The Blue Lagoon

I'm feel like I'm really negative about this trip when actually I feel a little more philosophical. There are lots of fun and unique places to visit in the world and you never know until you experience them if they are experiences you really enjoy or rather experiences where you say, "that was interesting but I will move on to something else." That is how I feel about Iceland.

The Blue Lagoon is a man made facility. They say there is scientific research that says the silica in the Lagoon has healing powers. When we drove up to the Lagoon the first thing we was was the power plant which has three smoke stacks emitting smoke or more likely steam in three different colors. The Lagoon is blue and milky. I felt like we were swimming in a pool at the base of three mile Island. I felt like we were in a scene from the Simpson's. The water was warm and sometimes hot and went from warm to hot very fast. It was dark so it was hard to tell where you were going. There was so much steam. I was carrying Sean and the water got HOT. Sean started screaming and I was holding him up out of the water trying to figure out how to get out of the HOT. Don was yelling go right, Sean was screaming that he was burning. We went right and got to a cooler spot pretty quickly. It was scary though.
People cover themselves in this silica from pots. I referred to it as sludge or waster from the power plant. It is supposed to be an exfoliate and good for you skin. It smells like sulfur. When I googled silica OSHA treats it as a toxic waste and requires employers to provide face mask and protective gear to employees working with it.

 Masked in silica or sludge or toxic waste, depends on what website you read.

 Kids have to wear water wings because the water is so cloudy you would never find them if they went under.

 The walk through lava rocks to the resort.

 In a cave. It was hard to get a picture because the camera lens clouded up. I've still got silica on my face. 

The warm waters are rich in minerals like silica and sulphur and bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis.^[1] The water temperature in the bathing and swimming area of the lagoon averages 37–39 °C (98–102 °F). The Blue Lagoon also operates a research and development facility to help find cures for other skin ailments using the mineral-rich water.

The lagoon is a man-made lagoon which is fed by the water output of the nearby geothermal power plant Svartsengi and is renewed every two days. 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 for recreational and medicinal users to bathe in.
Iceland has a strict code of hygiene and guests are required to shower before and after bathing.
The Blue Lagoon is situated close to the world's first renewable methanol plant, which uses Carbon Recycling International's carbon dioxide to methanol fuel process.

History

In 1976 a pool formed at the site from the waste water of the geothermal power plant that had just been built there. In 1981 people started bathing in it after the discovery of its healing powers for psoriasis. In 1992 the Blue Lagoon company was established and the bathing facility was opened for the public.

Interesting tourist stop!

The Golden Circle Tour

We took an eight hour bus tour called the Golden Circle Tour. We are done with the tour and I am still not sure where it got it's name.

The first stop was a huge green house where they grow the tomatoes for the Island. Because it so dark, cold and windy most of the produce with the exception of potatoes has to be grown inside.

We had a cup of fresh tomato soup and learned more about tomatoes than we cared to know.

 Then we went to a waterfall where we near about froze our faces off. Sean was not enjoying this.

 We went to their famous geyser park. If I hadn't been to Yellowstone it might have been cool. But compared to Yellowstone it was uneventful.

Lots of Icelanders believe in fairies and trolls. They believe that they live in the lava rocks all over the country. They even have fairy lobbyist who fight for the rights of the fairy's in courts and try to protect their living areas.

After our tour finished we took the city bus back downtown for dinner. Sean was being silly while we waited for the bus.

Day One

We flew all night Salt Lake time but when we arrived in Iceland it was morning so we had to hit the ground running. We checked into the hotel ate breakfast and then took the city bus downtown to explore. It is only light from 10 a.m. until around 5 so we didn't have day light to waste. This was when I first appreciated the stroller!

 We took the city bus and then set out of foot. The ground was covered in ice that looked like water. We aren't sure what this statue is. It just had a sign that said 2001-2004.

 I had seen this boat in picture books of Iceland. When we saw it I said I didn't think it was the right one. It looked to bright and shiny. Then when I saw the picture it looked like the right sculpture.

At this point Sean was not happy. He was ready to go back to the hotel and go to sleep.

