Here are the boys, a little over halfway up the hill! It was a lot more grueling and dusty than it looked.
Our next stop (Kirkjugolf) was actually just a few miles north of us and a short hike through a sheep-filled pasture. The smooth basalt columns there were once assumed to be the floor of church, however, its just a naturally occurring honeycomb-pattern of basalt columns that looks like it was placed there.
Nonetheless, we felt inspired to form our own little church choir (Ryan included). And since the only song the three of us all knew was Katy Perry's "Firework," that's what we belted out. ;-)
Check out the 'church floor,' pretty amazing, right? It definitely looked like it was there because of man and not nature.
On our way back, we stopped off to see this black sand beach with a famous arch set in the rocks (visitors can opt to ride a boat through the tunnel on the far left).
Joey also spotted some Icelandic horses grazing nearby and taught Ryan how to pull grass out to feed them.
But our final destination that day was the much ballyhooed Blue Lagoon (prounounced Blau-ah Lone-eeth by the locals) near Keflavik. Driving through the lava field there, we could see the tall, shining metal towers of the geothermal plant powering the lagoon.
But once you pulled into the parking lot, it was all luxury (at 30 Euro, or about $45 US per person to get in...it should be)! First we took a family photo of the happy couples and their children...
And then we took one of the single people...tee hee.
The rules to the lagoon were the same as any other public swimming pool in the country- disrobe, bathe in the nude, put on your swimsuit, dash out into the warm water so you don't freeze your buns off! Of course the luxe Blue Lagoon took it up a notch with a beautiful locker room, complete with heated granite floors and waterproof wrist bands that granted you access the facility, opened/locked your locker and allowed you to charge food and beverages (like the $4.50 ice cream cone Ryan inhaled while swimming from the pool side bar...he asked for another but was denied). It was all quite futuristic.
The lagoon itself was everything I'd dreamed of- milky blue, steaming warm water (filled with blue-green algae, minerals and silica mud) set among a lava field background.
There was also a heated, pounding waterfall to massage away your stress, multiple steam rooms (the one to the left was within a lava rock cave)...
...and boxes filled with the silica mud for you to spread all over your body, let dry, and then wash off.
Even Ryan got into spirit of things and made sure to properly coat everyone!
My favorite were the caves that allowed you to sit and soak away from the sun (believe it or not, even in 40-50 degree weather, we were getting sunburned).
We loved the Blue Lagoon, it's definitely a place you can spend half the day at lounging about. Of all the things we did in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon was the intended highlight.
Side note: I was forewarned about how much the water would wreak havoc on my hair, and prepared accordingly. Not only did I deep condition my hair three times in the shower at the Lagoon, but I did the same thing the next two nights. However, it is only now, about 4 nights later...that my hair is finally not completely dry, brittle and straw like. And though my skin was definitely smooth and baby soft when we got out, it was also a bit dry. I got my revenge though. In the spa gift shop I liberally applied some of their hoity toity, overpriced $140 facial serum (from a tiny tester bottle) to my face, Ryan's and Joey's. I even ran down my father and forcibly slathered some on his face too (which sufficiently traumatized him, trust me). So even though we all left with straw-hair, our faces were glistening and well moisturized. :-)
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