Me and Binni went and saw the King's Speech at Sambíóin, an Icelandic movie theater. The movie was in English with Icelandic subtitles which was actually helpful to me, being that I could hear actually phrases being said in English while figuring out exactly what the casual Icelandic translation is. Before the movie Binni bought some more of the super dark licorice and I tried it and I couldn't even finish one strand. It was that strong. The theater could be compared to a smaller theater in the U.S. not like at Rave or Harkins. About halfway through the movie, the film quit rolling, the lights turned on and everyone got up and left. I asked Binni what was going on and he said it was an intermission to make you buy more snacks. I was initially taken aback, but it makes sense I suppose.
On Saturday the University of Iceland organized an "Introduction to Iceland" tour. It was from 11-5 and man it was cool. Our final destination was the Blue Lagoon,
http://www.bluelagoon.com/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Lagoon_%28geothermal_spa%29
one of the most famous tourist spots in Iceland, but by no means did that detract from its glory. On the way to the blue lagoon we also had many stops at various landmarks and turnouts that gave us a chance to see most of real Iceland looks like. Our bus tour guide was a very witty older man who had been doing these tours forever and he said we were privileged to get to see the real parts of Iceland in real Icelandic weather since it was super windy and rainy.
Some of these pictures I have stolen from some of the people I went with since my cell phone camera is not the best. It was pretty crazy seeing houses and buildings disappear in only 15 minutes of driving and be replaced by fields of black lava rocks, green moss covered stones and fields of grass and bushes. The conditions were far from ideal to go sightseeing in this country, but seeing landscape like this was almost unreal. The highway we drove on is asphalt laid, one lane each way with no shoulder on either side of the road. The aren't exits for distances rivaling the desolate arid areas in Arizona and California.
We made it to the Blue Lagoon at around 1:30 and stayed til 3:30. The picture is of Sarah, who was the most excited to be there. The water was a mystical light blue and smelt of sulfur. When you walk in, you can rent a towel or a swimsuit, go change in a dressing room, and go into the Lagoon. Showering before you enter is strictly enforced since the lagoon is not chlorinated. There are two entrances/exits to the lagoon. You walk out of the dressing room in your swim suit into a cafe type food/drink place. There is a zero-depth entry ramp that you can use to walk into the water and out a glass door or you can open the general exit door to a patio where it's a good five seconds until you can get into the water. I did not see the other entry and a long five seconds it was. It was rainy and very windy and yet as soon as you get into the water, the geo-thermal powered heat warms your whole body. Even though your head is above the water, there is enough steam to keep your face from freezing. There are facial cream stations around the lagoon where you can put on some sort of facial mask that makes your pores open up. This place has a man made waterfall, steamrooms, and a built in bar and restaurant. Pretty cool stuff. When we were finally ready to leave, we had to walk through the gift shop and passed a bath-and-body works type lotion kit with actual blue lagoon creams and saw its price tag of over $200.
http://www.bluelagoon.com/Shop/product/544/luxury-kit/default.aspx
Leaving the blue lagoon fully content and ready for an uneventful ride home, I was in for a surprise. Most people were tired from swimming and were trying to sneak in a quick nap before we arrived home, including me. But I felt the bus slow its speed and veer off the paved road into a field of black lava ash. I look out the window and I see a huge cliff and hundreds of sheered black rocks at the bottom with waves crashing mercilessly upon them. Our tour guide said if we wanted to climb up the cliffs and we get hurt, we have to tell our insurance companies he told us not to climb them.
The wind here was for some reason absolutely ridiculous. It literally took people 10 seconds to hold themselves steady to snap a photo. Our tour guide also said that if we come back in a couple of months, this place will look completely different because the sea is eating away the cliff and rocks as we speak. The height of the waves that crashed into the rocks looked straight out of a movie. Personally, this last stop was to me comparable if not more than to the Blue Lagoon. It definitely was a wild trip and I really hope to go on the same tour again in the late Spring or Summer to get the opposite end of the weather/landscape spectrum.
