Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Leeds Illuminations!

Last December (2016) a friend heard about a light installation at a nearby park and organized a gals trip to see it. I was expecting the standard Christmas lights in trees, but what we saw was completely different. I was in awe as we walked through acres of massive, illuminated fairytale-like scenes. Enjoy the photos! 
Mushrooms
Flowers
Pandas
Horn of plenty
Moon
Bugs, toadstools, and spiders
Flower
Halfway through the park / light show we stumbled upon a marshmallow roasting stand. I purchased a large strawberry and prosecco flavored marshmallow and took it and a wooden skewer to the fire pit where I toasted it to perfection. It was delicious! (And warm over by the fire pit!) 
Bug
Bird
Goose
Elephant
Vase
Birds and flowers
Swans
Jellies (AKA jelly fish)
Posing with the jellies for scale
Crouching tiger, puking dragon
Crouching tiger, hidden dragon from another angle
And a good time was had by all!

Monday, January 1, 2018

Iceland: Day Five, The Blue Lagoon

We had one night left in Iceland, so we checked out of our rental house and hit the road! We stopped at a small waterfall along the way to our final destination.
Wee waterfall
Yup, still cold!
Tiny waterfall
We trundled all the way south, passed Reykjavik, to the famous Blue Lagoon. Our flight out left fairly early the next morning and the Blue Lagoon is only a short 20 minute drive or so away. I tell you what, the rooms at the Blue Lagoon hotel were bloody expensive… but worth it. Not really because it was that nice of a hotel, but each room came with two free* VIP passes to the Blue Lagoon, and had a private lagoon only for hotel guests. We were told to utilize the passes first, and then check out the private lagoon later. And that is what we did. 

Moss covered lava rocks
It's about a 10 minute walk from the hotel to the Blue Lagoon. Although it was freezing out (actually sleeting on our return walk), we didn't drive as the hotel staff said the car park was so large we'd probably walk the 10 minutes to get to the Lagoon's reception anyway. So, we bundled up and walked. We walked through a trail of moss-covered lava rocks that looked positively Martian. 
Walking through old, cold lava
We saw little ponds of Blue Lagoon-y water. 
Nearing the Blue Lagoon
Although it was windy and we were frozen, we kept stopping for photos. 
Nearing the Blue Lagoon
Selfie Skills
The Blue Lagoon
We finally made it to reception where it was positively heaving with tourists. The place was bonkers. The instructions weren't very clear. We got lockers and a robe, but if you wore your robe to the lagoon you found a million pegs and a million identical robes. I thought I collected my robe afterwards, but when I put it on, it was wet from someone else's body. Eww. I could have done without a bathrobe, really. Same goes for the flip-flops. 
The Blue Lagoon
The water was bath tub warm, and warmer/colder in fleeting spots. I suppose because I had been so cold all week, the water never really felt all that warm to me. The icy wind (and sleet) kept your head and face nice and frozen while your body was not quite chilled, but not really warm. And I mean frozen - our hair iced over!
Selfie Skills
Our VIP passes entitled us to the afore mentioned robes, flip flops, and purifying clay masks. Much fun was had with the masks! We also received a free drink at the walk up bar. However, the wind was blowing so hard that both Blue Lagoon water and sleet mixed with my Prosecco, giving it a rather odd taste. 
CHEESE!!!
After our experience at the big Blue Lagoon, we walked through sleet and snow (literally) back to the hotel. We tidied up and took taxis to our restaurant dinner reservations.

Later, we returned to the hotel for a dip in the hotel's private lagoon. What a difference! The lagoon was rather large and surrounded by tall-ish lava rocks, a natural barrier for the wind. It was only for hotel guests and there were about 3 other people in the entire lagoon. 

So, if you only go to Iceland once and can swing it, stay at the Blue Lagoon hotel!