Fish jerky in iceland

That is right. One of the first thing we were offered in Iceland was fish jerky. It smelled terrible, tasted worse, and was supposedly good with beer. The texture was dry and flaky, and very unappealing. I did buy some to bring home to my dad (who loves beef jerky) and show everyone else. My family was equally disgusted by the entire product, most notably the taste and therefore it became an exotic kitty treat for our chubby cat, who loved the stuff.

Iceland often served a number of very odd fish dishes, none of which we tried. I had food poisoning on my way to Ireland, and wanted to avoid anything I did not trust. It was also well out of our limited budget to splurge on a meal 4 times what we were planning to spend. We opted to buy Icelandic hot dogs from an outdoor stand... and those were amazingly good and cheap. We also tried pizza, which was as you'd expect, and ate a lot of yogurt, fruit, and sandwiches made from items at the store.

I would steer clear from the fish jerky unless you want to try something new, or think you'd maybe enjoy the product. If i did have more money and time, I would have tried the interesting fish dishes, maybe even the rare shark delicacy that is offered. I bet the fish and chips is extremely good as well. Again, on a tight budget, food is one of the first things that you have to skimp on. I remember the orange juice being the most amazing thing to drink while hiking, and the candy shops we walked into were like right out of Willy Wonka, floor to ceiling with a million different things.

Traveling to iceland now might be a bad idea, with the economic problems. If you get the chance, take it, Iceland is like a dream world with a fantasy like quality. I felt often times like I was in Wonderland.

Have you ever tried fish jerky?

Is Iceland doomed?

I am very horrified to read about the downfall of iceland's economy. I feel it may make Iceland a hard place to travel, if it cannot afford to take in tourists. I loved my visit, and plan to update my thoughts and worried about the situation in Iceland.

Is traveling to Iceland still a good option for your vacation? Will Iceland even exist in the next decade?

I truly hope so.

The Blue Lagoon

One of the most popular tourist attraction is the blue lagoon naturally heated pools. The waters is bright blue, surrounded by lava rocks. At the bottom is this blue mud, which is good for exfoliation, and sold all over the world. Since the temperature is typically very chilly, it is especially unique to be in a very hot sulfur bath while any part of your body that is above the water is extremely cold.

It was highly suggested that you visit this site on your way to the airport, because it is so relaxing that you basically melt on the plan ride home. Our plan was ruined by the fact we had the worst flight back into America that we have ever had. The very back seat, next to the bathroom, with a violently ill child, creating a line that lasted the entire trip. Not to mention 50 million other problems.

However, this post is about the Blue Lagoon, which was amazing. It rivaled the horseback riding Lava Tour as the best experience of the entire trip. We have approximately two hours to enjoy the pools, and even though we thought it was not going to be enough, it was just about a perfect amount of time. You can indulge yourself in massage services or saunas which we skipped due to time, and did not browse the food or the shop, due to time.

The one thing that I really enjoyed about this natural pool, was the uneven lava surface, which if you move too quickly can be very sharp and dangerous. I hit my shin a few times trying to wade through water too quickly. The space is hidden among the vast lava landscape, and absolutely beautiful to behold. The water varies in heat depending where you stand, and how much thermal heat happens to be omitted at that particular time. Sometimes you will wade into almost unbearable hot locations, and other times the water is absolutely perfect. It is always fluxuating which creates a very calming sensation on the body. The hot steam that pours out of some man made ventilation tubes allows for you to keep warm in the cold wind provided you pick the right spot to swim. The blue lagoon waters are supposed to help the skin, respiratory system, arthritis, nervous system and emotional stress. I think anyone the visits should enjoy this tourist attraction, as even the locals come here often to bask in the natural resource. It is rumored to be a fountain of youth.

Now enjoy some pictures of the blue lagoon and pictures of us in the blue lagoon:

Kelsey and myself, with blue mud on our faces. We found out during the preperation for this picture, that the mud on the ground, which feels great on the face, is also completely filthy with human hair from the thousands of people the visit each week. blue mud and human hair! Keep in mind they do have blue exfoliation mud (without the hair) available on the other side of the lagoon.
Before the  mud. Surrounded by the natural steam. Which smells slightly like eggs, which I actually began to really enjoy by the time we left. 

Now we are holding the hairy mud up for you to see. Keep in mind our heads, shoulders and hands were FREEZING cold in the brisk wind, while nipples down we were steaming hot!
A picture of the blue water, surround by the black lava rocks. This was the other lagoons surrounding the main attraction. You were not allowed on those lagoons. I imagine it has to do with temperature control.
The water is also allowed to run into the building. The water is connected to the lagoon. This indoor portion is for people with hadicaps, small kids, walkers or other immobilities. Or people extremely sensitive to the cold air. 
This is the view from the Men's changing room window. If you notice the steam on the upper left, that is where we were taking the pictures with mud above. You start at the bottom right of this picture and wade under the bridge and out into the rest of the lagoon. There is a snake like maze of water, and free blue mud for your skin off to the left (which you cannot see).

Make sure to see my other posts to learn more about our 4 day Iceland weekend.

Flushing in Iceland is weird

How to Flush
The very last day, only an hour before we got on the plane to return to Minnesota I snapped this picture while at the Blue Lagoon resort (which was awesome by the way). All the bathrooms in Iceland are odd, simply because of the toilets flushing system.
In the picture above, do you see the shiny rectangle? That is the flusher. You press in the panel and it flushes. While this one only has one panel, most have two. One for going number 1, and one for going number 2. This is not labeled, and the first time both Kelsey and myself ran across this in the guesthouse we were both slightly baffled. We could not find a flusher level anywhere.

Less Water
I stood there and checked all over before realizing i needed to press the rectangle. The toilets also consume a lot less water and therefore there is no american swooshing noise. Simply some trickling of water and that is the end of it. I would compare the toilets to a better designed airplane toilet as far as how it opperates. Personally, I began to relaly enjoy the system and think America should use less water in their toilets as well.

Egg Water
One other IMPORTANT note is the hot water. DO NOT DRINK IT. I made this mistake in the bathroom of the first bus stop, and my water tasted like eggs. All the hot water in iceland is heated by geothermal energy from lava flows under the surface, therefore sulfer is in the hot water. The sulfer tastes exactly like eggs, this is also how the geysers smell both in Iceland and in Yellowstone National Park in America. Geothermal heating is how almost all water is heated in Iceland. The hot water tastes terrible and smells bad too. It works great for washing your hands though, becuase the smell does not linger and saved the country tons of energy. If you want hot tea or anything using hot water, use cold and microwave it.

The Goal of the Icelandic Puffin Blog

My girlfriend and myself recently went on a four day, three night vacation to Iceland. We had such a good time on our trip, that we feel it is important to start a blog to express what a fun place Iceland is to visit. In this blog I will be writing posts, posting pictures, movies and giving reviews about:

Icelanic Air
Icelandic Food
Icelandic Horse Riding
Reykjavik
Reykjavik Excursions
Blue Lagoon
Geysers
Gulfoss Waterfalls
Hiking
Cost of Travelling
Icelandic Nature
Icelandic Animals
Icelandic Weather
Icelandic Guesthouses
Sight Seeing
Landmarks

and much more

I will explain exactly how much our trip cost, what mistakes we made, talk about the people we ran into and every other tidbit of information that can help you if you plan to visit Iceland, or help you decide whether or not to go.