Spa day!

I can't believe another two days have already gone by. I think the time is going by faster and faster as it gets closer to Christmas. I will be sad to leave Iceland though, it has been quite an experience.

Yesterday I wandered through the town to check out it's three art museums. They are on the three opposite corners of the central city, which wouldn't have been that far if that darned wind would go away. You'll be strolling down the street, snug in your coat when it just hits you out of nowhere, cutting straight through your layers. It was fun to see all the Icelandic art though. They pride themselves on only putting pieces in their galleries which they feel demonstrates a portion of Icelandic culture. Some were...different...but they were definitely all interesting. Particularly a set done in vivid colors depicting the Icelandic landscape. Those were stunning.

Later in the evening, as I was chilling about, I heard one of the locals working in the hostel talking about the putrefied (yes, that is the correct word) shark. I asked what it was like, since I've been curious, but it's so expensive. When the locals tell you, "It's disgusting. But you have to try it," I can't really say I'm jumping for the experience. I asked how it had become their national dish if it was so awful and his only response was, "All they had to eat was fish and lamb. They got bored, so they said 'Hey, let's try this shark!' But it was really bad. So the let it rot a little and tried it again. It was even worse, but there you go." Probably the most interesting way I've ever heard of a dish become national, and not likely the true one, though I do enjoy it's telling.

Today, I went to the Blue Lagoon. Wow. It was such an experience! The water is a milky, opalescent, blue and completely opaque. You can feel the sand/silicate mud under your feet and if you scoop it up, you can see it is indeed the silica mud with bits of lava rock in it. Everywhere is the mist from the temperature difference. In fact, the wooden deck to get to the lagoon is frosted over, so you're feet are frozen by the time you get to the water.

After doing the mud facial, and playing in the waterfall (you are supposed to use it like a back massage), I went to get my actual massage. Strangest thing ever, though highly enjoyable. It is done in the lagoon. They float you on a foam raft, facing upward, and massage your back as you float in the water. They spin you in a slow circle the entire time too, so you have no idea where you are facing as you look at the sky, but you can feel the water swirling around you. Then he gave me a mud facial with a different type of mud, before leaving me to float comfortably as long as I wanted.

I have to say though, I was not impressed at all with the couple who went out on the same bus as me. He was from Greece, and she from NY, and when the bus went to pick them up at the hotel, they were still asleep, and said they'd meet us at the leaving point on time in fifteen minutes. They got there barely on time, but as we went to get in the bus, we realized he had gone missing. He'd decided to run to the hot dog stand around the corner, not realizing it was time to leave he claimed. And then he wasn't even allowed to have the hot dogs on the bus, which he would have known if he'd mentioned it to the bus driver.

The gal though, why would you go to a spa/lagoon with tons of heavy makeup and fake eyelashes on? It just seemed silly to me. And then when we were leaving at the same time too, she started throwing a fit in the locker rooms, saying all her jewelry was gone, and practically blaming the attendant lady. Turns out she had not only forgotten to lock her locker the entire time she was in the lagoon (3 hours), but when she got back in, she set her coat out, which supposedly had all the jewelry in her pockets, and left it in the middle of the room while she took a shower and killed time somewhere else!

I felt so bad for the lady working, cause NY was giving her a complete run around, and it was her own fault. The whole thing seemed slightly odd to me though, and I can't help but wonder if she actually lost anything at all, as she still had half her jewelry, and supposedly the stuff that went missing was all gold and diamond. I just tried to stay out of it, because I didn't know quite what was going on, or how honest she was being. I got a weird vibe from the whole thing really.

On the bus ride back, I saw the single-handed most amazing moonrise I've ever seen. The moon was huge! Sitting right on top of the hill ahead of the bus. It even photographed beautifully, which I have never managed to do with the moon before. I'm hoping it's a good sign for the morning, as this is the night of the full moon eclipse on the winter solstice. It should start for me around 6 am, and reach it's peak around 8, which will be perfect because I leave for a tour at 8. So I should be able to see the whole conclusion of the eclipse from the bus as we leave town.

For now though, I am going to go take a shower and get to bed. My hair is completely dried out from the lagoon and I have a full day ahead of me tomorrow!