hot springs | From Melting Pot to Hot Pot

Here’s a tip for all you travelers: when flying to or from Europe, try Iceland Air. It’s cheaper than most other airlines, let’s you have two free checked bags, and always has a layover in Reykjavik, Iceland. No free meals, but with all you get, bringing your own sandwich isn’t a big deal.

On my way to the US from England, I flew Iceland Air and booked myself a nice long layover. With the money I saved by flying Iceland Air, I booked a hotel room for the night and an entire day at the famous hot springs (and still saved over $100). It was more than worth it.

So, on that note, welcome to Iceland!

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We arrived at night, and unfortunately my camera wasn’t sharp enough to pick up the faint northern lights we saw. It was a great way to start the experience, though–definitely brought home that I was somewhere new.

The next day we got up and took a bus to the Blue Lagoon hot springs. On the way we got to see the beautiful Icelandic landscape. Blue skies, snow-topped mountains, and lichen-covered black rock. I’ve never seen anything like it. I just wish I’d gotten more of a chance to walk around outside and explore.

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On our way we passed what we were told was “downtown” Reykjavik. I honestly expected it to be bigger.

But it was certainly cute and quaint, in a short and stumpy kind of way.

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The rest of the ride to the hot springs was uneventful, but very pretty.

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When we arrived, we got right to the main event. Which meant, of course, checking in, figuring out the locker system, putting our bathing suits on, taking our bathing suits back off to shower, putting our now wet bathing suits back on, running outside in below-freezing temperatures, hopping around while we looked for an open hook for our bathrobes, and then, finally, boiling our frozen toes in the very hot water.