In my quest to be in a geothermal pool every day - which has so far been successful - the Blue Lagoon fit right in with that plan. Our day to visit the Blue Lagoon ended up being Easter Sunday which, in the grand scheme of things, worked out quite nicely, since most things would be closed that day.
Here's a quick history of the Blue Lagoon from its website:
The Blue Lagoon was accidentally formed in 1976 during operation at the nearby geothermal power plant. In the years that followed, people began bathe in the unique water and apply the silica mud to their skin. Those with psoriasis noticed an incredible improvement in their condition. Over the years, Blue Lagoon has been innovative in harnessing this gift of nature to develop different spa services and products.
So Sunday morning, after the Easter Bunny visited my room (isn't Todd the best?)...
and the entire hotel (thanks, Hilton!)...
...we set off on the 40 minute drive to the Blue Lagoon. After arriving and paying our admission (as well as renting bathrobes, towels, and getting a package with a free drink and face scrub), we split up to head to our respective locker rooms and planned to meet up in the Lagoon. The locker rooms are pretty high tech - everyone gets a bracelet with some electronic gadget in it that allows you to lock and unlock your locker. Once you've claimed a locker, it shows up as unavailable on a screen near the entrance. Pretty nifty.
Let me preface the rest of this post and all the pictures by saying that we did not have ideal weather for our visit. The wind was insane which made it a bit chilly in the water, particularly in the middle of the lagoon. After an initial exploration of the entire lagoon, our primary goal was to find a hot spot where water was entering the lagoon and stay put. Aside from pretty much freezing our asses off, we had a great time. :)
Mijin's face may indicate that the water isn't as warm as we would like it to be.
Cathy, Mijin, and I hovering in a warm spot.
Wanna know what the lifeguards wear on a day like this? The same clothes one would use to discover the North Pole.
You may be wondering where Todd is in these pictures. Todd (and later in the afternoon Katie and Jim) signed up for one hour in water massages. All reported that it was awesome AND they were kept warm via the blankets you'll see in the pictures and the mad skills of their masseuses who regularly dunked their bodies in the warm water. Clearly they were hogging all the warm water :).
Like a dead king on a funeral barge...
While Todd was staying warm and getting massaged, the rest of did our face scrubs. Everyone had to choose between the algae mask or the volcanic ash mask. I choose volcanic and everyone else selected algae - smart choice on their part. After choosing, you were handed a FROZEN BALL of the scrub of your choice which WAS FREAKING COLD, particularly on a day like this one. You then rubbed the frozen ball all over your face, waited for 15 minutes, and then rinsed it off. Except for the cold, this was a pleasant experience for everyone except me because the volcanic ash scrub feels like razor blades. But c'est la vie. Our faces felt lovely at the end even though mine felt like it had been scraped off in the process. Live and learn.
The painful faces are due to how cold the dang ball of scrub is.
Cathy and I join in, and I try and mask the pain.
To celebrate the rinsing of the masks, Cathy got her free drink which was served at the lagoonside bar.
The others headed in for lunch while I collected Todd after his massage.
After lunch, we psyched ourselves to go back in one more time (sans camera). After an hour (maybe), we bailed. While Katie and Jim got their massages, Cathy, Mijin, and I headed up to the viewing platform to take some pictures of the lagoon and the crazy volcanic rock that covers the landscape in this area.
Back in Reykjavik, we grabbed dinner at one of the few restaurants open on Easter Sunday and then finished the day with Nutella crepes and gelato in Toblerone cones at Eldur & Is (which is owned by the brother of an Icelandic woman I accidentally met at a bar in Silver Spring, MD).
Blue Lagoon. Check.
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