Day 4: The Blue Lagoon!
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Sorta like a Horror Movie!
You know those horror movies, especially like from the Twilight Zone where you go outside and everyone is gone, poof! disappeared! This morning was like that in Vik! With coffees from the Hotel in hand the Boys drove slowly out of Olafvik where everything was closed and no one was out walking, almost as if the locals had been beamed up to the mothership (or maybe Norway!)
Mike and Bone decided to drive that morning around the southern part of the Snaefellsnes peninsula to check it out it’s villages and natural wonders on their way back to Reykjavik to hit the Town before they flew out the next morning.
Coasting the Peninsula
Driving South, the Boys encountered some incredible scenes this early morning.
Unbelievable Coastal Vistas !
"Where is Judy Garland when you need her!"
Quaint, Coastal Towns
Coasting the Peninsula into Alfred Hitchcock’s Birds! The first set of little villages was, Hellissandur, which had been a major fishing center and Rif one of the main trading ports on Snaefellsnes.
Coasting the Peninsula into Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" !
Stopping for some pictures Mike and Bone found out that the area between Hellissandur and Rif is a bird-lovers' paradise and one of the largest arctic tern nesting areas in Iceland as soon Mike and Bone found out!
As soon as the Boys got out of the car the birds started to dive bomb them! After a few tense moments where both boy and bird almost hit each other, Mike and Bone retreated to the car and continued their journey down the coast.
The reason the Boys risked the wrath of the Iceland Tern Airforce was to try to capture the incredible sight of the Snæfellsjökull Volcano!
The Iconic Snæfellsjökull Volcano
The Snæfellsjökull Volcano, is regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland. At 4747 feet, it is the highest mountain on the peninsula and has a glacier at its peak (jökull means "glacier" in Icelandic).
The volcano can be seen on clear days all the way from Reykjavík, which is of about 90 miles away. The mountain is also known as the setting of the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth by the French author Jules Verne. The area surrounding Snæfellsjökull has been designated one of the four National Parks by the government of Iceland.
The Volcano is also one of the main settings in the Laxdœla saga and it was, according to this saga, the birthplace of the first West Norse member of the Varangian Guard, Bolli Bollasson. Other historical people who lived in the area according to the saga include Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, Bolli Þorleiksson and Snorri Goði,
All hero’s of Mike and Bone (!?!?)
"Volcanic Debris, as far as the eye can See"
For the next 45 minutes the Boys essentially drove around the Volcano and also its effects.
"Yep! Some of it IS bigger than a House!"
Through the National Park along the coast road was coal-black lava fields and area of lava “bombs” or projectiles from the Volcano which last erupted 2,000 years ago. Some of the rocks were the size of a toaster, others the size of a house!
Iconic Volcanic Beach Cliffs
Windswept Mike and Bone!
Amazing Vistas and Black Sand Beaches!
Some of the lava flowed always down to the ocean which make some amazing scenes along the water (minus Mike and Bone!), such as Lóndrangar!
The Lóndrangar Pillars
Lóndrangar are basaltic remnants of a volcanic crater, that remains after aeons of ocean battering are two great pillars upon a cliff, one 246 ft high and the other 200 ft.
Their dramatic scale has earned this incredible formation the nickname ‘the rocky castle.’
The surrounding lands are steeped in folklore; farmers have never made use of the fields around the Lóndrangar basalt cliffs due to the elves that are rumored to live there. It is also where the poet Kolbeinn Jöklaskáld met the devil and struck a deal with him. And we all know how famous he was! Sounds like it was a bad deal said Mike to Bone.
Around noon, Reykjavik came into site across the very wide Bay. Being lowlifes, Mike and Bone took a mile-long tunnel into the city rather than the hour-long drive around the bay into town.
A Return to Reykjavik!
The lack of a proper breakfast made the Boys a bit peckish and ain’t nothing better to Mike and Bone than a good ole’ hot dog. As they parked to wander around downtown, they were greeted with dry skies, no rain and the smells of ketchup, mustard, and frankfurters!
Their target was the aptly named Hot Dog Stand!
A Hot Dogging it in Reykjavik!
The Hot Dog Stand has been family owned for generations. They prepare a dog a little different,... bun, ketchup, mustard, toppings and then the hot dog! This way, it doesn’t slop all over you, damned smart Icelanders, plus they were delicious and reasonably priced (especially for Iceland!) Mike and Bone, those conningsewer's er, connoisseurs of the ubiquitous tube steak both gave thumbs up to the dog, the bun, the toppings (especially the mustard!), the whole dang thing!!
Settling on Reykjavik, a Mud Museum!
Next, the Boys checked out the origins of Iceland at the Settlement Exhibition at the Reykjavik City Museum. The Settlement Exhibition - Reykjavik 871± 2 deals with the settlement of Reykjavík. The exhibition is based on Icelandic scholars theories on what the heritage sites in central Reykjavík can tell us about the life and work of the first settlers. The focus of the exhibition is the remains of a hall from the Settlement Age which was excavated in 2001. The hall was inhabited from 930-1000. North of the hall are two pieces of turf, remnants of wall which was clearly built shortly before 871. This is one of the oldest man-made structures so far found in Iceland. Also on display are objects from the Viking age found in central Reykjavík and the island of Videy.
