Iceland. Rugged, brooding, mist shrouded. It was cold after the UK.
We hired a car, necessary to get around, and visited the land bridge where the American and European plates are pulling apart. It was very windy and quite chilly.
There are few signs and no souvenirs. It’s just a little bridge across a not very deep ravine, but amusing to walk from the American plate to the Eurasian plate, and to be able to say you’d done so!
But the place to go when it’s a bit chilly is the Blue Lagoon. Warm/hot geothermal mineral waters. Like a huge, healthy bath.
The lagoon can be seen from the outside, but from the inside it’s amazing. After getting changed, and showering naked (compulsory!), I walked down the steps and into the lagoon area in a towelling robe, available to be used freely.
Stepping into the lagoon was like walking into a very large, perfect bath. The warmth envelops you and you can float, without any effort, due to the high mineral content of the pale, grey-blue water. It tasted very salty and the air is ripe with sulphur. It was like being in a different world.
The size means that although, there were a lot of people in there, it did not feel crowded; quite the reverse. Areas of the water are hotter than others, not that I minded, but some may find it uncomfortable. There are separate pools to lie in and a waterfall to stand underneath, and round one of the edges are buckets of mud for applying to your face and body. Total spa treatment!
Getting out was not so pleasant with temperatures around 14 degrees. The showers are equipped with plentiful supplies of shower gel and hair conditioner, but my hair still felt like straw afterwards.
After that we were off to Reykjavik. This is the capital city and houses approx. 60% of the population of Iceland.The Hallgrimmskirkja dominates the city and is an architectural marvel.
From the front it’s an elongated fluted triangle, the tower is very tall – and has a lift for visitors to get an aerial view over Reykjavik.
We had to go up as it was unexpectedly open. Views from the top showed how flat Iceland is round the edges and how small Reykjavik is.
Darkness fell at around midnight with sunrise about 2am. It was strange coming out after dinner, in a charming little fish restaurant, to daylight.