REYKJAVIK, ICELAND: BLUE, GREEN, AND GRAY

“There are few more certain tokens of ill than not to know how to accept the good.” – from The Saga of Gretti (a classic Icelandic saga)

Despite what one may think, the blue in Iceland’s flag does not represent the sea that surrounds this island nation. Instead, it stands for the hues of the landscape, where even the green is blue-ish, and the thermal pools of water that seem to be everywhere are multiple shades of blue. And it most definitely does not evoke the sky, which seems to be a perpetual shade of gray. Or that may be just this year: we were told that May and June 2018 were the rainiest in the past 100 years.

Despite the gray skies, our two days in Reykjavik were wonderful. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough time to do even a fraction of what I wanted to do. So, Iceland is definitely on the “come back and stay a while” list of places.

First on the agenda was to bathe in the infamous Blue Lagoon. In the midst of a lava field some 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik, this fortunate environmental accident is a shallow lake formed by run-off from the geothermal power plant next door. The water stays a constant average temperature of 100 degrees F, and recirculates itself every 48 hours. It is not really a place to swim, but to walk and relax. 

Blue Lagoon

You are asked to shower first, then dash through the cool outside into the warmth of the waters. You then get a fistful of silica mud, which you are encouraged to slather over your face, neck, and any other part of your body that could use a mask. We spent more than two hours in the water, and came out relaxed and happy. And, no, it wasn’t crowded. The lake is quite large, and the numbers of people allowed in at any time are carefully controlled.

Blue Lagoon bathing pool

That activity took up the better part of the day, and we found ourselves wanting to relax so cancelled plans to explore downtown Reykjavik in the afternoon. That will have to wait for another visit. That evening, the cruise line treated those of us on board for the full 89 nights to an event at the Harpa, the city’s gleaming, modern, beautiful new opera house. A delicious dinner, an acrobatic show, and a performance by Yohanna, one of Iceland’s top singing stars who is famous internationally for having placed second in the Eurovision singing contest in 2009. She has a tremendous voice, and is a strong presence on the stage.

Acrobatic performance

In the countryside outside of Reykjavik, as part of a sequence of geographic highlights known as the Golden Circle, is a jagged line where the American and EuroAsian tectonic plates meet. One can walk along a path between them at some points, and can look out over the “no man’s land” that comprises a wider divide between them. There are some homes in the area, but it is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, and no further homes can be built. Some had burned down over the years, including the summer home of the nation’s then-Prime Minister, who unfortunately perished in the 1970 blaze along with his wife and nephew. Those homes could not be rebuilt.

No man's land

 

The Drowning Pool, where during the 17th & 18th centuries,
female adulterers were tossed to their deaths. The men were
either beheaded or hanged.

Continuing our day-long pursuit of the Golden Circle, we saw waterfalls, pools, a geyser, rock formations, and a wide swath of the beautiful countryside, much of which is lava rock covered with greenish-blue moss. 

Geyser

Two trolls kissed just as the sun rose, and they turned
to stone in that position.

The day ended with a visit to the Purlin, aka “the pearl,” a dome-shaped building with a viewing platform overlooking the city of Reykjavik. A pleasant, exhausting day that left me hungry for more of Iceland.

A view of the city