Katharsisdrill in Iceland 1 - Hot springs and a smell of boiled eggs

So... at last I am back from my vacation in Iceland. It has been an invigorating journey not least thanks to the moderate temperature of the place. 13-15°C and mixed rain and sun. Just my cup of tea.

As i wrote in my only proper post from Reykjavik, before I realised that the wifi-problems I endured probably was for the best, it is expensive to live in Iceland. Apart from fish and sheep, the cold and wet land is not able to provide anything much except grass. But the Icelanders are resourceful and inventive and they have gotten the best out of the strange nature of the island.

As one of them said to me: "We pay a lot for food, but we can bathe in hot water for three hours and pay nothing." The geo-thermic areas provide cheap energy and both tomatoes and cucumbers are produced in greenhouses. So going to out-door swimming bath is one of the fun things you can do up there. The place called the Blue Lagoon had become expensive like hell and you had to book a time on the internet. My wife had been there years ago and thought we could just go down there, but it had really changed. The Icelanders are not using it any more, as it has become a tourist hell - so instead we went to one of the local swimbaths in Reykjavik recommended by our Icelandic friends and had such a fun time that we returned three more times, where young and old gathered in the outdoor hot tubs, sauna or swimming pool.

In the men's dressing room there was a wonderful cacophony of childen's voices as little, naked boys and girls jumped around the monolith bodies of old men. There was especially one little girl whose two brothers was complete rascals. The father just threw the bathing trunks and the towels in their faces and asked them to get out in the pool as fast as possible (after having washed properly of course), but when she insisted he took time to wash the hair of all the Barbie dolls she had brought. I am sure we had a much nicer experience being among the locals in relaxed socializing, than in the Disneyfied Blue Lagoon.

Only peculiar thing, both home in the shower of the apartment and in the swimmingpool, was the smell of boiled egg in the hot water. It is the sulfur of the hot springs you can smell.

For obvious reasons I do not have any photos from the bathing, but the swim bath we used most lies here:

Seltjarnarnes pool

It has slightly salted water and almost no chlorine in the colder swimming lanes. A big plus as I tend to avoid chlorine. I normally only swim in the sea.