Blak and Blue (KK)
I need something to hold onto while the world is spinning round and round. -- Gary Clark, Jr.
We started the first part of the trip in the very black lava "moon side" of Iceland, not my idea of remarkable beauty until we saw the blue lagoon. Stunning. Relaxing. Just what I hoped it would be. More about that later.
Getting there was another story. So, we have this car and it's called the Picanto. Let's start there. My first Barbie car was bigger. I am 6 feet tall! Thank goodness for Yoga poses and breathing techniques. As it turned out I needed both...
Rewind to yesterday. We should set the stage: There is a construction zone, a hairpin curve, a stick shift, and a slick road. And we do NOT read the language. In this moment I am reminded that hope is not a strategy.
Lucky for us, the roads were empty and no cars approached as we drove The. Wrong. Way. We course corrected, clearly!
So after some choice words...of thanks...we were on our way. It may or may not have been divine intervention that led us first to the largest church in Iceland, Halligrimskirkja.
It struck me as austere. Plain. No stained glass. No ornamentation. The "fanciest" thing there, in my opinion, was the gargantuan pipe organ with an impressive 5275 pipes. So that was that.
The area near the church was darling, an artsy part of Reykjavik and we had our first Icelandic meal at Cafe Loki. It was delicious and different. I am not a huge fan of fish. So long term this would not be a good place for me to stay. The shops are fun and there is plenty o'puffin paraphernalia to go around.
The architecture was interesting--some great graffiti and colorfully painted buildings.
And then we found the Icelandic Punk Museum. Bucket list just got shorter!
The day was supposed to end with a viewing of the Northern Lights but the cloud cover is pretty thick right now. We have a few more opportunities to see them. Fingers crossed.
Ok back to where we began, Blue Lagoon. It is sooooo strangely blue amidst black lava fields in the middle of nowhere. It is surreal. We spent the morning in the Lagoon and indulged in the mud and algae masks. Hour three--we dragged ourselves to the relaxation room to be, just be.
One of my 2017 goals was to learn how to truly unplug from the pressures of work and life so that I can give and be my best. My work-aholism has always been rewarded and easy to ignore because I love what I do. That has served me well in many areas of life but after a scary brush with my heart (which turned out to be, you know, stress) I knew I had to learn to chillax. I used to do that when I read to my children, wrote for pleasure or baked cookies for school or camped. When did I forget? Hopefully, this trip will get me back to center. "I need something to hold onto while the world is spinning round and round." --Gary Clark, Jr.
The next couple of days will be spent in some serious nature. In stark contrast to what we have seen so far, our color palette will expand with lots of green and hopefully a few surprises to share.
To see some of our pictures take a look at our photo galleries. We will post a few here and there on FB/Insta but we will put most pictures on the site.
Wandering with Purpose, Kristi