Getting a Good Foundation!
Why 871±2? A layer of tephra was deposited around 871 AD from an eruption in the Torfajokull area, about 400 km to the east. The layer was dated to 871, with a possible range of error or two years either way. The tephra plays a crucial role in dating finds from the early years of Reykjavik history.
Life during the Settlement Age. The Museum used various methods are employed to explain and interpret the remains of the building. They have reconstruction windows, which are controls for calling up a three-dimensional image of how the hall may have looked. Building techniques are also explained. On the multimedia table is a large model of the hall, with diverse information on the archaeologists´ research findings and methods, the hall as it was, and the life and work that went on there.
The reality is that other than walking around the Settlement remains and viewing some of the reconstruction window, Mike and Bone left unimpressed but thirsty!!
Dealing with Drunks at the Drunk Rabbitt!!
By now it was hitting 5:00 and it was time for dinner and a drink. Having the luck of the Irish, Mike and found a reasonable facsimile of an Irish Pub in the Drunk Rabbit!
Today was the next set of World Cup action and Deutchland was playing Belgium, Mike and Bone walked in the Bar and ordered a round of Fish & Chips, washed down with Bushmills and Guinness! As Mike and Bone slaked their thirst a few Irish Tourists with a well-lubricated German, walked up and started to kibitz with the Boys.
It was all good fun with story sharing and shots, until the gregarious German decided that Mike and Bone’s Fish and Chips were his to share. After beating off the well-intentioned but hammered Berliner, Mike and Bone had one more round to ensure their thirst was truly slaked then headed out.
For the past four days Mike and Bone put on a lot of miles touring the great island of Iceland. The ability to see made for no night driving which is always so hard, plus pointless when you are trying to sight see. Those 14-hour drives gave the Boys are great perspective and opportunity to check this marvelous Island. It also gave them both some pretty stiff backs!!!
What better way to finish the Trip then with a looong soak in the iconic Blue Lagoon which was also strategically placed close to the Airport for the flight home the next day! XXX Just as they left Reykjavik, the never-ending rain came back in torrents as Mike and Bone drove the 20 miles to the Blue Lagoon!
Doin' the Blue Lagoon in the Rain
The water of the Blue Lagoon has an iridescent milky blue shade due to its high silica content. The silica forms soft white mud on the bottom of the lake which bathers rub on themselves as facial wash and all sorts of new healing.
The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 99–102 °F. Guests are required to shower prior to using the geothermal spa. xxxx The lagoon is man-made. The water is a byproduct from the nearby geothermal power plant Svartsengi where superheated water is vented from the ground near a lava flow and used to run turbines that generate electricity. After going through the turbines, the steam and hot water passes through a heat exchanger to provide heat for a municipal water heating system. Then the water is fed into the lagoon.
The rich mineral content is provided by the underground geological layers and pushed up to the surface by the hot water (at about 170 psi and 464 °F temperature) used by the plant. Because of its mineral concentration, water cannot be recycled and must be disposed of in the nearby landscape, a permeable lava field that varies in thickness from 20 inches to 3.3 feet. After the minerals have formed a deposit, the water reinfiltrates the ground, but the deposits render the ground impermeable over time, so the plant needs to continuously dig new ponds in the nearby lava field.
Shortly after the opening of the Svartsengi power plant in 1976, the runoff water had made pools. In 1981, a psoriasis patient bathed in the water and noted that the water alleviated his symptoms and the lagoon subsequently became popular. Bathing facilities opened in 1987 and in 1992 the Blue Lagoon company was established.
Studies made in the '90s confirmed that the lagoon had a beneficial effect on the skin disease psoriasis. A psoriasis clinic was opened in 1994 and in 1995, the Blue Lagoon company began marketing skin products containing silica, algae, and salt.
The Blue Lagoon is world renown and was used as the pit stop for the first leg of The Amazing Race 6. The Blue Lagoon has also been used for the thermal spa scenes in the filming of Hostel: Part II. It was also shown in the Incubus documentary Look Alive, when the band visited Iceland, in the fifth cycle of Britain's Next Top Model which used as photo shoot location as well as Keeping Up with the Kardashians, good thing the hot water disinfects everything!
Mike and Bone went upscale and avoided the public area and went to a smaller section where they soaked their sorry strained butts and drank several glasses of red wine over the next few hours in the pouring rain. You know cold rain is an amazing offset to 102 sauna water!! But all good things come to an end and too soon the Boys got out and headed to the nearest Airport Hotel in the driving rain.
Jonesing for the Z'a!
After four days of rain and sketchy food found Mike and Bone missing home and breakfast drove the Boys to pick up a Domino’s Pizza before crashing at another late night of 1:00 AM!
Trip, Post Script!
The next morning the Boys dropped the car off in essentially the exact small torrential rain that they landed in! Fortunately, it did not delay the flight and Mike and Bone took off on time and both made they connections to Detroit and Grand Rapids. One the Boys discussed that Iceland certainly did not disappoint: lots of amazing scenery, amazing mountains, awesome glaciers, volcanoes at every turn, any weather you could want in the endless days they spent there.
Truly a land of Fire and Ice. Or, as when the Stewardess asked Boys what they wanted in their drinks on the Plane, “Ice, Ice, Baby!”