Departing Iceland

Departing Iceland

It was pointed out to me by several friends, that I ended my entries short of our departure from Iceland. Sorry about that - the end of a trip like this can be a bit hectic and I forgot all about the two or three people who were following along....

Our final full day on Iceland was spent with a visit to a tourist attraction called Blue Lagoon. This is the site of the Island's largest Thermoelectric plant which provides electricity to the much of the

The thermal pools outside of the Blue Lagoon Resort

Southwest portion of the island. The waste water from the plant is passed through a series of open air pools, which have been converted to an outdoor spa. As one guide book described it: this is the worlds largest industrial waste recreational area. It is a pretty bizarre place, with waste-deep aqua blue water filled to the brim with tourists of all shapes and sizes. There were WAY too many European men in speedos. It was a rainy day, which lent a bit of a surreal feeling to the entire experience. Later that day, Jen and I wandered around the city picking up a few souvenirs and gifts and saying goodbye to this amazing place. We got to visit the city's giant flea market and I even met a couple from Kenya selling wooden figurines that I had seen in the Nairobi airport a mere two weeks previous. The woman looked a bit surprised when I greeted her in Swahili.

That evening we spent watching the closing ceremonies at the Olympics. It was interesting to see the entire three-hour event without a commercial. It's a different culture there to say the least. The next morning we walked with all our luggage to the bus station and made our way back to Boston. The trip was uneventful, which is the way I like air travel.

The following couple of weeks were spent touring through New England visiting with some old friends that I don't get to see nearly often enough. I then traveled down to Arkansas and spent a couple of weeks with the family.

I am now touring through the Pacific Northwest. I'll try to put a summary of how that's been going sometime soon....