Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Day 2 and Rock City's Iceland Cousin

Eryn has classes during the day, so we waited until she was done to do anything. Getting a late start meant our choices were limited. with the Blue Lagoon a half hour drive away, we decided that was the place to go.

The best thing about going to Iceland in November is there are virtually no tourists. One of the key tourist traps on the island is a place called the Blue Lagoon, geothermal health spa. More than a public pool (one of the major native pastimes is swimming - the public pools are the place to see and be seen), BL has a bar and restaurant, masseurs etc. The key attraction which distinguishes it from the other geothermal pools is the "therapeutic" mud, a white mush of calcium, silica and blue-green algae that is supposed to make you look younger.

So going on a foggy night in November, we almost had the multi-acre pool to ourselves, or at least the illusion of having it to ourselves. About 34 degrees air temp and around 100 degrees water temp, faces smeared with white goo, Steph with her ever present Pepsi and I with a plastic tumbler of the local brew (appropriately called "Viking") we enjoyed a refreshing bit of kitschy tourism. If you cannot afford the professional massage personnel (who will give you the treatment while in the pool) you can saunter over to the waterfall that poors heated water off the roof of one of the buildings, the sensation described in one of the advertisments somewhere as like a shoulder massage at the hands of trolls, or some such. From what I have gathered of Icelandic folklore, a troll masseur would not be something you would want to seek out for therapeutic reasons unless masochism is your idea of therapy. In any event, it really did feel delightful.




One final bit of whimsy, Stephanie and I decided to take the occasion of our relaxaton to do a little Tai Chi while there.

Final evaluation: It is, as with many things in Iceland, expensive to go to the Blue Lagoon, but if you want to do one touristy thing and you can avoid the crowds, it is worth it as a once kind of thing.

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