Soothing Waters in Blue Lagoon of Reykjavik

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I don’t know about others, but I was looking forward to enjoying the warm soothing waters of the Blue Lagoon after yesterday’s belabored walking. It wasn’t that the walk should have been tiring; but, for me it was. It’s bad enough to have the chronic problem with my heel, which at least is being addressed with better arch supports, but I have two toes on one foot that hurts, ankles that seem to like to lock up and knees that seem like they sometimes won’t support me. My legs try to compensate for all of these afflictions, and it makes them very tired in the process. Perhaps today I will get some relief.

I awake to Sharon telling me that I will be on my own today. She decided to stay back and enjoy some quiet time to catch up on her reading, photos, emails etc. I tell myself, “Well, this is just a four-hour tour, so it shouldn’t be anything like that. Besides, what can go wrong at a spa?”

I head up to the Lido, alone, and already things are starting to go wrong. I find that we’re now apparently operating under “Code Red” conditions; although, I haven’t heard any announcements saying that we’re in “Code Red”. I go by the Bakery Station and there are no plates for us to grab. One short lady is reaching under the protective barrier, stretching her arm as far as she can, trying to reach the tong for selecting the rolls and pastries. “Alice! What are you doing?” a stern voice from behind me bellows. “I’m trying to get a roll.” “Alice, HE’s supposed to do that.” She complains, “Someone left the tongs too far back.” “Alice, for the SECOND time, HE’s supposed to do that?” And she realizes that just about everyone is staring at her in this section of the Lido and she timidly withdrew her arm. I have the steward get me plate, roll and butter; and, at another station I have another steward get me some cold-cuts and cheese. A table has been set up in front of the water and coffee station, and another steward services my request for ice-water, placing the glass on the table for me to then take. I find a table to sit at, which is completely barren, no salt and pepper shakers, no vase and flowers, no utensils wrapped in the orange and white cloth napkins. I head back to the serving area on my end of the Lido, and I don’t see any utensil-napkin bundles… anywhere. I ask the steward next to my table, he looks around, checks his workstation finding nothing, and rushes off. He comes back shortly with several bundles of utensils and gives me one. They were at the other end of the Lido.

Back at the cabin I let Sharon know about the harsher conditions. We’d later heard that the captain is taking these steps in order to avoid having the ship quarantined in Rotterdam. Wouldn’t that be fun, we have about one-week to shake this thing… or else. I pack my swimming suit and my jacket in the HAL tote bag. One of the strap handles broke off yesterday, so I need to be mindful not to lose anything out of the bag… not that I would do that. Sharon is not going to let that (my losing the camera bag) go; although, it has been two dinners now that she hasn’t brought it up regaling everyone with what an idiot she has for a husband (But she loves me anyway she says). Of course, one of those dinners we were eating by ourselves, so she didn’t have anybody but me to tell it too. And I guess she figures I already know. I head to the show room that is empty; except for the sticker girl who is urgently saying, “Oh good, you’re here.” And I get the distinct feeling that I’m late. Was there another hour change overnight during our overnight stay in Reykjavik that nobody bothered to tell me about. It’s happened to me once before in Spain, when they went from daylight to standard time (earlier than the change in the US) and it left me at a bus stop waiting for a bus that had already come and gone. My puzzled look must have clued her in that maybe I wasn’t the person she was looking for, and she asked, “What tour are you on?” I show her my ticket. “Oh, you’re not late. I get my sticker and she sends me on my way.

This morning, there is no bus to take us to the terminal (of course). The long walk down the pier isn’t doing my feet any good; and, the jacket in the bag isn’t doing much good at protecting me from the wind that is chilling coming of the water. As I reach the terminal, the bus shows up (of course). I find Bus #5 and discover that just about everybody is already onboard. I guess that there are a lot of sore bones on this cruise eager to get to those soothing waters in the blue lagoon.

Bjorne was our tour-guide today. He told us of the history of the Blue Lagoon, how a hole had been bored into the earth to access hot water for a steam generation plant used to provide electricity for Reykjavik, and the warm water that was left over was then used to heat a neighboring community and the leftover water from that collected in the area of the Blue Lagoon. People soon began using this as a spa and it became more popular as rumors of the soothing and healing properties of the water spread. The color derives from the tiny algae that are in the water; which is also full of various minerals. Eventually, somebody put up a small wood structure people could use as a changing room. Before people were just changing in their cars when they would come here. Eventually, somebody realized that they could put up a nice facility, charge money and make this the top tourist attraction in Iceland; so, they did. Bjorne cautioned not to wear any silver or white gold into the water, or it will likely turn black and need to be polished. I’d recommend leaving all jewelry in your locker; or better still, back in the safe on the ship like I did. Bjorne did recommend not to drop anything of value into the water; because, you will never see it again. The water is not clear, and you can see nothing even an inch below the surface.

