We slept in as the only thing we had planned for the morning was the bus transfer to the Blue Lagoon.
We decided to do this as a lovely rest after a very busy half month exploring Iceland, and this is THE GOOD
. What a great place. The Blue lagoon is carved out of the lava field and is constantly being filled with mineral rich thermal spring water and one third fresh water from other springs. You enter once you have done your obligatory wash of the big four - head, armpits, feet and genitals/behind or as Jacob says for Danielle 'front and back tooshie'. The hotel rooms associated with the Blue Lagoon are a little spartan but have many sensible touches that make them very comfy.
The spa hotel has its own lagoon but reserves it for treatments during the day so guests can use the hotel lagoon only from 8 - 10 am and then again from 8 - 10 pm. During the rest of the day, guests go to the Blue Lagoon, location 600 meters across the lava field.
As so often has happened, just when you think you saw the acme of sights or the epitome of dining, you hit a higher level. This spa is that. Need I say the dinner hit a new crescendo?
Amuse bouche was seared Arctic char on a bed of Japanese mustard and mayonnaise. Appetizer was Arctic char and king crab on its own sauce and rimmed generously with very large roe caviar that on its own was heavenly. Our mains were turbot on an olive tapenade with tomatoes and carrots and mashed potatoes and salad, all very fresh - the fish was caught three km away today and tasted so. Howard had beef tenderloin and oxen steak hash wrapped in phyllo with mashed potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, baked Brussels sprouts and marvellous bernaise sauce. Outstanding - just about the most tender piece of meat I ever had. Dessert was mandarin cheesecake ice cream with nougat, raspberries and white and dark chocolate and mandarin orange sorbet. This was the most fantastic meal of the trip, and such a fitting end for the dinners in Iceland.
We pre-booked in-water massages at the spa but when we checked in and tried to confirm them were told that we already missed them. This was THE BAD. We rebooked at a later time but when we went for the massages we were told they did not have time. After a long talk with the manager, we got appointments to have our massages tomorrow before we leave for the Airport.
THE UGLY, is why this is being written on Minna's iPad and not Howard's iPhone. This is a spa and it is such a pleasure to dunk. Unfortunately Howard's iPhone slipped underwater in such a way that Minna says she will never touch it again. Yes, it slipped into the toilet. It got rescued within one second and upon Matthew's advice was placed inside a bag with uncooked rice, to dry out for three days. After it was extracted from the toilet it got turned on by inadvertent contact and Siri came on asking if I needed help, and when I did not answer, she offered various questions I could ask! Seriously!
Good night, we need to give in to the sleep we need after all that soaking in the lagoon. If we wake up at 8, we will still have ten hours of Iceland. What an amazing country this is.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Grindavik, Grindavik, Iceland
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