Wet, wet, wet ... have you already showered today?

The next day we are up early again. Since today is shorter than yesterday, as we will leave the harbor at 18:00, we have to follow the clock a bit today so that the Poesia does not sail to Scotland without us ...

Our rental car is still there and has not been towed, so our excursion today, which takes us along the Golden Circle, could begin.

First, we drive out of Reykjavik again through wide green and "smoky" meadows into the countryside. Since our tank was not refilled from the previous tour, we had to refuel. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere we found a gas station. After I opened the car door, a swarm of flies attacked me. These creatures were incredibly numerous and immediately pounced on me. Before I could even deal with the refueling process, I was surrounded and the flies flew into every opening of my head, and they had no qualms about getting into my eyes. I felt like in Hitchcock's "The Birds". However, refueling had to be done, so I had to somehow endure the flies ...

With a full tank (gasoline costs 2.14 euros here - so quite a bit more expensive than in Germany), we continued to the next large waterfall, the Gullfoss. Mighty masses of water plunge down here and create a water curtain that every fire brigade would be happy about in case of an emergency ... Rain- or water-resistant clothing was advantageous here. We only had partially waterproof clothing but sturdy shoes. With that, we could endure it quite well. It was only a challenge to deal with the water droplets on the glasses and camera lenses.

... However, some people were not deterred by their own inadequate clothing and ventured into the "water wall". We saw people in shorts, t-shirts, and half-shoes with and without heels. Everyone will have to decide for themselves ...

After buying two magnets, we continued to the Geysir field in Geysir. We had to realize that we are very spoiled by our visit to Yellowstone National Park in the USA last year. The pools and geysers here were not nearly as impressive and spectacular as there. The pools were smaller, which also had clear water, but could not compete in terms of color. And the geyser "Strokkur", which shot up within a few minutes, was also tremendously high, but could only be admired for a short time. The "Old Faithful" in Yellowstone sprayed for several minutes, even if it did not shoot up as quickly as the geyser here. But well, we are in Iceland, spoiled and not in the USA.

We look at the clock and realize that it is time to continue driving. We definitely wanted to go to Thingvellir and see the shifting of the European and American tectonic plates, which runs across the entire island but is only so clearly visible here.

Here we were presented with a spectacular image of the two tectonic plates. The two formations, which drift apart by about 2.5 cm each year, were clearly visible in the Almannagja. The Prime Minister of Iceland also has his summer residence on a nearby site. We couldn't find out on which part he was, whether it is the European or American side.

In addition to the gaps, which have basalt walls on the right and left, a special highlight is the Silfra fissure. Here, if you are brave enough, you can put on a wetsuit and snorkel or dive in the approximately 3-degree cold water. The Silfra fissure has different depths. They start at 10 meters and reach up to 40 meters. The crystal-clear water allows the snorkeler to look all the way to the bottom. The only requirement for people over 60 is to have a medical certificate proving that they are healthy and there are no medical concerns.

The distance that can be covered in the Silfra fissure takes about 30 minutes, depending on what there is to see.

We found all of this very impressive and exciting. Nevertheless, the clock showed us that we should slowly make our way back. We still had a little less than an hour to drive and the car had to be refueled and returned. So, let's go!

Returning the rental car went smoothly, but still three questions remain:

1. Why are there only sheep "herds" consisting of 3 animals on Iceland?

2. Are the ponies on the meadows really dead or are they just sleeping when they lie there motionless?

3. Is it true that there are more Icelandic horses on the island than people?

Questions that will never be answered in any quiz show, even though they are so existential! 😊