As we entered, they gave us a wristband and a towel. The wristband is your passport at the Blue Lagoon. Don’t lose it, we were cautioned. It opens your locker. It gets you a free drink at the bar (in the lagoon). You can also use it to buy additional drinks or services. It gets you out the exit to leave… if you don’t have it you will need to pay for it. It’s probably a good idea to listen when they tell you how to fasten the wristband, and it seems to work best with the sensor in the wristband on top of your wrist.

We walked up stairs to the individual locker rooms for men and for women. There were larger lockers in the common area prior to the locker rooms in which larger bags could be stored. In the locker rooms there were two rows of lockers, one on top of the other, each about 18 inches wide and about 30 inches high. The doors were open for those spaces that were available, and there were plenty available when we arrived about 8:15AM. I chose 1615 as my locker, an easy number to remember and on the upper row, no bending involved for this old geezer. I changed into my swimsuit, closed the locker, and touched the sensor on the wristband to the sensor pod on the locker, it counted down and locked.

I was headed out and the shower monitor said, you might want to take your towel. Back to the locker, touch the wrist band to the locker and I retrieved my towel. There were numbered cubby-holes by the showers to keep your towel. I had to ask the shower monitor which cubby-hole mine was; because, I’d left my glasses in the locker. It was on the top, second from the right… Sweet! I took a shower, then headed for the pool without my towel. Some people took their towels with them, and there was a mass of towels by the entrance to the pool with no way of telling one towel from another. Besides, we’d been warned about the elves. The elves are mischievous little folk who like to play tricks on people, like stealing their towels. The elves must play an important part in Icelandic life because both Oscar yesterday and Bjorne today has mentioned them. Most people can’t see the elves, or don’t admit to seeing them; but, some do, and some communicate with them. Oscar offered as evidence the many large lava boulders that we’d seen strewn across the landscape. The elves are responsible for rolling them down the hills until they wind up where there seen. Bjorne suggested using the conditioner when showering before getting into the water, it will help to protect your hair from the harsh water. Shampoo and Conditioner were provided in HAL-like dispensers in each of the many showers. There were shower curtains that could be used to give the illusion of privacy in the shower, but it would be simply that, an illusion. Without the conditioner, it might take your hair several days of showers to get back to normal.

There were four hand-railed lanes leading down the ramp into the pool. I would guess that the water was about 90˚F and the area was already full of bathers. I would guess that the depth was about three to four feet deep. There were a few enclosures about the lagoon, and the water would get increasingly warmer near these, even hot at times, and these were no doubt where the heated water was entering the lagoon. Control of the water level and temperature is meticulously maintained. There were several walkway bridges over narrow sections of the lagoon where it expanded into other areas. All but one of these were closed to bathers; but, I did venture through one. Beneath the bridge there was a “Fresh Icelandic Water” fountain that was continually running, and you could get a gulp or to of ice cold water. There was a catch-basin so no cold water was falling into the lagoon. When I returned to the main side I saw people gathered around a pool-side booth and I thought that this might be the bar where you get your free drink. This was rather where you could get various sorts of mud-packs or cucumber packs or various other gunk to put on your face. I was wondering about the people I’d seen walking around the lagoon with white stuff all over their faces. At first, I thought it was someone overzealous with sunscreen; but, no, they were selling gunk-treatments for your face. This is when I spotted the large digital clock so that people could know when their two hours were up (at least, that’s how much time we were allotted on this tour). I could read the clock without my glasses, and it was quite some distance away. There were people in the lagoon wading around with their glasses on; so, I guess that is a viable option too. You wouldn’t want to drop your glasses in the pool though; because, they really would be gone forever. I eventually found the bar at the other end. I should have just looked for the greatest concentration of people. This is where glasses would have helped. And drink they served counted as one of your free drinks, and they served red and white wine, beer, and a variety of fruity drinks and smoothies. I didn’t notice any sodas, and I just went with the easiest: Beer. With about 45 minutes left in my time at the spa, I decided to get out and shower. I still wanted to have time to take pictures. Getting dressed didn’t take as long as I thought that it might. There was a place to drop your towel off by the turnstile that lets you out. What you’re supposed to do is scan your wristband one last time, then the scanning pod opens up like a mouth of a whale, and you deposit your wristband in the cavity, it gets swallowed and a person is allowed to pass through the turnstile. Well that is how it’s supposed to work. I’m not exactly sure how the lady in front of me did what she did to herself, and she wasn’t particularly tall; but, she got the top of the turnstile stuck between her legs and she was trapped there with her toes struggling to reach the ground. I thought that she was going to lift her back leg over the turnstile, when one of the staff came over, scanned his badge and allowed the turnstile to lower to free her. Okay, I won’t make that mistake. Scan, deposit, push through the turnstile. No problem.

Sharon had suggested leaving the camera onboard; so, I only had my phone with which to take pictures. It would have been fine to take the camera and store it in the locker. I was able to get out into the patio area and take some pictures of people bathing in the lagoon.

