Nick and I spent a long weekend in Iceland with my friends Cherise and Leighton for Cherise's birthday We got in pretty late on the Fri night thanks to the time difference. Our dinky little 2 star accommodation was small with a shrunken bathroom and plain breakfast but a very handy location (although it turns out Reykjavik is pretty small so that's not hard).
And it's quiet! Finally a place in Europe which didn't feel claustrophobic. Not that I think you can class Iceland as Europe? Who knows but I was loving it! Of course it was bitterly cold but hey you've really got to expect that in a country called Iceland!
We spent the morning window shopping because it turns out there's not much else to do in the town (besides drinking) and even the shops don't open till 11am. So it seemed to be a place that slept a lot (my kind of town!). Lots of wool shops and outdoorsy places so not bad as far as shopping went.
We had coffee in the best cofee shop in Reykjavik (that's all they sold!), tried on funny wollen hats and even cuddled up to a polar bear (not a real one). Lots and lots of tourist shops around so you could try on all sorts of fun things. We had a blast in the morning just goofing around.
Our package deal meant that we had the afternoon in the Blue Lagoon, Iceland's famous outdoor thermal spa. The bus ride out there was amazing through the lava fields. Iceland is like a whole different world. Words can't describe it, the closest I can say is it really was like we were driving through the moon or Mordor or an alien planet or something. Either way it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Sorry no photos as I didn't take my camera since we'd be swimming (these photos I got off Cherise). But photos taken through the window of a moving bus really wouldn't do it justice anyway.
The Blue Lagoon was incredible. It's thermal pools in the middle of these amazing lava fields and it's misty and hot and eerie and very very cool! The changing rooms were an experience in themselves as in Iceland it is customary to shower naked before and after thermal spas in communal showers. Luckily this places is touristy enough that they don't enforce it. I was worried about how to get from the changing rooms into the pools without freezing but luckily Cherise and I spotted an indoor section of the hot pool which lead outside through a door. Very good idea!
The lagoon has this mud stuff (silica mud mask) which I think comes from the ground of the spas but is added to and put in boxes around the lagoon. You are supposed to smear it over your face and body to cleanse the skin. People looked hilarious wearing it.We had landed in Reykjavik during a music festival weekend and there was a DJ in one end of the lagoon playing dance music and lots of people dancing around in the water with their fluorescent sticks. A laugh watching them!
It was very easy to relax away the hours in the spa. I think we were there for about 4-5 hours. Some areas were so steamed up you could barely see your hand in front of you and there weren't actually that many people, so it wasn't hard to find quiet spots. Some areas of the pools were much hotter than others and I had contests with myself to see how long I could stay in the really hot parts.
We caught the bus back into town and the swimming had made us hungry so we found an Italian place in our budget (Iceland is expensive). Sad to say I tried very little Icelandic food but then I wasn't going to ever eat whale or puffin anyway so no biggie. I did however try their local fish (yum) and icelandic lamb soup (double yum!). We practically lived on the lamb soup. So good.
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