31.05.2021
My last night at the volcano – my 5th and final visit!
By 18:45 indeed the rain stopped and the sun came out! Unbelievable! I quickly paid the parking fee online and then changed into all my warm clothes … right in the parking lot between the cars. A look around assured me I was not the only one to do so … I started the hike by 19:00. There seemed to be less people around today … or maybe it was still early … the afternoon visitors were leaving, but the sunset crowd was not arriving yet … then again … the volcano had no opening hours and there were people around at all times of the day … I knew … this was my 5th time visiting the volcano! The 4th hike up!
I reached the first ridge and viewpoint after 45 min today … I was fast today! Getting fitter by the day! It was very windy up here. That was nothing new either.The lave seemed to have advanced some more since last night … it was yet another bit closer to the path now.
Of course the volcano did me the favour and erupted as I stood up on the ridge. The light was somewhat different … Yesterday we had arrived later … closer to sunset … today the sun was still higher up in the sky if a little behind the clouds …
Today I did walk down to the edge of the lava … The thickness had increased considerably as well … it was huge! It was more than 2 m high here! It was absolutely impressive. And there was a lot of red hot molten lava glowing at the edges … Lava exposed to air quickly developed a solid crust – this insulated the remaining liquid lava and helped keep it hot and molten beneath.
Walking along I had the best idea! I had looked for souvenirs to take home and had not found anything special … now I knew! I collected a few more lava rocks! I picked up some fist-sized pieces and stuffed them in my backpack … maybe 4 or 5 … they had fallen off the edge of the lava when it moved forward and some of them were still a little warm to the touch. Apparently new lava was a unique geological formation that was protected under the Nature Conservation Act of Iceland. “The lava from the volcanoes in Geldingdalir is a unique geological monument that we need to respect and protect,” I read somewhere. “There we are probably witnessing the first shield volcano eruption in Iceland since the country was settled.” But I was not breaking it off or vandalized the lava … I just collected rocks from the ground. So was it OK to bring back lava rocks from Iceland? The short answer was that it was always best to leave nature as found … And I sure never tried to dig out rocks or mineral formations. That said, there was probably little harm in keeping some lava rocks that would otherwise disappear beneath a thick layer of fresh lava very soon.
My bag was really heavy now! Those chunks were heavier than they looked! Volcanic rock – or lava – was characteristically dark – grey to black – in color and contained 45% to 53% silica and was rich in iron and magnesium. I hoped they would not bust my luggage allowance on the flight home … At home I actually tried to break one apart with a hammer and a chisel … I can tell you … it did not work! This basaltic lava was so hard! There was no way I could break it.
I headed up the steep new path to the new viewpoint hill. Eventhough the path was less than 24 h since marked, it was already well trodden. This hill was now the main viewpoint and I think all visitors came up this new trail. At the same time this volcano was wreaking seismic havoc on southern Iceland, it had given scientists an unparalleled opportunity for research. An accessible eruption on the doorsteps of a capital city was like winning the geological lottery and in the months since the initial eruption the volcano had become a pilgrimage site for scientists. But there were even more toutists heading up this hill than scientists … any time of the day …
The first thing I did when I reached the top – I went over to the other side and looked down to check if the lava had crossed the path yet … I had checked all sources online and not found anything about it … but nothing was impossible … And so it was still as yesterday … the popular Gónhóll view point was still closed off by the authorities, but the lava had not yet claimed the path … I would have loved seeing it happen …
A few days later I read in the online news that the viewpoint had been finally cut off by the advancing lava … Gónhóll Spactator Hill had become an island surrounded by lava … that was in the morning of 04.06. and I was already long at home … https://www.ruv.is/frett/2021/06/04/volcano-viewpoint-finally-cut-off-by-advancing-lava
It was very stormy up here again. So I found a comfortable spot to sit behind some rocks. It was a good perspective view to the main crater. I set up the cameras and pulled out my last Icelandic Beer … I was in Iceland watching this amazing volcano erupting, the sun was out … and I had a brandnew volcano hat! Life was wonderful!
