I believe that if you start digging anywhere in Iceland, you're going to strike water. Iceland has a strong bathing culture and the hot water is geothermally heated by magma deep beneath the earth. With a slight sulfur smell which Icelanders are accustomed to, residential hot water taps pipe in scalding hot water directly from the earth. The cold tap however, is water from the mountains of the purest sources on the planet.
With such an abundance of natural hot water, homes are heated with this. Private spas such as the famous Blue Lagoon and public municipal swimming pools are also heated with hot water at comforting temperatures ranging from 100 - 104 degrees Fahrenheit. The bathing culture is so strong here that every town has a municipal pool that families go to on weekends, after school and after work to relax and play. Reykjavik has several in town. You can, of course pay significantly more and experience a luxurious private bath with spa facilities and fancy amenities. You'll be with people of your own kind - tourists. If you go to the municipal public swimming pool, you'll be with all locals.
Like most everything else you buy here, food is expensive, even local fast food like fish and chips, wraps and Asian noodles can cost you about $25 - $30 per person. But if you're able to fork out another $10 - $15, you can get a really good meal at a very nice restaurant. I spent $12 more and had a huge plate of seafood linguine; another time I had a 1/2 pound ribeye.
About to step into the largest bath tub I'll ever experience.
Ahhhhh.....Oh, by the way this is not the famous Blue Lagoon, but the newly opened (during the pandemic) luxurious Sky Lagoon
We arrived just before they opened and we had the place practically all to ourselves - at least for the first 30 minutes. The tuft covered building behind us is where you continue with your Sky Lagoon's 7-Step Ritual:
1) Soak in the warm lagoon, 2) Take a dip in the cold plunge pool behind us - said to invigorate you and help boost your immunity, 3) Large sauna with floor to ceiling windows viewing out to the ocean, 4) Step into a cool fog-mist , 5) Exfoliate your skin with their signature salt scrub, 6) Sit in the steam room to open up your pores, 7) shower off and go back to relax in the lagoon.
The lagoon is designed as an infinity pool so it appears to blend right into the ocean.
This hot dog stand was made famous by President Clinton. During a visit, camera shutters clicked away as he was eating an Icelandic hot dog from this stand.
An Icelandic hot dog is 1/2 lamb, 1/2 beef and topped with fried onions and a special mustard blend. Even with all the hype and mentions in every guidebook, the Icelandic hot dog tastes like any ordinary wiener.
These are not brownies. This is whale meat. Not to worry - only the non-endangered Minke whale is served. It has a beef flavor and steak texture and is quite tasty.
Now this is Harkl - fermented shark. This was a hardship food back in the day. Sharks contain toxins that are lethal so their meat is non-consumable when freshly caught. However, if you salt it and bury it in the ground for several months, the process releases and removes the toxins and can then be hung to dry before eating. As a result of the fermentation process, it emits a very strong ammonia odor that lingers after you eat it. I guess that's why it's served in small bites. Locals don't really eat this anymore. It's prepared mainly for tourists to try, if they dare. I can confidently tell you that I don't need to try it again on my next visit.
Perhaps I should have thought about washing down that fermented shark with some locally made gin.
The currency is the Krona and the back of the coins have an image of the local fish. Missing here is the 50 KR. As soon as I arrived at the airport, I only took $40 USD of Kronas out of the ATM just in case I needed it. Iceland is a cashless economy now and everywhere takes credit cards - from buying a stick of gum at a village fuel stop to the toilets out in the middle of nowhere. It was a challenge to spend even that little cash the 8 days there.
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