TRAVEL FEATURE - ICELAND
FRANCESCO CICCARELLO ( W ) / SERENA BARONCINI ( P )
A LAND OF FIRE AND ICE
That Iceland is an island of fire and ice is a well-known fact , but it is less known that it is one of the few places left in Europe where you can truly savor solitude . A motorbike , a tent , and the nature that surrounds us with its elements ; we thought we were prepared for this challenge but , once again , the journey had twisted our plans and our beliefs .
When the Norrona made her sirens sing in the placid waters of Seyðisfjörður we woke from the torpor of the three days of navigation that separated us from the distant Danish coast . By saying goodbye to the small port , we took the 93 entering the fog that became sleet on the 600 metres of the pass ; the bitter cold and the winter landscape were the opening credits of our trip .
Egilsstaðir and Lake Lagarfljót presented a unique landscape in this land because here there is the largest forest on the island with almost no trees . Of course , these are not giant sequoias since , as an Icelandic saying goes , to not get lost in this maze of dwarf birch trees just raising your head in not enough .
The sun made itself visible on our way to the Hengifoss waterfall which struck us with its thunderous leap into the gorge of brown and reddish rocks . Those rays would be the cruelest illusion as we would be advancing on the 85 to reach Þórshöfn under pouring rain . We settled in the campsite , a camp equipped with a container in which there were hot showers and toilets . The town seemed to be in hibernation , and we had never felt more Martian than when we entered the small supermarket with our riding gear covered with red soil . At night , the wind is so strong that we fear it will raise the tent and take away the precious rain cover .
When we woke , we saw that everything was still standing , we
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