Happy Canada Day to all my friends back home!
Today was the last official day of the tour. One thing I like
about exploring Iceland is that since the days are so long, we get a later
start in the morning. 10 AM works for me…haha! We had a short 15 minute drive
from our hotel over to the Arbaer Open Air Museum.
There are over 20 buildings representing a town square, a
village and a farm. They are all very well preserved inside and out. I really
liked the sturdily-built sod houses. The church was even a sod one! One of the
homes had an attached shed for farm animals.
I was amazed at the short doorways and extremely steep narrow
stairways in most of the two story buildings. Yikes! It was almost like using a
ladder in some cases.
There was a group of small kids touring the museum. For their
enjoyment, there was an old-fashioned go-cart steered with feet and a rope. I
was impressed with the ‘engine’ in the back – other kids pushing. They really
got that cart moving!
Lunch was at a very popular eating establishment in Reykjavik.
It’s called Baejarins Beztu Pylsur. And what do they serve you may ask? Hot
dogs! It’s not a sit-down restaurant, just a stand in the downtown area. There
are always line-ups and they even have their own Wikipedia entry!!
Our afternoon excursion was to the famous Blue Lagoon. I was
expecting a hot pool much the same as the Mineral Baths at Myvatn. The Blue
Lagoon is not only more famous, but bigger, with more to do, and at a higher
cost of course. (6,500 Icelandic kronas =$55.82 CDN). It was so worth it
though.
Upon entry, you were issued a high-tech waterproof bracelet.
That was your key to open and close your locker, but there was also a swim-up
bar serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. To ‘pay’, they scanned your
bracelet, then after changing and before exiting, they re-scanned your bracelet
and charged you accordingly. Due to the heat and steam, I ordered a raspberry slushy
drink (crushed ice with flavoring) to help cool down a bit.
There was an area with tubs of ‘mud’ and a long-handled narrow
spoon. You reached in and scooped out the white mud, then put it on your face
for 10-15 minutes. It was great fun and I did it 3 times.
There were steam saunas and an extremely powerful waterfall you
could stand under. It was like getting a massage, that’s how strong it was.
There were quite a few people there but it is a big pool with lots of different
areas. Like the Myvatn Mineral Baths, the floor of the pool was natural and
uneven. It was mostly smooth but you had to watch your step as you could step
on a sharp rock at any moment.
We headed back to Reykavik which was about a 40 minute drive. I
hung up my suit and towel and headed out to the main shopping street to
explore. Since it was after 6 PM there wasn’t much open but I enjoyed window
shopping at any rate.
At 8 PM I met up with the rest of the group for one final
get-together as some people had flights to catch later that evening. I ordered
myself a fruity drink called “Holy Moly”. After our final good-byes I headed
back to the hotel to blog and plan for tomorrow.
I’m on my own again!
