Iceland Day 1: The Blue Lagoon
An early start for the 7.45am flight to Reykjavik, which took longer than you might expect at a little over three hours. Iceland is in the same time zone as the UK so we landed around 11am at Keflavik airport, which is unexpectedly tiny (for arrivals at least). It took only a few minutes to emerge from the terminal and meet up with the rest of the gang, gathered to celebrate Helen's 40th birthday.
The weather was unusually mild for the time of year: around 8-10 degrees, windy, and tipping down with rain. First impressions of the scenery from the transfer bus were of a bleak, windswept land, littered with rocks and sparse, brown grass.
A short bus ride took us to the Blue Lagoon spa. The lagoon was originally formed from a pool of waste water from the neighbouring geothermal waste plant. People discovered that bathing in the warm silica-rich water did wonders for their skin, and eventually the pool evolved into the modern attraction.
Firstly Helen, Alan and I visited the Lava Restaurant for some welcome lunch. The spa building has been cunningly and beautifully built into the surrounding volcanic rock, with a solid rock face forming one wall of the restaurant, and in places the wooden floor has been cut to fit around rocky outcrops. It's really quite stunning. The service was friendly and attentive - everyone speaks English in Iceland - and I plumped for the Langoustine menu at around £35 for three courses (well, it was Helen's birthday, so we were splashing out!). I have to say I was gobsmacked by the quality of the food. The frothy langoustine soup enriched with white chocolate was deliciously savoury but not overwhelmingly fishy, served over a gaggle of langoustine tails. Possibly a little too rich, I couldn't finish it all. For my main I had the most beautifully cooked blue ling, crispily golden on the skin side and just cooked within. The presentation was faultless and as good as anything I have seen or tasted in London. Finished off with a coffee and orange creme brulee and a bottle of sparkling white Rioja, it really was a meal to remember. I had been warned that food in Iceland is expensive, but frankly I've spent twice that on meals in London for nowhere near the quality.
Anyway, enough about food for now.
The spa works on a clever wristband system (similar to the one at the Thermae spa in Bath) so that you don't have to worry about carrying cash around with you. There are luggage lockers for people transferring directly to or from the airport, towels and robes can be hired, and I was very impressed with the information screens in the changing rooms indicating which lockers were free, saving tromping around searching for an empty one.
Icelanders are very keen on cleanliness and you are required to shower without your costume on before entering the pool. Quite a few of the Brits around seemed to have trouble grasping that, despite the large signs in English. *sigh*
The first thing that hits you as you walk out into the lagoon area (apart from the cold wind and stinging rain on this occasion!) is the colour of the water - a brilliant but milky pale blue, contrasting vividly with the surrounding black volcanic rock. Steam rises from the surface, giving the whole thing an otherworldly, almost alien quality. The water is warm, with hotter spots close the vents where the water is pumped in from the power station. I was surprised to find that, unlike the natural spas I'd visited in New Zealand, the bottom of the lagoon was sandy and rocky and varied wildly in depth, making it very easy to stub your toes or get inelegantly beached in a shallow patch, as I learned to my cost! The lagoon seems quite large when you're in it, an effect that was probably magnified by the swirling steam which totally obscured the view of the edges from time to time. In the middle of the lagoon the wind was whipping up waves and stinging my face, but the rest of me stayed pleasantly warm.
Around the edge of the lagoon are pots of silica mud with which you can liberally slather yourself. My skin felt wonderfully soft and smooth after leaving this on for 15 minutes. There is also a steam room, a waterfall which gives a great shoulder massage, a swim-up bar and you can buy various treatments including in-water massages.
After about an hour and a half the weather was getting the better of me so I changed and took some time to take photos from the viewing platforms before catching the transfer bus into Reykjavik.
The weather was unusually mild for the time of year: around 8-10 degrees, windy, and tipping down with rain. First impressions of the scenery from the transfer bus were of a bleak, windswept land, littered with rocks and sparse, brown grass.
A short bus ride took us to the Blue Lagoon spa. The lagoon was originally formed from a pool of waste water from the neighbouring geothermal waste plant. People discovered that bathing in the warm silica-rich water did wonders for their skin, and eventually the pool evolved into the modern attraction.
Firstly Helen, Alan and I visited the Lava Restaurant for some welcome lunch. The spa building has been cunningly and beautifully built into the surrounding volcanic rock, with a solid rock face forming one wall of the restaurant, and in places the wooden floor has been cut to fit around rocky outcrops. It's really quite stunning. The service was friendly and attentive - everyone speaks English in Iceland - and I plumped for the Langoustine menu at around £35 for three courses (well, it was Helen's birthday, so we were splashing out!). I have to say I was gobsmacked by the quality of the food. The frothy langoustine soup enriched with white chocolate was deliciously savoury but not overwhelmingly fishy, served over a gaggle of langoustine tails. Possibly a little too rich, I couldn't finish it all. For my main I had the most beautifully cooked blue ling, crispily golden on the skin side and just cooked within. The presentation was faultless and as good as anything I have seen or tasted in London. Finished off with a coffee and orange creme brulee and a bottle of sparkling white Rioja, it really was a meal to remember. I had been warned that food in Iceland is expensive, but frankly I've spent twice that on meals in London for nowhere near the quality.
Anyway, enough about food for now.
The spa works on a clever wristband system (similar to the one at the Thermae spa in Bath) so that you don't have to worry about carrying cash around with you. There are luggage lockers for people transferring directly to or from the airport, towels and robes can be hired, and I was very impressed with the information screens in the changing rooms indicating which lockers were free, saving tromping around searching for an empty one.
Icelanders are very keen on cleanliness and you are required to shower without your costume on before entering the pool. Quite a few of the Brits around seemed to have trouble grasping that, despite the large signs in English. *sigh*
The first thing that hits you as you walk out into the lagoon area (apart from the cold wind and stinging rain on this occasion!) is the colour of the water - a brilliant but milky pale blue, contrasting vividly with the surrounding black volcanic rock. Steam rises from the surface, giving the whole thing an otherworldly, almost alien quality. The water is warm, with hotter spots close the vents where the water is pumped in from the power station. I was surprised to find that, unlike the natural spas I'd visited in New Zealand, the bottom of the lagoon was sandy and rocky and varied wildly in depth, making it very easy to stub your toes or get inelegantly beached in a shallow patch, as I learned to my cost! The lagoon seems quite large when you're in it, an effect that was probably magnified by the swirling steam which totally obscured the view of the edges from time to time. In the middle of the lagoon the wind was whipping up waves and stinging my face, but the rest of me stayed pleasantly warm.
Around the edge of the lagoon are pots of silica mud with which you can liberally slather yourself. My skin felt wonderfully soft and smooth after leaving this on for 15 minutes. There is also a steam room, a waterfall which gives a great shoulder massage, a swim-up bar and you can buy various treatments including in-water massages.
After about an hour and a half the weather was getting the better of me so I changed and took some time to take photos from the viewing platforms before catching the transfer bus into Reykjavik.