Iceland, Day 3

A long overdue post to wrap up our trip to Iceland....

We'll resume where we left off at the end of day 2: despite lots of sightseeing and surviving snowmobiling in white-out conditions, we still had a little energy left to take a walk around Reykjavik after dinner. I'm not sure why, but the dusk sky has an extraordinary blue tint as the final rays of daylight struggle past the clouds.

A view of the coast at dusk near the harbor in downtown Reykjavik

Hallgrimskirkja, a church in downtown Reykjavik...in front of the church (not in pic), there is a statue of Leif Ericson. I happened to read the plaque under the statue to learn that this statue was a gift from the United States government to Iceland. It's funny that Leif is not given much credit for discovering North America nearly 500 years before Christopher Columbus....but I digress...

On our third and final day in Iceland, we decided to get up before the sun got up; we had to make the most of our short trip. We went for a hike before breakfast and saw these two little critters playing in the early morning hours:

The destination of our hike was the Pearl Observatory, which is perched upon a small foothill about 15 min walk from downtown. It is quite eccentric: it has a rotating restaurant that sits atop 4 large water tanks which supply the city with geothermal hot water. It's architecture is akin to that of a spaceship. Unfortunately, it was not open during these early hours. Fortunately, one of the delivery guys left a service door open, so I was able to sneak inside for a quick gander before absconding out a side door without being detected by security (insert Mission Impossible soundtrack here). You gotta remember, it's only illegal if you get caught!

Pearl Observatory

Well, our adventure was quickly coming to a end....so we decided to go out in style. No trip to Iceland is complete without a few hours at the famous Blue Lagoon: a natural hot springs with milky blue water. We spent the rest of the day soaking in its wonders, then hopped on our flight back home.

The Blue Lagoon

Brad enjoying a soak at the Blue Lagoon

We decided to end the trip with a floating massage in the Blue Lagoon. They wrap you in hot towels and you lie half submerged on a floating bed while the pros do their work. You just have to trust that they are not going to let you drown, then relax, and wish that the experience would never end. Emily also opted for the facial treatment, allowing me to sneak out and snag a pic.....then get back in the hot water quickly before the cold air got the best of me.

This concludes our trip. It was short, but I believe we saw most of the major items that the island has to offer. I highly recommend this trip to anyone who appreciates Nature and all that it has to offer; this will always rank as one of my favorite trips of all time. I sincerely hope you get a chance to visit and see for yourself.