The eruptions were not as high as before, but there was a lot of lave coming out and the crater had grown over the last weeks as well … it was humongous now … The increase in lava flow was unusual, as eruption outputs typically decrease with time. Scientists from the University of Iceland hypothesized that there was a large magma reservoir deep under the volcano. From the composition of the magma sampled, they also believed that there was a discrete vent feeding the main lava flow from a depth of 17-20 km from the Earth’s mantle. The formation of such a volcano has not been studied before in real time, and this eruption offered insights into the working of the magmatic systems.
I had a really good vantage point in the lee, but the slope below was really really steep. I had to watch all my gadgets … and myself … so nothing would fall into the abyss … and it was cold on my bum … then I remembered the rain poncho … that made as good a seat cushion as anything … It helped a bit in any case … I was not too much bothered by the cold, though … I was here to thoroughly enjoy the spectacle …
“The ocean conveys an idea of power; but not in the same sense or degree with which the volcano, which hurls great masses of rock, amidst fire and smoke, to the utmost range of human vision, and makes the solid earth tremble over the area of an entire province with its deep reverberations. Imagination must be wanting in the people to whom such a spectacle does not appeal with singular force, and on whose minds it does not leave a profound impression.” From “The Volcanoes of Central America”, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, November 1859
Cloudy skies made for a fantastic contrast with the fiery monster … Perhaps if a Satsuma was multiplied by an African sunset, the intense orangeness of the lava tumbling from Fagradalsfjall could be almost approached. One of the many remarkable things about Fagradalsfjall was also just how quickly everything happens. Within seconds, that purest of oranges faded and blackened as the lava cooled …
Once more I was not the only one up here … the hill filled up as sunset approached … all wanted to see the show … it really did feel somewhat elemental … watching this rawest of natural displays … It was mesmerizing how something as simple as molten rock would get people this excited … at least I was as excited as the first time I came up here almost 2 weeks ago …
I moved a bit along the hill to the left to have yet a better … another … view. The crater seemed to fill up to the rim with every erupting episode and then sort of spill over the rim on all sides … at least the sides I could see from here … It was stunning … and even from this far away the Dante-esque sound was audible if only distantly … a sulphorous smell, not of rotten eggs but of a fresh match, wafted over with the wind …
The whipping Icelandic winds occasionally blew the heat of the volcano towards the viewpoint as though the gales were trying to blow out this subterranean flame. But try as it might, the weather could not quite manage – this was the underworld’s time to shine! And even the lava river over at the Valley with No Name was spilling over at some point … as if it wanted to pull even more attention …
From my new spot I did have a slightly better view of the lava flowing out of the crater into the lava river, though. I could not see the river … pity … that had been a highlight the first times I had been here … but at least I saw it flowing out of the crater … which was magnificent as well … I was pretty sure the crater was spilling to all sides during the episodes … Damn … it was beautiful …
Just after 23:00 I packed up and moved on … it was a hard decision … saying farewell to the mighty dragon … But I was getting cold now … even though the lava field below emitted a constant warmth, but still … and I had to think about leaving Iceland … Maybe I should sleep a bit before going to the airport … My flight was at 07:40 in the morning and I had to be there by 05:00 to drop of the car and check in the luggage … there was plenty to do before that … So … one more eruption … just one more … and an impressive one it was …
Leaving over the hill it was already a ritual to turn around when I heard the rumble of the volcano erupting behind me … how many times I had been here … hiked up here? … I felt like it was my new happy place … but I had to leave eventually … so I made my way down the new path …
I could not help it … but the volcano had a magnetic quality to it … it did not want to let me go … the lava pulled me closer … I could not leave just yet … so I walked down to the edge of the lava tongue in Geldingdalir Valley again … I still had time … if I did not sleep tonight … so be it … I could sleep in the plane … but this was my last time to see this spectacular natural show …
There were amazing lava formations and the entire field was alive … lots of red hot spots were visible … lava was oozing out until it coagulated in the cold air and formed a crust. But beneath the crust was still molten. I warmed my hands … listening closely I could hear the lava’s progress – it sounded a bit like a fireplace crackling or even glass breaking … the lava was moving forward ever so slightly … almost imperceptibly … looking closely I could swear the lava was exhaling …
I noticed this couple of tourists – it turned out they were from England – the guy was preparing a frying pan with hotdogs to grill on the hot lava. He was totally engrossed in filming video clips of it. I watched and chatted with his wife. She told me they had come from England just for 4 days to see the eruption. He was a science teacher and had a youtube channel for his students – I should have ask for the handle to watch the final clip of this experiment … Earlier during this eruption I had seen photos of an Icelandic chef cooking on the hot lava as well. This guy here had actually brought a pan from home and hoped it would not melt before the hotdogs cooked … after all basaltic lava erupted at temperatures between 1100 to 1250 °C …
It was fun to watch … several other tourists were hanging around as well to see what happened … It was not long until the hotdog started cooking and it even smelled good … and then … all of a sudden … to everybody’s surprise … that corner of lava where the pan was sitting just broke off! … Unfortunately, the pan so landed upside down in the sand and buried the hotdog beneath it! What a shame! … But everything in the name of science!
