Iceland

Once or twice a year I get annoyed with everything and start obsessively researching unrealistic and insane life changes like joining the French Foreign Legion.  I found this to be one of those days (US Navy Aviation Rescue Swimmer this time) so I’ll write about our Iceland trip to put myself in a better mood. 

We didn’t do too much right before Christmas…hair appointment, breakfast at old fave Panya which has changed a ton, viewing a condo a few blocks from our place that was a good deal but utterly soulless.  Even if a new place is just going to be an investment, I still think it needs to be a place I would personally want to live in.  On Christmas Eve my Dad wasn’t feeling well, my sister had other plans and my brother was working a double so I didn’t end up going up to my family’s place.  S had to work during the day so I did work, cleaned up the house, went to the library, and wrapped presents.  S and I just did a really nice quiet dinner at home, drank yummy mulled wine, and opened a few presents.  I got S a wine club membership, a nice bottle of tequila, some shirts/ties/underwear that he needed.  My main prezzie was the trip to Iceland but I also got a lovely container of lavender bubble bath which was the main thing I asked for.  I don’t usually like stuff like that but for some reason I am just enchanted with the bottle and the smell and the packaging (and thank goodness he didn’t get patchouli!)   

The next day we had raspberry danish and coffee for Christmas breakfast, packed, and headed out to JFK for our flight.  Flight was uneventful, we landed early, hung out in the airport for a while, and then got on a bus to take us to the BLUE LAGOON!  The Blue Lagoon is an outdoor geothermal pool/spa near the airport outside of Reykjavik…check out the website, it’s awesome.
 
Going in it was soooo cold, we checked our bags except for the swim bag and just walking from the bus to check-in it was freezing.  I was so eager to get into the warm water.  We checked in, went to the general locker rooms (these are separate for men and women), showered up (you have to take a naked shower and there are charts with specified areas that depict the spots on your body that are mandatory to wash, hee.)  I’d read that the mineral laden water makes your hair really stiff so I loaded it up with the Blue Lagoon conditioner and put in a bun.  After cleansing we met up by the door to the lagoon.  Took our towels and shoes off and ran into the water.  It felt sooo good!  And although I love the misty glamour shots effect of the photos that survived, our disposable waterproof camera did NOT cut it so definitely check out their website for better photos and more info for anyone who’s interested in going.
 
  

The water is this amazing light blue and so warm – I was in heaven.  The air was still supercold and windy but the water was so warm and toasty it was a nice contrast, like a hot-tub in the snow.  The Lagoon itself was really neat, lots of different areas, a steam cave, waterfall, sauna, and bins of the silica/mineral clay that you could scoop out and put on your skin as a mask…so relaxing.  We spent several hours there, then showered up, had lunch, and headed into town.  Such a nice day and a great way to decompress after a night spent on plane.

Our apartment was right in the center of town, nice and warm with tons of windows overlooking the main square.  After not sleeping for over 24 hours we were zonked, so we climbed right into bed and slept like rocks.  I think we got up to get some provisions at the store at some point in the evening, but the long nap felt sooo good.  The room was really warm and there were these fluffy white bedlinens…oh yeah.  The next day we woke up around 11am, just before the sun, which was rising around 11:30 each day.  Short day!  We took a nice walk around town and it was really cute, still all done up very Christmas-y. 
 

The harbour was absolutely stunning – the boats and the water with mountains behind…fantastic!  A lot of my friends have been doing legit ice swims these days and I was soooo tempted to give it a try but I’m not acclimatized and wasn’t really sure of where it’s okay/not okay to swim in Iceland.  One day though!
 
 

The next day we got up long before dawn to head out for a SCUBA trip!  Not the best day since it was just above freezing with cold rain coming down, but we were excited.  We drove out to Thingvellir National Park, to the edge of the Lake by the same name.  The other people in our crew were really awesome, a group of three guys, two American and one Irish, two of them married and living in Manchester, England.  The awesome thing is how they all met – traveling with the Circus!  Very cool guys.  We got suited up, checked gear, etc and got a briefing on the "dry" suits, and were joined by a French guy and his young teen son.  

