Oh, look, yet another post where I attempt to describe my surroundings and observations in vague, yet informative ways without photos.
Hmmm, where to start.
Well, today I ventured out the the touristy attraction of Blue Lagoon. It was interesting. I had never been to a spa before, so I didn't know what to expect, and after this, I still don't. It was a little jarring to walk into the locker rooms and see lots of nude women everywhere. Again, I'm not quite sure if this is a common occurrence in a spa, or if it is merely my American upbringing and being unaccustomed to public nudity. However, I got over the feeling of being uncomfortable, all was well.
On a more different note, the landscape I described in the previous post became more interesting as my bus wound through roundabouts and lonely roads out to Blue Lagoon. In spots, the ground plane was quite green. But the green gave way to pale yellow on coarse, jagged lumps of black pumice stone, which littered the land in layers upon layers. At first, I thought it was sand (you'll have to see a later entry with pictures to know what I mean), but as I wandered about the paths through the lagoon to take pictures, it was a fragile moss. And it coated everything like a thin blanket of snow. The "Blue Lagoon" did not get its name just to be poetic, the water in these hot sprints is opaque, where one cannot see anything more than two or three inches below the surface.Here, the scent of salt was faint, overwhelmed by the assaulting stink of sulfur (say that five times fast). It was especially pungent if you decided to relax upwind near the sputtering, bubbling geyser in the center (caution: the water was actually boiling).
Something else I have noticed about Reykjavik is the apparent lack of Icelanders. I know that may sound strange, but I am now convinced that Iceland natives do not exist (sarcasm). Most of the individuals I have met have been from Canada or the States. I met some guy at the Lagoon today who was born and raised in Schenectady. (For those of my readers not from New York's Capital District, Schenectady is one of Albany's two major sister cities, the other being Troy). I did, however, tonight spend some time with my roommates. One, a Canadian from Toronto, another from Australia, and the other a native Thai girl living in Paris. But almost everyone I hear around me and have seen around the city has been of North America's two uppermost countries.
A final observation about Iceland is its gay pride, which is really great to see as an supporter. I wish I had a picture to show (I don't, not even on my camera), but every storefront, every restaurant has a pride flag or something rainbow. And when I noticed the flags, I noticed the couples. The openness of the city's sexuality reminded me a lot of Key West. Keep on keeping on, Reykjavik.
I'm sure there are more observations I made, but they can come in a future journal entry. I don't have my notes with me, sorry.
Until next time,
E
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