Day 1: Keflavík, Grindavík, and Blue Lagoon

Keflavík and Grindavík

We arrived at the airport in Keflavik, an area that from 1951-2006 also housed an American military base.

The land around us was flat and open, like being in the American Southwest; you can see to the mountains at the horizon. Buildings, usually only one-story high, barely interrupt it. The landscape was more covered by rocks than plants. Occasional groves of stunted pine trees were the only plants taller than ankle-height. No wonder Iceland isn’t known for any vegetable dishes, we realized, it barely has vegetation.

Fishing Town’s Café

We landed in early morning – 7am. According to my guide book, nothing in Iceland seemed to be open before 10am.  A short drive through Keflavik’s deserted streets confirmed it. It may just have been that everyone was off fishing.

Eventually we found signs of life at Café Bryggjan in nearby Grindavík, a small cod fishing town whose members have lived here for generations. The café was by two brothers, one of whom was extremely friendly and gave us advice on our visit.

We bought coffee and got our first Icelandic food. I tried a slice of a sort of 3-layer pancake sandwich. In between layers was a cream sauce mixed with capers and ham bits. Pretty good. It being a fishing town, lox salmon was also offered, and we tried skyr, which is one of those stereotypical Icelandic foods. It tastes just like non-tangy Greek yogurt and in addition to the typical flavors, comes pear and melon.  (IceNews claims the difference is Skyr is in fact thicker and slightly more protein-packed than Greek yogurt. It also seems to be fewer calories/quantity).

Iceland, the owner told us, is full of tourists. If you want somewhere non-touristy, try “a school. Or grocery store”. This café, tucked away as it was and popular with fishermen before they set off to work,

According to my 2010-edition guide book, though Iceland continues commercial whaling, they do it more out of a sense of tradition, national pride, and nostalgia than practicality, as only 1.1% of Icelanders eat whale on a regular basis. This seems out of date. The owner said it’s whale season now and advised us to buy some of the popular humpback whale in the grocery stores. Fin whale is also hunted, but exported (I have no idea where to).

Blue Lagoon

One of those places you have to go if you’re an Icelandic tourist, Blue Lagoon is an expansive hot lake/spa nestled between tall mounds of black lava rock. It’s a great place for people who have ever been cold and want to forget what that feels like. The lagoon is fed by a geothermal spring and water ranges from pleasantly warm to if-I-wade-in-any-further-this-will-scald-my-skin-off. Right by the pipes, it’s almost unbearably hot, as water pours in close to boiling temperature. Clouds of steam pour off the source and float down the lake, dragging with them the eggy smell of sulfur. When you’re close enough, steam washes over you, blinding you with white. The water itself is a foggy white and if you drag up sand from the bottom, it’ll be shiny black grains or a silken gray-black clay. In many places the clay has plugged crannies in the lava rocks and formed smooth, rubbery white layers. The temperature’s cold enough for coats in Iceland, around low 40's (Fahrenheit), and we got a bit of hail today. Standing up out of the water was bracing, but refreshing. We were all feeling sleep deprived when we landed, and lazing about floating on the current was a great way to spend the afternoon. I also checked out the sauna. As I stepped inside, my limbs immediately felt heavy and I decided it would be an easy place to faint and die. I tried the steam bath next, basically a room filled with a hot steam cloud. It felt like being in a rain forest. Occasionally steam condensed on the roof and fall like a scattered hot rain.

One of the cool parts of Blue Lagoon is you get a waterproof wrist band and everything you buy (the spa also includes a bar, which is an interesting choice for people who are swimming . . .) is paid for by scanning your band. Very futuristic.

Traveler’s Tips

You can rent bathing suits, towels, bathrobes, etc. at Blue Lagoon but you’ll save if you have space in your luggage to bring your own.

Despite it’s reputation as a tourist hot spot, Blue Lagoon was not too crowded (at least not on a Tuesday morning).

I found out after the fact that while Blue Lagoon water is said to be great for your skin, but not your hair. Rumor has it that if you don't want your hair to come out matted and weird, put conditioner in it before entering the waters.