The Blue Lagoon

After the Arts and Crafts Fair, we went back to the apartment to get the car and took a drive to the famous Blue Lagoon hot springs.  We'd been reading reviews and comments about it and it sounded a little complicated! Some people complained that you have to shower naked in front of other people before you go into the water.  Others complained that the sulfuric waters would wreak havoc on your hair so be sure to put lots of conditioner on it and try not to get it wet. There were comments about the crowds, gross stuff in the water, problems with the lockers. We were kind of overwhelmed before we even set out, but we'd already bought tickets so we were committed!

We had a nice drive and arrived just in time for our assigned check in.  We had to go to separate men's and women's locker rooms and I was a little concerned about not being able to find Rich once I emerged from the dressing area.  You really did not have to shower naked in front of other people--there were individual shower stalls and I saw some women leaving their bathing suits on, but Scandanavians are not necessarily as prudish as Americans so there were plenty of women walking around without clothes. No big deal. I showered and slathered a bunch of conditioner on my hair as suggested, pulled it back in a little bun while it was wet, and made my way outside.  (No problems with the lockers, either).

 Oh, my goodness, I was in heaven. The water was SO warm.  It was a little bit of a chilly day, though not super cold, and the water felt great.  There were a few areas where it was even hotter and I loved just sitting there and feeling the warmth.  We also smeared some volcanic rock paste on our faces--it's supposed to be really good for your skin. I didn't get my hair wet so I didn't have any problems with it being dried out and brittle afterwards, as we'd read about.  And there was nothing nasty in the water. I don't know where these people got all their complaints but we had a totally lovely time.

After soaking and swimming around for a couple of hours, we had lunch in the cafe and then headed back to Reykjavik for the night.

There are lots of hot springs and soaking pools in Iceland and many of the articles we read suggested that we forego the touristy Blue Lagoon and soak in one of the local pools available around the country.  It probably would have been a completely different experience and if we'd had time, I would have loved to have tried them all.  :)