Ice, Ice, Iceland baby

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So here I am in Iceland, ready for a week of relaxation, hiking, geothermal pools, puffins and perhaps a ride on a pony. I'm drawn to the clean air and promise of fun people who consider sarcasm something of a sport. I left for the airport 5 hours before my flight (curse you, G20) and got here from the Beach in 25 minutes, which is pretty much unheard of. The traffic at 4:30 on a Friday was like 4 a.m. on a Sunday. I've never seen the Gardiner so deserted at rush hour. But the wait for the flight passed quickly - I met a girl named Vicki from Perth, an ex-jounro, who is travelling the world carrying, much to my envy, just one small bag. How does she manage? I bought her a bison burger so she could brag to her pals.
I've just had an excellent airport breakfast in Iceland - toast and coffee as good as any flat white I enjoyed in New Zealand. I have heard a lot about the coffee here and it doesn't disappoint. Next stop, the Blue Lagoon - a huge thermal pool and spa for a lounge in the mineral waters, an in-water massage and some serious relaxing and refreshing to knock off the dust of the road. It's barely 8 a.m. here and most people arriving here tend to hit the Blue Lagoon on the way to Reykavik since rooms aren't ready much before noon. I hear a dude named Oskar gives a most wicked massage (and no, not in the Al Gore sense). I'll keep you posted.

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Photos

Iceland
What a gorgeous place and I can't wait to explore

Waterfalls
Iceland boasts some spectacular waterfalls.

The Blue Lagoon
Who knows who these people are? But don't they look relaxed?

Nite nite
From the seat back on the Icelandair flight. How cute is that?

Comments

[Irvin Wolkoff]

Fressen
Dear Lindaleh: Iceland has been a sort of pet of mine for years. A tiny population of first cousins and their progeny could have gone all Ozark, but instead they nailed geo-thermal energy, education, an economy and good blonde sex until a few serious bandits bought Iceland's banks and turned them into so much toilet paper on the international markets. It should happen to Hitler. Meanwhile, although this is probably redundant, look for the pickled herring which are bursting with fish fat. (If they were't, the buggers would freeze to death up there.) Also, seek out fresh scampi sold in paper cones on the docks. Finally, look for a place that rents Toyota trucks with V-8 engines and huge monster truck tires. The locals love to run these unstoppable bad boys up and down large dirt hills. Finally, you must try hakarl, the meat and fat of a shark that's been buried in beach sand for half a year. It's like eating crunchy ammonia, but you'll dine out on it for the rest of your life. Love and knishes, Irvin