in the streets didn't count.

Annie was having a really bizarre week. When the most normal bit of it was going to a new NA meeting, something was probably wrong.

And that was before she got chased by zombies.

It was nice to get away for a little bit, and okay, sure, she was in the past in a Viking village and all and she couldn't understand a thing they said, but there was something really relaxing about just being able to stare at a waterfall and listen to some white noise.

For a minute. It'd really only hold her attention till about then.

This giant valley (http://notendur.hi.is/oi/geology_of_thingvellir.htm) is one of the few places on Earth where you can see the tectonic plates that move under the surface. Here, the North American plate dips under the Euroasian plate, creating a large rift that grows a little bigger every year.

The water here is obscenely clear, though if you peek down, you can see that the rocky ground is littered with ancient coins. Close to here is the site where every year, the AlÞing is held - the meeting of chieftains.

The Viking women were gesturing a lot to try and communicate this across, but they probably weren't doing very well.

Faramir did not understand much of the explanations, but the valley was beautiful and when they were given a moment, he set off for a walk. It was not the Moon-land, but it was perhaps the most beautiful sights he had seen on Earth.

Upon doubling back, the Viking women chose to take a detour. Why? So their guests could grab some time to themselves in a nearby hot spring. The water is an interesting shade of light blue (http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/bluelagoon2.jpg), but it's nice and warm at a toasty 97F degrees.

There are probably a few small geysers nearby, too, but that's nothing to worry about.

Better hope you brought a bathing suit.

Hot springs? Okay, awesome. Jocelyn had taken the hike by the lake and through the valley - an easy enough trek for someone used to the Alps, but any time there was the chance of hot springs, she'd be there. Especially after beating in the heads of zombies and ending up covered in simulated zombie-gore.

She leaned back against one of the rocks, submerged up to her chin in hot, light blue water. Iceland was cool. She could handle a weird school if it were in Iceland.

"Is this when I'm supposed to make a smart remark about you turning into a Popsicle when you get out of there?" Sam asked, having made his way down off the waterfall. It would have been easy to turn around and head back to the dorms but he was trying to be more proactive.

"Taking a swim in Iceland seems to deserve that kind of smart remark so I thought I'd check," he added, mostly joking.

"Hilarious," Jocelyn rolled her eyes at the comment then smiled up at Sam. "More likely to be a prune than a popsicle. I don't ever want to get out."

"I have been complimented on my sense of humor many times," Sam replied, laughing quietly. "Class clown, that's me."

No, that wasn't him at all and that was probably obvious. He did his best though. "The water looks like blue milk. Is it supposed to look like that or should I get my eyes checked?"

"Do you have the red squeaky nose and everything?" she checked, letting him keep up that particular falsehood. She eyed the water, bringing a cupped hand up from under the water to hold a little bit. "I'm hoping it's natural. The Vikings didn't seem to be disturbed by it. Not that I speak...whatever language it is."

Look, she spoke a few dead languages. Just none of them were Ancient Norse.

"Golly, I left it in my other pants," he said and snapped his fingers at the missed opportunity. A second or so later, he crept a little closer and dipped his fingers into the milky water.

It was definitely hot. And his fingers didn't start burning down to the bone so probably not acid. "Well, if it's this hot, I doubt you're going to turn into any kind of ice cream product. I've never seen one of these before. They don't really exist in Seattle. We have...puddles."

"And oceans, I think," Jocelyn said, remembering her geography lessons. "Gonna get in?"

"I don't see the ocean much," he replied, shrugging. "It's kind of out of the way, my car sucked pretty badly and if I took my board there, I'd end up having a heart attack and dying in the sand."

And he had no intention of joining the spirit world just yet. He'd raise the dead but not join them. "And I didn't bring a suit. I didn't think there'd be a milky blue hot tub around here."

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Viking Village

Walk Along The Lake

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Öxaráfoss

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The AlÞing and Almannagjá

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Hot Springs

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OOC