Our last two days :-(

Our last full day in Iceland was relatively uneventful. We had booked a spot at the Blue Lagoon, the insanely popular geothermal bathing resort outside of Reykjavik, so decided to take it in. I've got to say, I was a little disappointed. The Myvatn Nature Baths in Myvatn in the north of the country completely dominate the Blue Lagoon. Hands down. It's not even a contest. The water is more pleasant, it is less expensive, it is not so overtly touristy, they bring beer right to you, and they had a live band. Like I said. Not even a contest.

Unfortunately, Myvatn is like a five hour drive from Reykjavik, so if you only have a short time, I guess you should do the Blue Lagoon. The whole experience of the massive outdoor geothermally heated bathing area is certainly worth doing. But if you were in Reykjavik for a short time and had to pick one attraction to pass on, I'd pick this one. They tried to sell us a 60 Euro skin care package because "the water will really dry out your skin". But you just finished telling me that the water is soothing and great for my skin in your promotional materials. I'm confused.

Oh, and they don't tell you before you come to Iceland that you have to shower before you go in the pool. Standard right? Except here you MUST BE NAKED. In the men's washrooms they don't monitor it because, well, guys could really care less. We're fine with showering nekkid in front of other dudes. And even if we aren't, there are private cubicle showers if you want. But them women's change room? Different story.

True story, there was a staff member in there monitoring whether or not the women showered naked. But, of course, there were private cubicles. So it didn't stop the ladies from just telling the naked shower patrol that they had indeed washed naked, but did nothing of the sort. I passed by a young British lady who was recounting the whole experience to her friends. "She actually came up to me after and said 'Did you make sure to wash your private parts really well? With soap?'" True story.

The rest of the day we just chilled in the city, checking out all the different shops, finding some awesomely unique wedding gifts, and just taking in the awesome ambience in the city.

To finish the night, and our trip really, we attended a comedy show at the gorgeous concert hall and conference centre on the harbour, Harpa. It is a comedy show written by an award winning writer and producer in Iceland. The show is called How to be Icelandic in 60 Minutes. It basically touched on all the stereotypes about Icelanders, why they are the way they are, why they stay here despite the miserable weather, etc. It was really enjoyable. Just the perfect level of humour, not overly raunchy or vulgar, and was a nice way to cap off the trip by encapsulating everything we've experienced over the last 16 days.

Tomorrow we head back home to our beautiful kids who we miss so much, and to our normal work-a-day lives, which we don't miss so much :-)

Until next time Iceland....