The guy did not dare to pick up the pan by hand … he though it might be too hot … but also maybe more of the lave could break off and he did not want to get too close … and the broken off piece of lava was extremely hot as well. He constantly reminded me and other tourists to be careful and not go to close to the piled up lava edge … what happened here in small scale with the frying pan could happen with much larger chunks any time … and any time without notice … He used one of my hiking poles to get the pan out of harms way and then actually picked up the hotdogs, cleaned them with some water and ate them! … All in the name of science!
I collected a couple of more small chunks of lava … careful not to get too close to the big wall of lava … but small pieces were strewn along the edge. I suppose they fell off more easily and often since the tongue was advancing ever so imperceptibly. Then I watched one more eruption and waved the English couple farewell to walk along to the left some more for yet another view.
At the almost far side of the valley I found a small red hot lava stream. It was right by the edge, but ran very slow … actually it did not run … but it moved visibly. From here the perspective of the mighty monster was yet another one and I set up the cameras for more photos … of course in a save enough distance … anyway, the lava pile was not as high at this spot, so nothing could break off … and I was on higher ground than the lava … I think the lava had reached the slope and therefore it was not a wall of lava here … It was getting darker today, though … the sky was overcast with grey rain clouds … it was not raining, though.
“We have seen all types of basalt lava coming from the eruption,” said Þorvaldur Þórðarson, professor of volcanology and geology at the University of Iceland. “Yes, if you read textbooks, the first thing you see is that pahoehoe lava flows when productivity is high and lava flows fast. À à lava is formed when productivity is low and the total flow of lava is rather slow.” But “the lava does not care. It just continues its journey” he said, “and then it just crawls over the landscape.” … “This eruption says – It does not matter! I do not care. I intend to create pahoehoe lava and à à lava and lump lava and all these different types of lava that we can name, whether you think I can or not!”” said the volcanologist, speaking on behalf of the eruption in Fagradalsfjall. He refered to the fact that during the eruption all types of basalt lava that existed on land were formed, without any change in the productivity of the eruption.
