Lobster in Iceland
I can’t believe I am writing this (especially after our first few days here)… but I got sunburned in Iceland. And not just a “little color” kind of pink. No, it is more like a red-lobster-dipped-in-hot-sauce kind of sunburn. A tomorrow-it-will-be-a-painful-day-of-flying kind of a sunburn. Who would’ve thunk it? I have to say, suntan lotion was quite a ways down on my packing list for this trip. But more about that later…
This morning we headed out to explore the Reykjanes Peninsula, which is the strip of land south and west of Reykjavik. It was cloudy and VERY windy so most of the morning we drove without getting out of the car. With one exception… we had to brave the wind for a peek at this place… where the European and American plates meet, and are drifting apart (apparently 2 cm per year).
By the time we made our way along the gravel roads to Grindivik on the southern side of the peninsula, the sun was out.
Grindivik is a fishing village of about 2,000 people. We wandered around a bit. I think these white piles are some sort of salt. Why they are sitting out in the middle of nowhere… I have no idea, but I thought they looked cool.
There were typical corrugated metal houses in the village…
And a cool harbor
But who were we kidding? We really came out to the peninsula to do one thing (besides hiking, which we never really got around to…), and that is to visit the Blue Lagoon. They have drilled thousands of feed underground to tap the geothermal energy so abundant here in Iceland. They use the steam to produce energy, and they also heat fresh water. The silica and other minerals not needed in the process are then spilled into a pond… which became the Blue Lagoon. 
Over the years, it has become popular as there are reports of health and skin benefits from soaking in the water and using the silica as a mud mask. No visit to Iceland would be complete without a soak in the Blue Lagoon!
This is the new “expanded” lagoon. Notice it isn’t quite as blue… actually it is very green! Probably due to the hundreds of people who soak here daily. The steam vent in the background is where the water is piped in. The closer you get to the vent, the hotter the water. 
And, as you may imagine… it is here that my skin was burned to a crisp. It was like one big enormous spa where you could get the water as warm as you want, just by moving around. Very relaxing. And then there was the silica mud that they have in pots around the lagoon. Most people walk/swim around with mud masks on their face, arms, shoulders, etc. Judging by my sunburn… I should have kept the mud on my shoulders a bit longer! Oh well… we had a great time!
On our drive back to Reykjavik (we took a detour, of course!), we found this little church. And the sheep were nice enough to get in the picture for me…
These are fish drying racks just outside of Hafnarfjordur.
I got up close to take some pictures, and it was very eerie. The fish are all dried and they make this tinking sound in the wind. Very Twilight Zonish.
Back in Reykjavik, we had a fantastic “Last Supper in Iceland” at a small, cozy restaurant that serves Icelandic specialties i.e., cod and lamb. We wandered around the city a bit, and as you can see, the sun was out.
Another typical metal house…
Across the Tjorn to the Frikirkjan
The Hallgrimskirkja
And a typical street in the city
Now time to pack it up. A quick few hours of shopping in the morning, then off to the airport. It has been great!
In South Africa we call those dried fish "bokkoms" - it's a delicacy in some parts of my country, but I've never been hungry enough to try it!