Thingvellir National Park

Sunday, April 16.  Our final stop today was Thingvellir National Park.  It's about 15 miles east of Reykjavik.  In addition to being beautiful, it's also an important historical site.  The Vikings established the first democratic parliament here in AD 930.  The meetings were held outside, and as with many saga (Viking) sites, there are only stone foundations of ancient encampments.

This park is also where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.  It has rivers, water falls, and lakes.  It was Icelands first national park and was made a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2004.

The kids (and I) were also fascinated with the "Drowning Pool," shown in the picture below.  Once upon a time, it was used to punish - i.e., drown - woman who misbehaved, e.g., breaking vows of celibacy or romance with the wrong man.