I mentioned in yesterday's post that we got a great deal from Icelandair on our trip. One of the things that was included along with our flights and hotel was a guided tour of the Golden Circle sites and then admission to the Secret Lagoon.

I'd done the Golden Circle on my last trip to Iceland, but I feel like it's one of those things you have to do when you're there, so I didn't mind repeating it. Plus a trip to one of the geothermal hot springs that I hadn't been to before was a nice added bonus. 

The morning got off to a rocky start though because the driver forget to pick us up at our hotel. Luckily, one of the hotel receptionists was able to call the company for us to figure out what was going on, and they immediately sent someone over to get us. 

We joined the rest of the group and set out for our first destination, Thingvellir National Park. Along the way we drove through some snow and rain, and I was very happy to have a professional driver navigating the weather conditions. 

By the time we got to the park conditions had improved slightly. It was still super windy, but it wasn't raining or snowing. 

We spent some time hiking through the rift valley between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, and scoping out the site of Iceland's first Parliament. 

This was also one of the filming sites for Game of Thrones. Basically all the scenes shot North of the Wall were shot here. 

From the national park, we headed to a super activate geothermal area, home of the first ever geyser, that all others are named for. The original Geysir is dormant and no longer erupts, but there's another one that erupts every 6 to 8 minutes. 

We watched the hot water spout into the air, and then we hiked up the snowy trails on the mountain passing smaller, bubbling geothermal pools. 

We were rewarded with some stunning views from the mountain. 

After a lunch of lamb soup to warm my insides, we set off for the last of the Golden Circle sites -- Gulfoss.

Gulfoss is a massive waterfall dumping gallons of water into a gorge. 

It was super windy by the time we got there, and it was bit nerve-wracking at times to take pictures for fear our phones might be ripped out of our hands. 

The waterfall was beautiful though and I love that blue green color of the water. 

After a cold and windy day hiking around the national park, geysers and waterfall, I was more than happy when we got to the Secret Lagoon. 

This geothermal pool is fed from two bubbling hot springs, and the water is somewhere between 80 and 100 degrees. After a quick and freezing sprint from the changing rooms to the ladder into the pool, it felt great to sink into the warm water and just soak and relax. 

I was feeling very zen after my time in the Secret Lagoon and fell asleep on the ride back to Reykjavik.

After we got back and found out that our Northern Lights trip had been canceled again because of the weather, we headed out to get dinner and then stopped by a sports bar that was showing the NFL games. It was kind of convenient that the 4 p.m. games were being shown at 8 p.m. in Iceland. 

After a post-game walk home in the pouring rain, we got to bed later than I expected. The theme of this trip was I was constantly tired and never knew what time zone I was in. But we covered close to 7 miles (or 16,000+ FitBit steps) on our first day of sight-seeing out of the city.