The professor explained that the concept of productivity was a measure of how fast the magma rose and how much came up in a unit of time. “We are talking about 5-15 m³/s. Then people jump their height in all armor if it changes from 6 to 12 and have fun,” he said and clearly saw no reason to call it a change in productivity. “In the Grímsvötn eruption of 2011, the productivity was at its highest at 10,000 m³/s,” he reminded. “In Eyjafjallajökull 2010, the productivity was several hundred m³/s and in Holuhraun 2014-2015, the production when it peaked was at 560 m³/s.” Although the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull was terrible for airlines traffic, passengers and tourism – comparably, it was a small eruption … About Fagradalsfjall he continued – “This eruption is even smaller. That does not mean it will be small, it takes its time, just does it slowly, with determination and just pushes itself forward inch by inch. If it continues for 50 years with this productivity that it has now, it will become a mountain that is the same size as Skjaldbreið,” said Prof. Þorvaldur Þórðarson. Skjaldbreiður – meaning broad shield – was an Icelandic lava shield formed in one huge and protracted eruption roughly 9000 years ago. The extensive lava fields which were produced by this eruption, flowed southwards and formed the basin of Þingvallavatn, Iceland’s largest lake, and Þingvellir, the “Parliament Plains” where the Icelandic national assembly, the Alþing was founded in 930. The volcano summit was at 1060 m and its crater measured roughly 300 m in diameter …
I might indeed be addicted to volcanoes now. Nothing compared to watching melting rock spew from the earth, destroying everything in its path while also creating new land. It was hard to wrap around the idea that when it was hot enough the earth glows in the dark … it was so hard to pull my eyes away … I had to take so many photos … I could not help it … always checking the watch … I hated it … I eventually had to leave … I even pulled out my volcano Skyr … but it was only a short notion to eat it … I was going to take this special one home and savor it while I was reminiscing about this mindboggling experience …
In between eruptions I also moved closer to the red hot lave to warm up. It was getting colder … it seemed colder than yesterday … but the eruptions were just as captivating as before … and close to the red patch it was quite cozily warm … The site of Geldingadalsgos – the Gerlingadalur eruption – was growing rapidly and changing constantly, so each visit had been entirely unique … Could it get more epic than that? … I WAS SO HAPPY TO BE HERE! … and I just could not get myself to leave …
After each episode … even when the lava was spilling big time over the crater rim glowing angrily red hot … it cooled immediately after the eruption stopped. It took just seconds for the light to fade and the crust to build … seconds … so after the last big spill it was my cue to leave … I packed up and got on the way just around midnight … I had a long day of travelling ahead of me … but it was really hard to tear away …
Of course I did turn around for a last grand rearing of my favourite dragon as I hiked up the slope to the main path … However, I had to get going … again I was contemplating … only a couple of days ago I had received a message from Dr D – who had been with me on the Sneaking away to Uganda adventure to see the Gorillas earlier this year. He had been inspired by my daily reports from Iceland and had booked a short escape with his wife to come and see the show as well. Only … and I gave him plenty lip for that … he had planned it wrong … they were arriving 2 days after I had left! … WTF! …
To be honest, I had seriously been thinking about changing my flight and staying a few more days … but it would have been too much of a hassle … the weather forecast for the next days was not really favourable for the volcano hike either … basically rain and clouds 24/7 for the next week … and I was hoping to start work cruising the European rivers imminently … So … I had to leave in the morning … there was no way around it …
Behind me I saw the red glow and heard the low rumbling of yet another call from the monster … maybe it did not want me to leave? … It was for sure calling me …
01.06.2021
The long way home – 1st stage – 28 km to Njarðvík
Firmly I hiked down to the parking lot … Did I want to leave? … NO! … I could unfortunately not stay! … I had to get going! But as I reached the parking lot around 00:45 … I made a beeline to Helgi’s Food Truck I had already seen last night. It had not been there the first couple of times I had hiked the volcano … I guess this guy has found a profitable gap in the market … probably not only I had been wondering why nobody had opened up a food stall around here before … with this amount of visitors … I meant … they were taking parking fees! Why not offering food for the weary volcano addicts … and tourist hikers? Last night we passed, but now … since I could not get myself to leave … and somehow I felt a craving for a hotdog … I stopped and ordered one of the famed Icelandic Hotdogs for ISK 500.
I chatted a couple of minutes with the owner and another customer … I was so hyper from my last volcano visit … I did not want to leave … they thought I was funny … hanging at the volcano parking lot in the middle of the night mere hours before having to report at the airport and not having packed yet … The hotdog was delicious … I think it was one of those moments when something was absolutely outstandingly good in that specific moment … It was the best place and time to devour exactely this hotdog! … If I would have had that hotdog at any other time or place I would probably have thought it … mediocre at best … here and now it was just perfect!
