Geothermal And Circle- A Golden Combination

Lori McNally — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:35:51 +0000

For every destination, there is always a to-do list of things you should see and experience while jet setting. In Iceland, two of those things include an outdoor bath at one of Reykjavik’s geothermal pools, and a drive to the Golden Circle. That’s how we planned to spend our second day in this beautiful country. We hired a local taxi to drive us around for eight hours. Since there were four of us, the cost was about $200USD per couple.11AM- We headed to Laugardalslaug Pool- Reykjavik’s biggest pool, and also the largest pool in Iceland. The price to get in is $360ISK per person. There is an awesome water slide, a large pool and smaller hot pots that are similar to hot tubs. Volcanic water keeps the temperature at a mellow 29*C for the large pool and between 37*-42*C for the hot pots. Note: The city’s pools are free of chemicals, so you must shower naked before getting in. Don’t worry, men and women have separate locker rooms- but if you are shy about being nude in front of others- this may not be for you.12:15PM- Back in the taxi and on the road to the Golden Circle. Gulfoss, Geysir and Pingvellir are unique sites commonly referred to as the Golden Circle.Pingvellir is a national park about 20km east of Reykjavik. This is a place of spectacular beauty- a place where you feel like your pictures cannot do it justice.It is like being in another world when you are here- it truly is amazing! You can spend hours walking through this immense rift valley which is caused by the separating North American and Eurasian tectonic plates.We then continued on to Gulfoss- Iceland’s most famous waterfall. It is a double cascading waterfall that is the biggest in Europe.

After Gulfoss, we got back into the car and went to see the Geysir.Its pronounced Gay-Zeer. This is another of Iceland’s most famous tourist attractions. It’s the original blasting hot water spout (temperature of 230*C) after which all other geysers around the world are named. There are a few in the area to see, some bigger than the others. The most reliable geysir of all is named Strokkur- which goes off every 5-6 minutes. So have your camera ready! Also be warned that it is sort of smelly like rotten eggs from the sulfur. That night, back in Reykjavik, we went to The Fish Company for dinner.The restaurant came highly recommended from our waiter the night before at Dill Restaurant- and he was right! Here’s what we had:

Fried Icelandic Lobster, butter cooked carrots, sheep sorrel jelly & Brennivins eggfoamJamaica spiced tunafish, pear-lime foam, deepfried softshell crab & bacon powder

Butterfried rack of lamb in fresh herbs, saltkiot & parsnip, burned mushroom & blueberry-baconsauce

Olive oil sous vide Baccalo from north of Iceland & squid in pirl pirl, plum tomato & black marengFor dessert we had banana & coconut cake, that came with roasted coconut chips, fresh papaya foam & homemade vanilla ice creamDinner was another incredible experience!Afterward we stopped next door to Restaurant Reykjavik to the Ice Bar. Believe it or not, this is the ONLY ice bar in all of Iceland!Actually, I should point out that it’s not really even a bar, but instead a converted meat locker within the restaurant that has walls lined with ice blocks. You pay $1500ISK per person to get in and they give you a big coat to put on- then you go in and they give you a drink.You can either choose to have Brennivin or a cocktail which is made with vodka, wine and sprite- it’s very fruity, but very good. Although the experience is sort of cheezy, I woulod definitely still recommend it. It’s really cold in the room, so if nothig else, it’s fun to bundle up and take some pictures.A bit of walking around and we worked up a mini appetite again! We went to Devito’s Pizza for a slice.This place was voted best drunken slice and best pizza in Reykjavik. We had a pepperoni slice. Everyone puts garlic oil and lemon pepper on the slices- DELISH!

Written By: Lori McNally

Chic Galleria » Pingvellir

Geothermal And Circle- A Golden Combination