The process felt like it took forever, we were standing in the freezing rain and hail in damp clothes for over an hour and I started to get nervous about hypothermia.  Finally we were able to walk to the lake, which warmed me up quickly carrying 40 pounds of weight in a very tight and insulated suit.  (I am super buoyant and the dry suit/cold water makes you need even more weight for dives!)  We got to the edge and went down a super slippery metal ladder (in flippers!) and then into the 2*C/35*F glacier water.  It was surprisingly comfortable – our faces were exposed and water obviously came in through our gloves and down our backs, but once we got moving I felt great.  I had read that the water was clear, cold, and delicious, but I was still amazed at how beautiful and delicious it was…like drinking liquid silver.    

I had some trouble deflating my suit, the button may have frozen or maybe my fingers weren’t strong enough, but once I pushed myself down about 6 feet, water pressure took over and pushed the extra air out.  The visuals were amazing.  The park is a UNESCO world heritage site, both for the natural beauty there and also because it contains ruins of the original Viking seat of government.  Too cool.  The Silfra Rift is the crack between the American and Eurasian continents.  Having done swims between Europe and Asia, Europe and Africa, we figured this would be the only way for me to swim between Europe and the Americas.  Asia to America is also possible (2.4 miles between Big and Little Diomede) and North America to South America, depending on your definition.  Everyone tries Cuba to Florida but I think I’d try the Gulf of Uraba between Panama and Colombia.  I don’t believe this has been done yet..dare to dream!

Anyway – Silfra was amazing.  We sunk down into the Silfra "Hall" between the plates, you could almost reach your hands out and touch both sides. (We were supposed to get photos of our Silfra dive, but due to various factors we did not, so these are pulled from their website.)  Still so neat:
 

We kept going, a lot of up and downs over rocks of different heights until we hit the "Cathedral" which was incredibly beautiful.  We were able to stop for a while here and I really enjoyed just looking back and up from the bottom.  The top of the water was all silvery and somehow reflected everything below while somehow still showing a bit of the sky.
 
 
 
I could have stayed for hours, but after far too short of a stay, we headed forward into the lagoon area.  The bottom got much shallower and sandier very quickly.  The divers ahead stirred up some of the silt, but still visibility was so clear, you could see the whole lagoon.  Again, the water, so pure and shimmery:

 
Something was going on, so we didn’t stay too long in the lagoon, and we walked up and on to land, then back to the parking lot.  The weights felt soooo heavy.  As we approached the road, a bunch of rescue cars went screaming by.  Not a good sign.  They tried to get close to the lake but it wasn’t safe so they went on foot to the water.  Apparently the pair of solo divers who had gone in right behind us (I remember seeing them get in) had had an incident and one had drowned. 

I didn’t find out until later what happened, apparently one of the divers was local and very experienced with Silfra, and had a childhood friend, now living in Switzerland, come visit and asked him to take him out while he was home in Iceland.   The friend had done a lot of scuba diving, but only in warm waters, and had never used a drysuit.  They went pretty deep, about 60 meters down, I think trying to go swim down into the caves that open up under the entry stairs.  The friend got water in his suit, or the regulator froze, or something, and totally freaked out.  He inexplicably pulled his mask and reg off at depth and then tried to grab his friend’s mask/reg when he came to help him.  The friend pulled him up anyway and the volunteer rescue team arrived quickly and tried to revive him but he was gone.  The friend survived but had some decompression sickness from surfacing so quickly.  So sad, I guess these violent delights have violent ends sometimes.

After that it felt a bit weird, but we continued on, got changed and left to see a few more sites.  It was getting dark when we rolled up to Gullfoss Waterfall.  We didn’t have much time to spend due to the incident, but it was extraordinary.  I have never seen something like this before.  I wish the photos were a little better because of the dark, but you can always google for more impressive photos, I’m sure there are tons (also opening scene of Prometheus was filmed there, captures it really nicely!)

 

After Gullfoss we went to another area of the park to see a couple of Geysirs.  I think I had seen video of Yellowstone’s "Old Faithful" but even in the dark, that did not prepare me for seeing it erupt just 10 feet away.  (The first time I yelled and leaped back, convinced the water was going to fall on me!)  No photos, it was dark, but similar to Gullfoss, I am sure there are photos/videos out there.

It was a long drive home in the dark and we got caught in a crazy snowstorm.  The car was well equipped and our guide was actually a great driver, but I was very glad to get home that night.  We didn’t do much, just dinner and then bed.

That brings me to about the halfway part of the trip, and I have a zillion photos from New Year’s Eve, so I’ll continue that in a second entry.

Have a good weekend all!