Eventually I had to break away from the spell of the volcano … by 01:00 I pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to my gallery room … by 01:30 I reached there. I wish I had an active volcano that close to my doorstep … A few days later I read that lava from Geldingdalir Valley had also cut off the new viewpoint hill and overflown the first ridge running across hiking path A … now the viewpoint would have to be even further away … a new path C was being marked … I had been absolutely lucky to have visited when I did! It was amazing … In all eventualities, it seemed certain this volcano would prove much more popular than the ash-spewing Eyjafjallajökull, which grounded more than 100000 flights with its disruptive 2010 emissions … who would have thunk that …
When I reached the room I started packing. Then I had to sort through some photos … I could not help it … but by 03:00 I decided to sleep for an hour … It was not much, but it was a power nap … I set 3 alarms … and woke up before all of them … it was my inner clock that had me wide awake on time.
Quickly I got ready and packed the car … it was easier now as I had packed for the flight … everything properly back in the suitcase … the camera bag ready and heavy … By 04:30 I checked that I had not left anything behind in the gallery and left the key in the door as I had been told.
The long way home – 2nd stage – 9 km Njarðvík to Keflavík Airport
Before I reached the highway, there was a gas station and I topped up the car. I had to drop it off with a full tank. It drank another 8.6 liters for ISK 2000. From there it was just a short hop to the end of the road at the airport. I found the Avis rental drop off easily … they had given me a map … but it only opened at 07:00 … so I found a spot near the entrance and parked my funny little car.
A quick check … under the seat and everywhere … nothing left behind … a quick walk around … the car was dirty … but not as dirty as it had been in the Westfjords … the rain during the last few days had washed most of the grim off … there were no new scratches … I was sure! … So I dropped the key in the key box and wheeled my lava heavy suitcase the 500 m toward the departure terminal.
Inside the airport terminal masks were mandatory … good! … and check-in would open soon. I lined up already. There was no self-check-in nowadays … obviously … because they had to check vaccination certificates or tests … I passed the check-in quickly. The line was not long and I had my yellow vaccination booklet ready. I did not need a PCR Test this time, because the Netherlands had classified Iceland as green zone … travelers arriving from there did not need a PCR Test. And by now I was even fully vaccinated by German standards … my 2nd dose was 17 days ago … so no problem to return to Germany without a test either …
I asked for a window seat again … maybe I would be lucky to catch a fleeting glimpse of the volcano again … although I doubted it … the cloud cover was thick and the weather forecast not favourable … Still they gave me an A seat which should be on the correct side …
Before I could pass security check I had to finish my last Skyr … well Vanilla Skyr … I had packed the volcano Skyr together with my lava chunks in the big suitcase … lucky and happy I was that is was right within the weight limit …
But I was not quite ready to go in yet. There was one more geocache I wanted to find. There were actually 2 near the airport and I had attempted to find both of them when we were leaving in 2019. One was in the Rainbow Sculpture at the edge of one of the long term parking areas. It was constructed by Icelandic artist Rúri in 1991 and reached 24 m into the sky, the Rainbow Sculpture, I mean … I could see it from the terminal, but I did not go there because I had successfully logged this cache last time.
The other one was closer to the terminal entrance near an even more impressive sculpture called The Jet Nest. Showing a big steel egg where a jet wing – or Concorde-like nose – was peeking out like a little bird breaking out of its egg. The artwork was designed by Magnús Tómasson. This symbolic piece stood on a pile of Icelandic rocks in the middle of a pond.
The secret box there was supposed to be hidden under one of the rocks surrounding the pond … under rocks … that hint haunt me forever … I would say some 95% of all geocaches in Iceland were hidden under rocks … Last time I did not search for this cache, because there had been just too many people around … not so this time … this early in the morning … 05:30 … and in such special times … there were just a few people in the terminal and I went to have a look.
