Iceland! Part 2: The Gold Mine That IS The Blue Lagoon

After a restless night's sleep on our first night here (how these Icelandic folk deal with 24 hours of daylight is beyond me), I awoke bright and early to hit up the ever-famed Blue Lagoon.

I'd heard nothing but AMAZING things about this little wonderland of a place, so I was more than excited to check it out. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa that apparently achieved notoriety and fame after one of its guests was seemingly cured of psoriasis from its therapeutic waters. Not only that, but you can't discount its amazing natural beauty- it's located in the middle of this lava field out in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

I. Could Not. WAIT.

And holy bejeezleweezles! Would YOU be disappointed being greeted with a view like THIS?!


Granted, I was a little overwhelmed (read: CONFUSED) at first... it doesn't help that you first walk into the reception area and they literally just hand you a locker key and leave you to it. But hello! I needed the rules of etiquette here! Do people just walk out in their bathing suits? It was FREEZING outside! Do people wear flip flops outside? How deep is that WATER? (This coming from a girl who can barely swim, keep in mind.)

It wasn't the hardest thing to figure out. I just befriended some old ladies who were changing in the locker room with me and... well, followed their lead.

For about two minutes. Until we got outside.

And I discovered a whole new realm to the term FREEZING.

I mean, I don't understand! My new two little old lady friends were just taking their own sweet time selecting a spot to hold their towels and stuff but, quite frankly, I was NOT in the mood for particularities. It was at the point where the ladies began asking my opinion about a spot like clear across the Blue Lagoon (slight exaggeration, but only a SLIGHT one) that I literally just dumped my towel and camera on the first open chair I saw and RACED right on into that steaming hot spa of a Lagoon.

Not my proudest moment but... oh whatever. They had each other!

There were literally NO thoughts running through my head at that point except to just get IN the water... until I reached the water's edge and realized I had no idea how on Earth I was to gauge the depths of this thing. Now, for any average individual, this would not be a problem. For a girl who can barely swim... well, problems can quickly arise. (Sigh. And can you believe there was a point in my life where I wanted to learn how to surf? Seriously.)


Oh well- clearly, nothing gets in the way of me and my temperature extremes. You better believe I just jumped right on in! Well, okay. There was a ladder. But "slowly eased down the ladder" doesn't have the same dramatic effect as "jumped right on in", now does it?

And GOD, I have to say, I have no real regrets. Thankfully, this thing is pretty shallow (you can't stand upright, otherwise, half your body will be out of the water) and the brisk breeze on my face and shoulders felt AMAZING intermixing with the gloriously warm blanket that we call the Blue Lagoon.

But that wasn't even the best PART! The bottom of the Blue Lagoon is notorious for this clay-like substance that contains all kinds of magical minerals and algae that serve as one of the world's greatest exfoliators. And there were seriously PILES of this stuff collected at the sides of the Lagoon for people to help themselves to their heart's content. I'm STILL in slight shock that there were PILES of exfoliant just lying around... it really was a miniature goldmine in the midst of lava fields, if you will. My only regret is that I hadn't brought a big ol' bag to hoard (excuse me, collect in a congenial, legal fashion) more for future use.

I kid, I kid. Kind of.