The Blue Lagoon

My lovely friend Luis told me yesterday (via internet) that he cried when he visited the Blue Lagoon. I thought he was being a bit too sensitive, or exaggerating a little.  But as soon as we approached the Lagoon, that blue water brought tears to my eyes. 

This is one of the most visited places in Iceland and definitely one not to be missed! It is less than a hour drive from downtown Reykjavik, and even closer to the airport. 

 The Blue Lagoon is actually a man made lagoon. It uses water from a nearby geothermal power plant and it is renewed every two days.

From Wikipedia: The warm waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulphur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases such aspsoriasis. The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 37–39 °C (98–102 °F). The Blue Lagoon also operates a research and development facility to help find cures for other skin ailments using the mineral-rich water.

The lagoon is a spa and you can buy different packages: standard, comfort, premium and luxury. We chose the comfort one, which gave us the entrance, a bathrobe, a towel, skin care trial package, an algae mask scrub and a drink. All for 60 Euros, or about CAN $85, a person. Here is Julia getting her drink: a raspberry slushy. 

Mom and dad preferred something more substantial... like a beer.

The lagoon has a couple of spots for silica mud mask, for free.

The silica mud mask is supposed to exfoliate your skin. It just feels really good because the mud dries on your skin making it feel like you are really getting some immediate results.

Although, you never look as beautiful as the girls on the spa's brochures. But you sure feel good.

This was one of the girls favourite spots to hang out: a cave.

I preferred the waterfall.

This group of Chinese tourists were hilarious and insisted on performing "synchronized swimming" for my camera. 

Part of our package was the algae mask scrub, that is supposed to make you look younger. Maybe I didn't use enough...

According to Wikipedia: In 1976 a pool formed at the site from the waste water of the geothermal power plant that had just been built there. In 1981 people started bathing in it after the discovery of its healing powers for psoriasis. In 1992 the Blue Lagoon company was established and the bathing facility was opened for the public.

This is the scenery all around it. I guess that's the moon-like-view that people talk about.

It's just astonishing!

After 6 hours at the Blue Lagoon, we followed the rainbow and headed back to the city.

Since the girls took a nap in the car and were not tired at all when we got back to the hotel, we went for a walk in downtown Reykjavik.

This is the "Mother's Garden."

From Wikipedia: Tjörnin is a prominent small lake in central Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. Most visitors to the city pass along its shore, as it is situated in the city centre next to the Reykjavik City Hall and several museums. Tjörnin means "the lake" or "the pond". Tarn, meaning "mountain lake", is a northern English dialect word derived from the Norse word tjörn and its genitive/plural tjarnar. Bird feeding on the lake shore, a popular pastime, has led to the lake being called "the biggest bread soup in the world" (stærsta brauðsúpa í heimi). Tjörnin was the setting for scenes in the 2010 Icelandic movie Gauragangur.

 Some art to finish the day... and hopefully make us think.

Children Day

 The girls have been so good on this trip (so far) that we thought they deserved a day just for them. So, we decided to visit which is probably the only attraction for children in Reykjavik: the zoo (address Hafrafell v/ Engjaveg, Reykjavik Centre, 104)

 This is a perfect place for children (btw, children up to 4 years old don't pay admission). And the botanical gardens are right beside it - but we never made it there.

Finally the sun came out for a few hours in the morning and they could play outside on these fantastic wooden playgrounds. A pirate ship and a playground for toddlers. What else do we need? 

The excavators kept Mike entertained for a while. The machine actually works!

My little Fifi had a great time.

Crossing the lake on a floating boat with daddy. They don't get to do this in Canada. 

After having an amazing time in the park, we decided to visit the animals. This is not a regular zoo with lions, bears or giraffes. Instead, it's a place where you can see mostly native animals from Iceland... I am not sure about the reptiles.

Nice horns!

I see you, Mr. Lizard.

Camouflaged. 

Connection.

Posing.

Baaaahhhh.

Beautiful Icelandic horses.

 When the weather started acting up a bit it was time for lunch. Finally we got to try Iceland's most popular food: hot dogs. These stands are everywhere and people here really love their hot dogs.

I had a traditional hot dog with bacon. Toppings: fried onions, mayonnaise and mustard. Not bad.

I don't have to explain too much because the pictures say everything. After lunch, we went to the most fun thermal pool in Reykjavik: Laugardaulslaug. Basically, it's located beside the children's park and zoo.

 Underwater smile.

This is an amazing structure with a 50 meter outdoor pool for lane swimming, a huge children's pool with three slides, a bridge, toys and "hot pots." Apparently they also have a steam bath, gym and a mini golf course, but we didn't even have a chance to see them.

This is an awesome slide. It's about 4-5 stories high, all enclosed and some parts are really dark with different lights. Very trippy! Julia loved it. As you as she came out of the water after sliding down she would day: "again!"

Sofia relaxed a lot in the "hot pots" at 38 degrees. She would get mad if we moved her to the big pool where the water was a couple degrees colder. The temperature outside was 10 degrees and it was raining the whole time. But we didn't care. 

After using all that energy we definitely needed to eat again, but I wanted "real food" this time. So, we found - not too far from the pool - this traditional Icelandic restaurant.  

 I had haddock (fish) au gratin (with cheese on top melted in the oven) with fries. And Mike had a delicious lamb meal with potatoes and vegetables.

At 7:30pm Julia gave up and fell asleep on the table... holding her chicken nugget! I assume she had a great day!