We left Hanseatic in the morning after breakfast; buses were waiting for us for a day trip around the Golden Circle.

It took us about an hour until our first stop at the viewing platform of Þingvellir National Park – overlooking the rift valley between the North-American and Eurasian tectonic plate. We made our way into the valley – and kind of (really kind of) between the continents.

After the time in Greenland, I found the experience fairly shocking – as obviously there were many more tourists around the platform and also on the way down into valley – I was simply not used to that number of people anymore – – and the loudness, that comes with them.

The way into the valley led to another parking lot, where we boarded the bus again – and continued to Gullfoss waterfall, where the Olfusa river makes makes two drops  – the first being 11m, the second being 21m high.

From Gulfoss we turned around and made our way to the geothermal area of Haukadalur. The area features a number of hot pools, a small geyser field (including Strokkur and the now defunct Geysir), mud pots and fumaroles.

After a walk around the geyser field (of course a safe one) we made it to the restaurant for a late lunch, before heading back to Reykjavik. In Reykjavik we had another opportunity to get up on the viewing platform of the Perlan – this time with good views of town.

From here it was to the hotel – and into town for dinner – followed by a short night to make it for a morning flight back home.

Looking back, this had been a fairly interesting trip. The start was a shaky one – as was the rather sudden end and the long time at sea. But – it was certainly a great trip … with a good mix of weather conditions – from sunny days with blue skies in the South and the storm with waves in the Denmark Strait to snow falling horizontally on Disko Island. Shore landings covered all aspects … culture and museums in the big cities, great nature with even greater activities ashore – loads of hikes, historic buildings to explore and often more challenging activities for the Rennsemmel passengers. All that combined with some good company on the ship and some good discussions and fun during meal times … even with things not always going as planned – I’d be in for this trip again.