July 2

The next day, a minibus picked us and the other riding tour members up. We would later learn we were an extremely international group: German, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, American and Spanish (more on that later). We drove about an hour and stopped at Thingvellir national park. Viking buffs among you may know that this is where the settlers held their first democratic assembly, in 970 or something like that. It didn’t last through the years of Norwegian and Danish rule, but that’s also the name of today’s Parliament. The site — the annual meetings were held outdoors — is also where the continental plates are dividing, by 1 centimeter a year. The crack is quite visible.

And we passed much amazing scenery.

We spent the night at Fossnes Farm, a charming place about two hours from the capital