We went up to have lunch when I got back. I found a very nice BBQ Beef Brisket sandwich with a sweet BBQ sauce. Sharon had turkey again. She was saying how good a day that she had, gotten her reading done, done her rosary, downloaded and organized photos and had a peaceful noise-free morning (i.e. no News on the TV).

We weren’t the first to arrive for Team Trivia and Duncan and Pam had already secured “Our Table”. Somebody was playing mahjong at that other guy’s table; so, I imagine he was a little bit peeved. We had a full contingent. Linda wanted to know, “True of False: Field Hockey is NOT an Olympic Sport?” We went with TRUE despite my thinking I’d seen women’s field hockey on TV during the Games in Seoul. Evidently, I might have. “What is the country that is to the east of Italy, south of Austria, west of Hungary and north of Croatia; and, which has a coastline on the Adriatic Sea?” This was very similar to another trivia question in my spreadsheet on the neighbors of Italy, so I just wrote down, “Slovenia”. I had a couple on “Are you sure?” queries; but, I held my ground. Then came the oddball capital city question, which I’ve spent some time studying with the flags. “What EU country has a capital, in which the first and last letters of the name are the same?” Where to start? Madrid, Lisbon, Rome, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, and don’t get me started on the Balkan states. Pam and I both came up with “Oslo” at about the same time; but, we were questioning whether Norway was in the EU. We ran out of time and were stuck with that answer. I guess we forgot to consider Poland: “Warsaw” was the correct answer. The bonus was to name the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals and Linda was offering one-half point for each won that was correct. Again, they were recently added to my spreadsheet; although, we’d never received the question to name them all! I now have a mnemonic trigger to give me the first letter of each sign: DD-RRR-SS-PHOT-M (e.g. two signs start with “D…thru one sign starting with “M”). We did get nine of the twelve… how many can you get? We only managed 11 and one-half points; and, were well short of the 15 points that the winners claimed.

I picked up Sudoku at the Front Desk on the way back to the cabin, where we prepared to do our Daily Challenge. After about 5 minutes I realized that I’d screwed up; but, I decided not to just concede and let her coast in to an easy victory. I made a copy of the puzzle, a larger copy, and I began doing that. About 5 minutes later Sharon put down her pen, and she could no longer make sense of her cipherings, so she threw in the bag. It took me quite a while and I struggled to the end; but, I did complete the puzzle successfully. She wasn’t happy that I’d started over; but hey, if she hadn’t made a mistake too, should would have won. She’s still calling, “Foul!”

Sharon went off to mass and afterwards we stopped by the future cruise desk on the Upper Promenade Deck; but, they were busy so we went to dinner.

There were two appetizers that I wanted to try, so Sharon obliged me by ordering the Greek Salad. The salad seemed more akin to a typical “Dinner Salad” at a dinner, a few big leaves of lettuce, some big pieces of red onion, some big slices of cucumber and some big wedges of tomato. It had a balsamic dressing; but, there was no feta cheese. But as greens, it satisfied me which is all I really wanted. I enjoyed the crusted Brie Cheese and my Black Bean Soup. My entry was the vegetarian Whole Wheat Mushroom Crepes. The were different; but, not something I would recommend. There was nothing on the menu for Sharon to choose from, so she settled for the “Everyday Chicken” with a baked potato. Even the desserts left Sharon wanting, lacking any real chocolate choices, leaving Sharon to choose a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. I was trying to decide between cheese plate, coconut ice cream and something called “Princess Cake”. Normally, I wouldn’t even consider ordering something called “Princess Cake”, except that it seemed to indicate that it was a white cake with marzipan; both, things that I do like. I suspected that there was a berry compote or other such yucky jelly like stuff that I avoid like the plague. Then I spotted somebody at another table getting the carrot cake, and then a nutty looking coffee cake that looked very good, and figured that must be the “Princess Cake”. Boy was I wrong. “Princess Cake” is exactly what it sounds like, two layers of white cake with a curving layer of lime green marzipan on top. And those two layers are separated by cherry raspberry jelly-like stuff… yuch! I ate it, but I wasn’t happy about it. I guess that it just goes to show that old geezers shouldn’t be ordering things called “Princess Cake”.

I went ahead to save us a spot in the Theater. I arrived one-half hour before show time and there were just two seats together in our section; albeit, they were both good seats. Sharon came, and we enjoyed Anthony Scott, a Scottish comic with a self-depreciating humor. He maintained a banter and rapport with the audience, and even adlibbed at one point to get a big laugh. I was ready to turn in after the show; and, we would be losing another hour again tonight.

DD-RRR-SS-PHOT-M = Dog, Dragon, Rabbit*, Rat, Rooster, Sheep*, Snake, Pig, Horse, Ox*, Tiger and Monkey. * = the ones that we missed.

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