Reykjanes

So what's all the fuss about Reykjanes you ask - one answer, 50 meter hot spring pool!

On Saturday morning we packed our bags and the car and got on the road. It was a difficult morning and we headed back to the house for a few hours as Terri and Jacob were deciding what to do about potentially returning to the US to see his grandmother who got sick quickly. After lengthy conversations it was decided that we would head to Reykjanes with everyone's bags packed for the US and if they needed to return then we would drive to Reykjavik from there. Thankfully, the news continued to get better and better and an emergency trip was not necessary.

We drove for about 2.5 hours, passing beautiful scenery, some windy scary roads, an incredibly bumpy road and seal rock where we saw hundreds of seals and finally arrive at a collection of 3 buildings - Reykjanes. It was an old boarding school, much like Nupur, where we have been in the past. It was pretty run down, chipping on the outside and in need of paint. the 50 meter pool was partially surrounded by an old cement wall and by a new wooden fence. We headed in and got our two rooms - just as you would imagine, small dormitory rooms with beds and a sink, a chair and table. The bathrooms were across the hall and the showers down the hall. On the floor there was a room with a ping pong table and another room with a TV and many couches and chairs. We unpacked and were anxious to get into the pool!

These are pictures of Zelia's new birthday bathing suite from Aunt Angie and Uncle Baki. Wrapped in our towels and in bare feet we walked to the pool. I had been told it was slimy and it certainly was - we weren't sure Terri would get in, woooo, it was green and slippery, but once you got it nothing mattered, it felt SOOOOO good. The website of the place touts skin healing properties to the water....At first Jacob thought the pool was only about 3 feet deep, but, oh no, it got deep! After our swim, we rested and had a nice fish dinner.

The next day, after breakfast we headed out to explore our surroundings a bit. The landscape is totally different from Isafjordur, few mountains, flatter plains and rock outcrops that looked like stacks of pancakes. We headed through very boggy land on a path to the old swimming pool. It had been used by the students for swimming instruction 100 years ago!!!! It was beautiful and we said that if we return in the summer that's where we want to swim - overlooking the ocean. On the way there we walked by bubbling hot springs encircled by bright green moss and steam rising from the ground. The old pool was being fed by hot water, but the entire pool was not hot.
We continued walking and found an airstrip and watched the sea birds and one seal along the shore.

After our walk, we decided to head back into the pool. It was significantly colder than the previous day and even more enjoyable to be in the pool.

The man running the place, Gunnar, has been doing so for a year. He is from the Reykjavik area and was a sip builder, but was looking for a change. We were the only guests in the hotel that weekend but he said that in the summer they host many family reunions. Sounds good to me:)

After hamburgers for lunch we were back in the car heading home with a pit stop at Bonus, of course.