another eye opens

Friday morning, Andy had a long-course swim first thing (800-meter freestyle). Afterwards, we piled into the car with Brad, Jim, and Fede.

Destination: Þingvellir National Park. (That first letter is called a thorn and is pronounced “th” and a double-L in Icelandic is pronounced “tl” — also r’s are rolled and slightly aspirated, so Þingvellir is pronounced “Thingvetlih.”) This is where the European and North American continents meet, and where you can see and experience where the tectonic plates have shifted.

This place has huge historical significance for Icelanders as the site of the first meeting of the Althingi, or Parliament — it’s called Lögberg (Law Rock) and has special acoustic resonance.

A beautiful river runs alongside Lögberg

Beautiful waterfalls are everywhere in Iceland — we hadn’t gotten sick of them, yet.

On our way to Lögberg, we stopped at a scenic gorge and frolicked

Some of us went skyclad, which I didn’t think it would ever be warm enough to do in Iceland

We got back to Reykjavik in time for a cocktail party hosted by Elizabeth Turnbull-Brown, the ebullient Aussie who is currently president of Team New York Aquatics

I had a gin and tonic and admired Michael Tynan’s ears and schnozz

Then it was on to Nauthólsvík Beach, where some hardy swimmers engaged in a 250-meter open-water swim

including Randall and Joe, who reported that the water was cold but not arctic

Then there was a barbecue

We got back to the apartment around 11:15 pm — the golden hour