Several online logs stated the cache was wet or missing … I looked under every possible rock around the pond … maybe I did not look properly … maybe I could not be bothered … I found the spot … I found the rock … I logged it online as found anyway … nobody cared …
On the way to security check I finished my last bottle of Icelandic water … it was actually the only bottle I had bought … I liked the shape and label … I had carried this bottle around the entire island … because I had only used tap water to drink … now was the time to gulp down the whole bottle since it would not get through security … and buy new water in transit would be expensive … so precautiously drinking in advance it was …
Security check was a breeze and then I browsed in the Duty Free Shop. I still had too many ISK in cash to just take home … I got a bunch of miniature bottles Lava Liqueur and Reyka Vodka for souvenirs … it was Buy 5 get 1 Free for ISK 2000 … and a medium bottle of Pink Reykjavík Gin for me. I also took a small wine and some water in a separate bag to drink en route. Then I looked for a coffee shop … I was in desperate need of a coffee …
There was only one open this early … and the line was very very long … I could not be bothered to line up … Instead I went back to the Duty Free Shop and bought another 5 plus 1 mini bottles for more souvenirs … so the cash was finally spent … On the way to the gate I dropped the last post cards I had written in the mail box and then sat and waited … I posted some photos and chatted some … Just after 07:00 the e-mail arrived that the car had been checked and everything was OK … no new scratches … all good … thank you very much.
And there it was … the boarding call … time to say good-bye … what a trip that has been! I could not even begin to express how grateful I was for those past 2 weeks in Iceland! I got to see an erupting volcano live 5 times! I visited some famous sites and most of them were totally empty. I drove all of 4453 km around Iceland! The Polarsteps tracking map of this journey looked mighty impressive!
I burnt 291.3 liters of gasoline! … the most expensive part of this journey, by the way … I found 72 geocaches along the way … But most of all I remembered what it felt to be free again! No restrictions were imposed at my time of visit … other than the entry requirements … Damn … to visit Iceland at this time had been one of the best decisions I had made … and it had been one of the best trips I could have taken anyway!
To be honest … there just were no words enough to describe what it felt like to sit in front of an erupting volcano … I wish any photo or video could do justice to the immense scale, the almost ocean-like sound of the crashing lava – even from a great distance – and the mesmerizing colours dancing over the entire site. The entire experience was so mind blowing that I ended up spending in total between 4 visits more than 8 hrs hiking to the volcano and approx 14 hrs on a hillside in absolute awe! The wind, the rain, the cold … nothing could have turned me away! Furthermore I had flown over the vulcano in a helicopter … I had become a true volcano addict! It was just one of the most incredible things I have ever seen in my life! No picture can do justice to what I have watched up on that hill! The size of it – the heat – the sounds – I cannot put it into a picture, let alone into words …
There were things you just had to do … for me it had been this trip to the volcano! I feel so lucky to have witnessed this so closely and now that this spot I had been sitting at was an island … I feel even luckier! I have spend many hours hiking up this special hill … I have spent many hours staring at this volcano … and I regret not one minute of it! I was extremely humbled and at the same time awed by this tremendous force of nature! … and the lava kept running and running and running … until mid-September … then it stopped and by mid-December the eruption was officially declared over … RIP my favourite volcano!
Go to Iceland. Come home charged.
unknown
The long way home – 3rd stage – Reykjavík to Berlin
Boarding was on time and was quick … I was flying Icelandair to Amsterdam … the plane was half empty once more … it was not as big a plane as when I arrived, but still … plenty space for me. It was sunny over the airport … so I had some tiny hopes to see the monster one last time …
The flight was leaving on time … and as the plane took off … it went more or less straight into the clouds … my hopes sank by every meter the plane ascended … by every minute that passed … It was taking off in the right direction … I would have had the best view ever of the fiery dragon … but the last thing I spotted was the highway #41 leading to Reykjavík …
… then … it was just beautiful clouds … or maybe one of those fluffy piles was the plume of the volcano? … probably not … I was disappointed … but … hey! … I had been so so lucky to see the volcano in such beautiful and different conditions! Maybe it wanted to make the farewell easier for me by not putting a show on when I flew over it …
The flight itself was uneventful otherwise. I pretty much immediately fell asleep after having passed the not visible Reykjanes peninsula … I instinctively woke up when they served drinks … only non-alcoholic was free … but not even I would have taken a drink this early … on a flight within Europe that was … so a coffee and an orange juice were very welcome!
