Iceland 2025 - Day 1

 

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2025 // Day 0.5

Our flight was our of MSP at about 8PM on Thursday night. It was a six hour direct flight, but we would arrive in Iceland at 7AM with a full day ahead of us. I had all intentions of sleeping the whole flight, but I only manage half an hour. I should know better - when I went to Japan I didn't sleep a wink of the 13 hour flight. I'm too excited!

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2025 // Day 1

We arrived in Iceland by 7AM Icelandic time, which was 2AM back home. None of us slept more than an hour or two on the flight over, but we were starting our day and bound to make the most of it!

While going through the point of entry at the airport, the guy checking my passport asked if I worked for NASA (due to my Artemis Missions t-shirt, I assume).  I told him I wished, and he said he wished he did too so he could be the first man on Jupiter.  ‘Anywhere but here,’ he said.

I was excited to browse the airport shop - I love checking out snacks in different places! (Who am I kidding, I love checking out snacks in the Kwik Trip down the street). I grabbed a couple cans of Collab - what I knew as the Icelandic energy drink.

A shuttle picked us and two others up from the airport and took us to our hotel - Fosshotel Reykjavík. It was nowhere near time to check in, but we got changed, brushed our teeth, had some breakfast, etc. while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. 

Our first excursion of the day was to take a bus tour of Reykjavík. It’s a pretty walkable city, but it was quite wet out, so the bus was nice. We got to see a very large (think: the size of a classroom) topographical map of Iceland, saw the parliament, took photos of many statues, and visited the Hallgrímskirkja church. I learned that Reykjavík burned down in 1915.

We also got the highly bragged about Icelandic hot dogs. They had a nice snap to them. Aaron and I split a traditional hot dog that came with crispy onions and mustard. 

We walked to lunch at Brass Kitchen & Bar where we were served a starter of scallop, shrimp, and cod soup with bread and butter, and a main dish of duck confit with mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and broccoli. I promised I tried the soup - even the seafood part of it! I ate the broth, but ended up giving Aaron most of my seafood bits.

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel and those of us who were going to the Blue Lagoon hopped back onto the bus. We had a 45 minute drive ahead of us, and though I would have loved to stay awake for the views, I was quick to fall asleep.

Approaching the Blue Lagoon, we could see where the recent volcanic activity took place. The lava fields were super cool looking, and it was neat to see the newly settled volcanic rocks.

Getting off the bus at the Blue Lagoon, I was SO cold. My teeth were chattering, so I was ready to get in the water. Everything I had read about Blue Lagoon prior to going said that you needed to get nakey and shower THEN put your swim suit on. Which you totally can do - but once there we were told to put our suits on, go to the shower - which are individual stalls with doors, not the communal shower room that I imagined, take your suit off and shower, put your suit back on, then go into the lagoon. I also read to NOT let your hair get wet because the components of the water can strip your hair. I already have sticky hair, so I rinsed it, then lathered it in conditioner before putting it into a messy bun. I was taking NO chances!

After all the pre-lagoon maintenance, I quickly headed out to the geothermal pool.

Once I found my crew, we waded through the hot 100+ degree water in search of the bar. We found the mask bar first, but quickly ditched it for the actual bar, then wandered the vast pool. It was interesting how there were really hot pockets, and then cooler (but still warm) pockets. You could hear the distribution wells pulling in the hot geothermal seawater from 2000 meters in the earth - so cool!

The Blue Lagoon is special because it contains silica, algae, and natural minerals that have great benefits for your skin. I ended up paying for the lava mask because where else are you going to put lava on your face?! I did feel like my skin was softer! Getting it off was a bit of a pain. I learned the trick was to loosen it with lagoon water (but try not to get it in your mouth because ew), then use the little fountains on the side of the lagoon to scrub it off.

We stayed at the Blue Lagoon for about 2.5 hours, then boarded the bus back to the hotel. By this time we were able to get checked into our rooms, got our belongings sorted, and then headed down to the basement BJÓR GARĐURINN (beer garden) for dinner. My fish and chips were delicious!

The water here is also wonderful - straight from the tap is SO cold and refreshing. The cold water is naturally filtered through the lava fields in Iceland!

I was finally able to crawl into bed around 10PM with the intention of reading, but my eyeballs decided I was done for the day.