Monday, November 1, 2010

Lagoons and Lights Part 1

What can be said about the famous Blue Lagoon spa located about half an hour outside Reykjavik that hasn't already been said? The pictures I took (in a separate post to come) really don't do it justice. The hour long massage I got still doesn't do the place justice. It's just a place that I highly, highly, highly recommend visiting for anyone who comes to Iceland - period. Ok yes it's bit pricey and yes the city of Reykjavik has quite a few public pools that offer similar features as the Blue Lagoon but then again everything is pricey here and what's a few more bucks to head out and see this for yourself??

Oh, a couple of things you'll need to know about public pools and saunas in Iceland. You MUST be clean before you go in them. They do not have chlorine so it is expected/imperative that you are to wash your body before entering the water. They even have diagrams on where on the body you are to focus particular attention! That means you are taking a shower - naked, and no you can't wear your bathing suit in the showers, you'd look stupid, believe me. Do as the Icelanders do, shed the clothes and shower up! Trust me, they have no problems chucking their clothes and getting naked (don't be embarrassed, no one's looking – or so they say but I think that's bullshit, they're looking!), THEN put the bathing suit on and head on out to warm water bliss. I may just have to go back one more time before I leave….yes it was that good and so relaxing and very, very beautiful (the water, not the bodies - although….)

So afterwards, Halli (my tour guide for the day and evening) drove me about an hour outside Reykjavik to a town called Stokkseyri to eat at the famous and extremely popular seaside lobster restaurant; Fjorubordid - famous for their langoustine lobster (not the typical huge lobsters you see in Canada - they are very small and incredibly tasty). The place was jammed when we got there and no, not with tourists as I expected but Icelanders(!). Apparently this is the place that Icelanders will take guests when they really want to impress you with their food!! It was something else to witness because they had a big party going on in there and I got to hear some great Icelander folk songs along with a spirited (aka very drunk) version of Mamma Mia. Damn I wish I brought my video camera to tape that! This hungry man travelling thought the hour long drive was well worth it just for the amazing garlic butter sauce that drenched the lobster tails and potatoes. Or maybe it was the pecan carrot cake I inhaled afterwards that made the trip worthwhile? You can be the judge – look at the food!





Fresh in-house made bread plus three dips: Olive tapenade, a garlic cream sauce and again that sweet caramel sauce quite similar to what I've had at Eigar Ben



The Lobster feast!




Curried couscous with dill cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce with an oil and vinegar dressing.




I have a pretty serious sweet tooth so you can see why I'd love this – check out this beautiful piece of pecan carrot cake!!

Halli and I finished the dinner around 9:30pm and then we headed into his giant 4x4 for a trek to the mountain ranges just outside the city to try and find the Northern Lights. Sadly the Gods weren't smiling on us so we didn't get a chance to see anything but we did get to climb some serious mountain roads with his 4x4!! A little scary I'll admit but totally cool too and I got some great pics of Reykjavik at night from the top of the mountain!




An incredible night overall and honestly it didn't matter too to much that I missed out on seeing the Northern Lights. Yeah I was disappointed but so what - I went to the Blue Lagoon!!From what I ve heard the lights are an intense thing to witness but hey, I'm from Canada, I can see it there too – in fact my sister's boyfriend has seen it outside his own house and he lives about 40 minutes away from my hometown so there you go! Now if I could just figure out a way to get back to the Blue Lagoon….

More pictures to follow this post.

1 comment:

  1. The pictures you have posted over the course of your blogs are awesome, Steve!

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