We arrived in Amsterdam punctual … this time around I had less than 2.5 hrs lay-over … so I made my way to Burger King very quickly … yes … I needed a greasy burger! … and … no … I did not take a photo of it this time … I was distracted … because when I turned the mobile on after the flight I had 3 missed calls and an urgent e-mail form the staff department … yeah … in weeks I turned off the mobile phone for the first time and just in those 3 hours life happens … so when I had my burger, I did call back the boss … and had him tell me why the heck I would turn off my mobile phone at all … well … because where I live there are zones of no mobile reception … believe it or not … and sometimes that phone was off for whatever reason that was not of your concern … Well, he did ask if I could be ready to roll within the next 5 days … yes I could … so when I was walking to the gate I called home to have Mom make an appointment with the hairdresser … very important after so many months of being a hippie …
Then I waited at the gate. The flight to Berlin was displayed on time … but I received an SMS from KLM … they even sent it twice! … I was again flying KLM for the next leg of the trip. They wanted me to report to the gate manager … oh well … what now?
It turned out they wanted to check if I had submitted the digital arrival form for Germany … but I did not have to do this! The arrival rules had changed on 13.05.21 … Until that date it had been mandatory for every arrival into Germany to fill this form in … but now it was not necessary anymore unless arriving from a risk region … Iceland was not declared a risk country by Germany either and I was coming from there … so I was absolutely not able to fill this online form in … it would not let me … the Netherlands apparently were a risk country … but I was only transiting the airport … That guy wanted to see a negativ test result … No sir! I do not have one and I do not need one! Because I am fully vaccinated! … He just did not want to have it … I think he neither got the message about the changed rules nor about the International Vaccination Booklet … Sir! I am fully vaccinated! I do not need a negative PCR test to go home to Germany! Do your homework! … It was a disaster … he just would not want to believe it! Fortunately another lady had been on the same flight from Iceland and we both were now pestering him … I actually did the filling in of the online arrival form while he was watching and showed him … it clearly stated … You do not have to submit this form! Thank you very much! Safe travels … Eventually he decided to ask a superior … and what can I say … we were right! He had to just check our vaccination booklet and let us pass! Bah! Homework, baby! Homework would have helped!
My last flight from Amsterdam to Berlin was slightly delayed … and it was a small plane and it was packed! … I was not used to such crowds anymore … I had a window seat and the weather upon arrival looked great. I spotted the old Berlin Tegel Airport which had been the primary international airport of Berlin until Nov 2020 when TXL saw its last flight after all traffic had been transferred gradually to the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport BER. It was legally decommissioned as an airfield after a mandatory transitional period on 05.05.2021.
Last time I had flown into BER Berlin-Brandenburg was after my off the beaten track in Mauritania adventure and it had been from a different direction. And the weather was better today as well … But not much had changed in the couple of months since then … this time there were absolutely no checks at all … nobody wanted to see a vaccination certificate or a PCR test result or even anything else … Well … I was arriving from an EU airport … that might have been the difference … last time I flew in from Istanbul …
The long way home – 4th stage – Berlin to home
Since I knew the lay of the land here already, I pulled my regional train ticket while the luggage carousel was not even running yet … But I was lucky, my suit case came quickly after the thing had started. I had to rush for the train, but I still had time to duck into the supermarket at the station to get some drinks … not only alcohol! … for the ride home. Then I made the 17:38 local train … it was a good 2 hrs train ride with one switch of trains … on the way I tried to jot down notes for the journal …
But I was still all head over heels with that volcano …
Even if they seem quite life-threatening,
volcanos have shaped earth in ways that made life possible.
Konstantia Achilleos
By 19:50 the train reached Senftenberg and Mom picked me up and drove me home the last few kilometers. The next day I received an e-mail from the boss that I would not have too start work as soon as he though … rules had not been checked and now it had turned out we could not resume cruising in France until the beginning of July … so I cancelled my hairdresser appointment again and rather mailed out some of my souvenirs to friends of mine … and I was so delighted that they sent me happy photos when they received the packages …
I have fantasies of going to Iceland, never to return.
Edward Gorey
