First full day in Iceland we caught the 9am transfer to the famous Blue Lagoon. It was a chilly 1 degree Celsius with a windchill of -5 or so. And we’re to go swimming outdoors...it’s a concept that is hard to compute.
40 min drive and we are in a vast lava field with steam rising from the Lagoon. We get a bracelet to pay for any services inside and head for the locker rooms. Once in your swimsuit and showered, head outside and get in that water as fast as you damn well can! Standing wet and barefoot outdoors in -5 degree weather turns uncomfortable in a big hurry.
But omg the warmth of the water! It’s soooo warm. Between 95 and 105 Fahrenheit all year, heated by geothermal activity. The depth of the Lagoon only gets about to chest deep at the deepest point we found. The bottom is compacted to feel like concrete for most of it but gets pebbly if you wander to the far edges. There is a waterfall that pounds your back with the force of a shiatsu massage, but if you prefer you can get an actual in-water massage treatment. Several steam rooms and dry saunas to mix it up. There is a swim up bar for drinks and a swim up mud mask station. The natural silica in the water is supposed to be great for the skin. I didn’t really feel any difference with my skin afterwards but my nails did seem more brittle.
Also So surreal seeing all the lifeguards in parkas.
Very relaxing but after over an hour we were feeling a bit overheated (despite my ears feeling like they were getting frostbitten) so we packed up.
Mark was glad to finally be able to show off his Icelandic tattoo that he’s had for several years to people who might recognize it, and a few did. It’s an Icelandic rune called Vegvisir and is a protection symbol for safe navigation.
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