The whole world seems to be feeling a bit blue these days...so I thought I'd hop on the bandwagon.
I'm not talking elections or politics, as everyone else seems to have that well in hand. I'm talking about a different kind of "blue."
Our trip to the Blue Lagoon, in Iceland this summer!
About time, huh? Only five months later. Emily, however, has promised her pro-quality photos sometime soon, so I figured I'd start us off. The scene: a driveway in Lakeville, trying to jimmy four giant suitcases into the backseat of a towncar. (For the record: my suitcase was officially the lightest of all five at both the beginning and end of the trip. 37 pounds what up what upppp!)
Mom, Dad, Jonathan and I met up with Em, fresh from Cincinnati, at MSP. As soon as we made it through security in Terminal 2 (IcelandAir ftw, no security lines!), Dad and Em invested in some stylin' neck pillows...
...while Jonathan invested in the soup of the day at the airport Barrio. We all enjoyed a margarita and some guacamole before boarding our flight...such a fun way to cheers to the beginning of a trip eight months in the making!
That look of excitement though. Hahahaaaaaa.
Jodester and I tucked in and headphoned up to watch movies the whole way over...the five-hour flight flew by, especially with this view out the window:
This is the darkest it got over the course of our overnight flight. Actually, it's probably the darkest it got over our entire Iceland leg of the trip...we were there during the Midnight Sun, as seen in my post about our AirBnB experience!
Landing in Iceland at 6am after no sleep felt like landing on a different planet. The air was incredibly clear and the skies seemed more blue than I'd ever seen before. We quickly boarded a shuttle bus at Keflavik Airport to the Blue Lagoon...one of the most convenient tours/deals we found was this one. Since so many people choose to take advantage of IcelandAir's unique "stopover" option, shuttles run between the airport and the Blue Lagoon hourly. From the Blue Lagoon, tourists have the option to go back to the airport and continue their flights, or to go onward to Reykjavik, which we did!
The walk from the parking lot to the entrance to the Blue Lagoon winds through volcanic fields...truly an otherworldly sight.
I must admit, from the photos we'd seen online of the Blue Lagoon, I didn't entirely know what to expect. It appeared to be some sort of tranquil, weird outdoor nature preserve...
...when in actuality, it's a full-fledged spa and entertainment complex. Not gonna lie...totally not what I had envisioned. Different, but still just amazing.
We checked in with our tour passes and received digital wristbands that would enable us to access lockers and, more importantly, charge our linked credit card at the in-lagoon bar (UM HI). From there, we headed through a maze of locker rooms where we got changed into swimsuits (conveniently packed in our carry-ons!), showered down and picked up towels. From there, it was straight into the lagoon, which was hot-tub temperature and featured the most weirdly brilliant, opaque turquoise water I'd ever seen.
The lagoon is carved out of volcanic/glacial pits in the middle of a lava field, and holds some of the most mineral-dense water in the world. Mud from the lagoon and surrounding fields is supposedly therapeutic, and the water is naturally heated by geothermal activity. Fun fact: all Iceland's hot water is naturally hot - no man-made heating there! The drawback: it smells sulfuric...made for some delicious showers at our AirBnB ;)
There's no filter on any of these photos...the sky was truly that saturated, deep cerulean, and the water honestly looked like spilled aqua paint. Champagne in hand, we sat back and relaxed - soaking out airport nastiness and relaxing after having been up for nearly 24 hours at that point.
I've drunk a lot of champagne in a lot of places...but this is hands-down the coolest, weirdest place I've ever popped bottles!
After a few hours soaking and taking it all in, we were pruny and lagooned out. If you're headed to Iceland, I highly recommend a quick stop by the Blue Lagoon post-flight...it's touristy for sure, but all things considered, a fun, relaxing and totally unique way to kick off a vacation!