Day Ten - Grandavik and The Blue Lagoon
My last full day in Iceland. I was eager to get out of Reykjavik, so I drove down to Grindavik, which is on the Southwest coast. I had switched my hotel to the Northern Light Inn, which turned out to be my nicest stay in Iceland, at least from a quality point of view. It was very modern and the restaurant was fantastic, particularly the seafood pasta.
Grindavik is a small village, but has some surprisingly nice pubs and restaurants. There is also a lot of volcanic activity nearby for visitors who don't make it all the way up North near Mývatn.
(Click to Enlarge)
(Click to Enlarge)After an excellent lunch at a place called Sjávarperlan, I went to visit the Blue Lagoon. The lagoon is fed by the water output of a nearby geothermal power plant. Superheated water is vented from the ground near a lava flow and used to run turbines that generate electricity. After going through the turbines, the steam and hot water passes through a heat exchanger to provide heat for a municipal hot water heating system. Then the water, which is saturated with silica and sulfur, lending to its blue color, is fed into the lagoon for recreational and medicinal users to bathe in.
The water was very thick and blue. It says it was 104F, but I think it was a tad cooler, particularly away from the water vents. I bought a few Viking beers and soaked and relaxed for a bit. It's not really my kind of thing, but I figured I had to try it. I should have brought a camera inside the facility, as it was a very unusual scene.
The Blue Lagoon and then a late dinner at the hotel pretty much concluded my visit to Iceland. I had driven the full Ring Road, seen out-of-this-world sights, and done things I couldn't do almost anywhere else. It was the most unique, interesting, and beautiful place I've ever been. I can't recommend it enough for anyone and everyone to visit.
Skal!