We were on the road before day light the next morning and on our way to the general area of the famous Blue Lagoon. It is quite popular and we had made reservations for the afternoon so didn't want to get lost. It actually was quite easy to find and so we were able to do a little sightseeing in the area.
We drove along the rugged coastline and found a place to park and discovered it was a park. The parks in Iceland are seldom marked and not taken care of as we do ours, with signs, outhouses and park rangers. This park did have a metal observation area with a sign cautioning about the rouge waves. We made our way onto the icy platform and began taking pictures. About every tenth of fifteenth way was spectacular,
I was happy to get such a beautiful shot of the Icelandic sheep. There are large barns in Iceland and I suspect the farm animals are treated similarly to those in Norway, if it's stormy they are kept in the barn. The only exception were the horses who seemed to be outside and unattended all the time.
The lagoon is a man-made lagoon in a black lava field which is fed by the water output of the nearby geothermal power plant. Superheated water is vented from the ground near a lava flow. It is 70% seawater and 30% freshwater and rich in blue-green algae, mineral salts, silica, and mud leaving the body soft as a "baby's bum." Then the water is
fed into the lagoon for recreational and medicinal users to bathe in. Blue Lagoon is the largest in the world.
The facial salon...
We drove along the rugged coastline and found a place to park and discovered it was a park. The parks in Iceland are seldom marked and not taken care of as we do ours, with signs, outhouses and park rangers. This park did have a metal observation area with a sign cautioning about the rouge waves. We made our way onto the icy platform and began taking pictures. About every tenth of fifteenth way was spectacular,
I had taken enough photos and it was another rainy and bitingly windy day so I turned to return to the car when...
Hubby let out a scream. He'd been hit by a bone chilling wave from the North Atlantic Ocean! Without a change of clothing we were happy to have the seat warmers and well working heater in the car!
We arrived at the Blue Lagoon at noon, received our robes, flip flops and instructions about the springs. Because the water is so filled with minerals, especially basalt, you are required to shampoo your hair and then put a liberal dose of conditioner on your hair which you leave in. Evidently the failure to do so can cause a few real bad hair days during your stay in Iceland.
The facial salon...
What lifeguards wear in Iceland!
Before we knew it the sun was beginning to set after all it was 3:30pm and the relaxing afternoon had taken all the energy right out of us!
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