 We got lucky in the chapel. There was a man playing the pipe organ. It was tremendous and Sean enjoyed listening.

 We took the elevator up to the top of the tower. You could see the inside of the clock and look out over the city.

 I took some pictures of backyards while we were walking back to the bus station. The houses and yards looked like what I imagined.

The temperature stayed in the low 30's most of the time. It was windy and the humidity was around 93%. Fortunately we learned about being cold in China and came prepared. Sean got cold and grumpy so the rest of the times we went out I gave him a couple of hand warmers and that kept him happy. We had layers, hats, neck warmers, gloves. We packed ski pants but never wore them.

 

 

Information about the church:

Presiding majestically over the capital area is Hallgrímskirkja - the crowning landmark and star attraction of Reykjavík city. Its iconic tower rises symmetrically and incrementally to a magnificent 74.5m peak and stands powerfully erect atop the rising heights of Skólavörðustígur – arguably one of the city’s most attractive locations. Not only a significant point of reference for visitors to Reykjavík, but also an exceptional observation tower offering incredible panoramic views across the whole of the city.
This magnificent construction was designed by the late Guðjón Samuel in 1937, who was often inspired in his endeavours by the fascinating shapes and forms created when lava cools into basalt rock.
Construction of the church began in 1945 and ended in 1986, with the tower completed long before the rest of the building. The crypt beneath the choir was consecrated in 1948, the steeple and wings completed in 1974 and the nave consecrated in 1986.
The church features, most notably, a gargantuan pipe organ designed and constructed by the German organ builder Johannes Klais of Bonn. Standing tall at an impressive 15m and weighing a remarkable 25 tons, this mechanical action organ is driven by four manuals and a pedal, 102 ranks, 72 stops and 5275 pipes, all designed to reproduce powerful notes capable of filling the huge and holy space with a range of tones - from the dulcet to the dramatic. Its construction was completed in December 1992 and has since been utilized in a variety of recordings, including some by Christopher Herrick.
Standing guard and gracing the grounds in front of the church, which it predated by 15 years, is a fine statue of Leifur Eiriksson (c. 970 – c. 1020) – the first European to discover America. Records suggest that Leifur landed on the shores of the new world in the year 1,000 A.D., that's 500 years before Christopher Columbus. The statue, which was designed by Alexander Stirling Calder was a gift from the United States in honour of the 1930 Alþingi Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1,000th anniversary of the establishment of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD.

The tour guide on one of our trips said Iceland was mostly Catholic but at some point they had a Lutheran king who kicked out the Catholics and beheaded the last Catholic priest.

Sean was really happy when we got back to our hotel room. We took a four hour nap and then headed back to town for dinner.

IKEA

When we landed at the airport I felt like we had landed in a huge IKEA. To some degree I felt that way about everywhere we went. IKEA bathroom fixtures and furniture all around!

Unfortunately someone tagged just about every building in the city.

 

I take the following information from Wikepedia:

Reykjavík is the capital and largest city of Iceland. Its latitude, at 64°08' N, makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of the Faxaflói Bay. With a population of around 120,000 (and over 200,000 in the Greater Reykjavík Area), it is the heart of Iceland's cultural, economic and governmental activity.
Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have established around AD 870. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was founded in 1786 as an official trading town and grew steadily over the next decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities. It is among the cleanest, greenest, and safest cities in the world.

Everything I read before we left spoke of how clean and safe the city is. I never saw a police officer with the exception of one when we were on our tour. The tour driver pointed out that the police officer was escorting a truck with a wide load. I certainly felt safe. But the graffiti was out of control. It was like West Valley. I didn't see a lot of painting over graffiti. Usually you can see where cities are fighting the war on graffiti by painting over it as fast as it goes up. I didn't see anything that looked like an attempt to fight. I was sad that their was graffiti on the clock tower inside the steeple at the church. There was no litter on the streets. I never saw any one that looked like they had any gang affiliations. I'm not sure who is out spray painting. I saw very few teenagers. I didn't see too many kids for that matter. When we were at the church there was a group of preschoolers on a field trip and we saw a grade school where the kids were outside playing for recess. Sean was the only child I saw in the hotel. He was the only child on any of the tours or in any of the restaurants we visited.

