Blue Lagoon & A Bridge between Two Continents

We made an early start to get to Blue Lagoon for our 9 am entry, so it was still rather dark when we left at 8.20 but the sunrise was intense on the horizon. Lots of other people also had an early booking at Blue Lagoon so it was a queue to get our wristband with our ticket code, towel, and a complimentary face mask and drink, the latter two were available in the actual pool. You must shower naked with their gel, shampoo and leave-in conditioner ( the latter helps tame your hair when you get out of the pool) then get into your swimmers and make a dash from the building into the pool in -2 degrees temperature. The water is pale blue, milky and salty. You can’t see through the water so if you dropped something it would be very hard to find it again. The water depth changed from knee high to shoulders and the temperature altered from warm to hot in different parts of the pool. The pool itself was huge with islands and bridges, seating and a waterfall to massage your neck and back. There were swim up bars for face masks - the silica mud mask was complimentary with your ticket - and for drinks ( the first one was on the house - we had banana and strawberry smoothies made from Icelandic Skyr Yoghurt). People lather their faces in mud masks and waded around the pool. You could see these white faced bodies emerging from the mist - very strange and eerie. After two hours in the pool your skin felt silky but changing back into your clothes with a wet towel and crowded change rooms was reminiscent of public swimming pools. There was a cafe and shop selling Blue Lagoon skin products for exorbitant prices - in fact just about everything in Iceland is more than double the price for us.

Outside the entry to the Blue Lagoon Spa so the general public can see the water although this section was not for swimming and the water was cool.

You can see the milkiness of the water against the black volcanic rock.

Surrounding thick lava field dusted in snow with the Blue Lagoon entrance walkway dug into it.

Outside the lava field spread across the peninsula and was covered in green moss.

On the edge of the peninsula not far from Keflavík airport. Black volcanic rock spreads across the land and along the coastline.

Sculpture referencing planets in the solar system - this one was Jupiter

Fissure between the two continents - Eurasian and the North American plates. If there was a massive earthquake the whole fissure would open up so best not to be here or on this peninsula at that time. The continental plates can move a few centimetres each year. The gap was filled with dirt but that could disappear into a gaping hole if there was an earthquake.

Heading to the airport early in the morning to head back to Edinburgh - time to explore Scotland. Maybe the northern lights might show themselves there.