Day Two: The Blue Lagoon and Thingvellir National Park
I don’t know if I mentioned that we went to bed at 6:45 PM on Tuesday night– remember, the Red Eye flight–but when we woke up in our tent in Reykjavik, Iceland on Wednesday morning at 8:30 AM, Rich looked at me and said, “You slept like an animal.” I think he meant some sort of bear or other hibernating creature, because we were both out. For fourteen hours. Apparently, being without a home and sleeping in a tent suits us. Sorry, mom.
After breakfast at the campsite, a quick walk down by the water in Reykjavik, and some campsite freshening up, we headed to the Blue Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon
So what exactly is the Blue Lagoon? It isn’t natural– they have coined themselves a “geothermal spa,” probably because that sounds better than hot silica and sulfur runoff from the local geothermal power station. The minerals are supposed to do wonders for your skin, and the milky blue water makes for a banging Instagram picture so we booked our pricey $99/person entrance tickets as soon as we knew Iceland was stop #1.
And it was 100% worth it. Here’s why:
- Iceland is cold. The Blue Lagoon is warm. I get it. We booked a trip to a country named Iceland– of course, it’s cold. Still the shock of leaving balmy DC in June and landing in a place where you have to wear two long sleeved shirts, a scarf, a hat, and a jacket was a little jarring. BUT the water in the Blue Lagoon is 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Spending HOURS in a huge jacuzzi was exactly what I needed to start to warm up (ha!) to Iceland a bit more.
- As advertised, it makes your skin feel amazing. Your entrance fee includes a silicon mask that took years off of our faces. Maybe. They definitely felt smooth and tight when we rinsed the clay off.
- We got to shower. We’re camping. The hot shower was glorious. There was a hair dryer. The end.
ThingvellIr National Park
Not our favorite. Our first campground in Rejkjavik had a large kitchen and indoor eating area, free wifi, and super clean bathrooms. The campground at Thingvellir had bugs. Like really a lot of them- gnats that flew right at your face and swarmed around your head like Linus on Peanuts. I know things could be much worse than trying to set up a tent with twenty five bugs trying to fly in my mouth, but I would like to spare my dear readers this experience. If you ever camp in Iceland, camp at the campgrounds with indoor kitchens and no bugs.
On the upside, Wednesday was our third wedding anniversary, and once we finished cooking outdoors being attacked by gnats, we enjoyed an incredibly romantic hot dog dinner in our SUV.
Day Three: Haukadalur Geysers, Gullfoss Waterfall, Kerio Crater Lake, and Lots of Icelandic Horses and Anti-Social Sheep
Haukadalur Geysers
The earth spontaneously spewing gas into the air is kind of crazy, right?
Gullfoss Waterfall
The first of many, many Icelandic waterfalls on the Golden Circle. This waterfall was mighty and awe-inspiring, but I think my favorite part was that all of the signs and literature were devoted to Sigríður Tómasdóttir, an Icelandic woman who led tours for years and then fought to keep the beautiful falls out of private hands. She was rather severe looking but determined. Love it.
Kerio Crater Lake
We almost skipped this one because there was a charge and Iceland is expensive, but we didn’t and it ended up being one of our favorite spots. It is a giant crater with a lake at the bottom, and we were able to hike in a big giant circle and then down to the bottom. Our pictures turned out great, in my humble opinion, and still don’t do the spot justice.
Icelandic Horses and Anti-Social Sheep
So in Iceland, there are horses and sheep everywhere. Since Iceland is an island, the horses were isolated for many years and are a different breed from, umm, normal horses. They are really beautiful but to take a picture of them, you have to pull off the road and then approach animals on someone else’s land. We are not very good at that.
Evidence A: We were driving along, and we saw some sheep! These sheep were outside the fence. Maybe they are wild sheep! Here is our opportunity to Instagram some wild Icelandic sheep!
So Rich pulls a u-turn, we pull in a driveway, approach the sheep….and they run away. Who knew sheep were fast? Maybe they are tired of appearing on Instagram. I got a terrible shot of the sheep, but ended up with a great shot of my handsome husband. More soon!