The other downside was smoking. It seemed like everyone smoked.

 

An impressive positive is everyone and I mean EVERYONE we met spoke English. I asked a waitress how many languages she spoke. She thought a minute and said four. She said English, Dutch, French and one other. Don said "don't you speak Icelandic?" She said "of course, we all do. Really she spoke five language. She said almost everyone speaks at least three. They start learning in grade school. That is just amazing. We are so far behind in the United States when it comes to being bilingual.

The Stroller

I debated bringing a stroller. When we were in China I wished I had a stroller. We ended up leaving the stroller at home. By the time we got to the airport I was wishing I had packed it.

While we were waiting for our luggage in Reykjavik. I saw two huge containers full of strollers. Probably over one hundred strollers. I looked at a couple of them and the tags were all from months earlier. I asked the man at the security desk if I could have a stroller and he told me to pick the we wanted and bring it to him so he could take the tag off. He said they were getting ready to throw them away .I joked about losing a car seats and strollers at airports and he quoted the Douglas Adam's book where everything you lose comes back to you.  Sean picked a stroller that had a shark top. I was really glad we had a stroller because there were times Sean would have totally melted down if he had to walk when he was already cold and tired. Shark stroller saved the day!

The ridiculous

I will start with things I found ridiculous in Iceland. First and foremost the prices. Just when I thought I could no longer be shocked I was shocked. Don and Sean just shared a desert that consisted of half a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a smear of mouse and a piece of cookie. It was $25. What bugged me even more than the price was the chef. The food was prepared behind a station in full view of the tables. The head chef, at least I think he was the head chef because he was instructing other chefs kept stuffing food in his mouth in between plating. At one point he put some sauce on the back of his hand and licked his hand. Seriously! Who does that in plain view. I complained to the waitress and she looked at me like I had grown another head. I guess it is culturally unacceptable to complain about the chef.

 The food was pretentious everywhere we went. Those three little mini burgers were $30. A bargain I'm sure. One was puffin, one was whale and one was lobster. I don't think I like puffin. I can't be sure because there may have been a piece of puffin on that mini bun or it could have been a large booger. Hard to say, really. The ribs and skewer of fish were decent.

I will just admit that I am glad I came to Iceland but I can't imagine I would ever return. There are so many other places I'd like to visit. I can put this on my "been there, done that" list.

 Despite the dismal food I gotta say this cup of hot chocolate was fantastic! It came from a little dive hole in the wall place that translated is called "Fire and Ice." Really excellent. Sean loved their ice cream too.

This take pretentious to a whole new level. This $50 plate of fish is covered with dried crust of olive, highly salted and served on a bed of tartare. Yuck, who eats raw beef? Gross. I scraped the tartare off my overly salted fish.

The Hilton has a breakfast buffet that is nice at a mere $35 a person. Despite it's dismal fail at providing a real meal this country has some fantastic bread. Really great bread and butter. They don't put their butter on a dish they just slather it on  a rock and put it on your table. I'll to remember that if my butter dish is dirty.

January

January is half way over and I haven't posted. We've done lots of things and been busy. Shocking as it may be I haven't taken many pictures. Sean is busy in school.

Translation "Do you have a spider or a snake? I have a snake.

Sean really likes to write stories and make books. He mailed this one to Kylie and Brie. When I was a kid I liked to make books too. I showed Sean one of my books and he told me it was "silly." Everyone's a critic.



Most of Sean's books center around Mario and Luigi. Most of Sean's clothes and toys center around Mario and Luigi.





 Khloe is getting all sorts of big. She crawls and pulls herself up to a kneeling position. She giggles and says da da da da. She likes to play patty cake and does a lot of waving.

I bought a high chair that attaches to the table. Khloe looks so little in it.

She's a cowgirl! I had to take this picture fast because she pulls hats off as fast as you can put a hat on.

Sean is doing great with reading. We track his reading on a computer program called "Road to success". He's made it 112 days straight. That was no easy feat. There have been nights when he's really tired and I remember he hasn't read and he has to read before he can go to sleep. 

Khloe's got the whole world in her hands.