land of ice and fire

Iceland!

That said, February appears to be a spectacularly terrible time weather-wise to visit Iceland, or maybe I was just unlucky. I was hoping for crunchy snow and clear skies but it was all grey rain and sleet in the end.

First stop was a quick swim in the renowned blue lagoon. Wow. Those guys have the whole outdoor sauna experience sorted out. I have never in my life seen such fit for purpose design in any kind of public swimming arena. Bathrobes for hire, waterproof bracelets to unlock your own private locker, a gift shop (a gift shop!). I’m 30 minutes into the country and I’m already prepared to let the nation of Iceland run the entire world if this is what you get out of it.

There are a series of small wooden pontoons floating in the lagoon, with pots of mud on top and ladles attached to the side. Though it’s a man made lagoon, the mineral rich waters and silica mud is supposed to be amazing for your skin (hence the gift shop). I pasted some on without much confidence in the claims of super-mud powers, but some days after my return I did notice that my skin looked abnormally fantastic, so there might be something to it after all.

Most of the rest of the driving bit was spent on icy roads looking at drowned and frozen fields, holes in the ground, churches and ice. And learning that jeans are the worst possible choice of clothes when you’re stomping about in the drizzly Icelandic landscape. And yet more ice. Though apparently Greenland has more, Iceland certainly has its fair share. It’s a very eerie landscape though. Maybe that’s a cliche thing to say because everyone says it, but the country really does have a very strange energy.

This is what wearing the wrong clothes on a wet grey winter’s day in Iceland feels like

My photo mojo was a bit off – sometimes this just happens (the combination of frozen snow, poor light and grey skies didn’t help there either) so there’s only a very meager selection of passable images.