After our late night shenanigans we woke up a little late this morning, immediately checking our e-mails. No news was good news, nothing cancelled yet. Also the safetravel app was showing the roads as "slippery" but open!

Our room rate included breakfast so we headed down to fill our boots. There was plenty available, all the usual continental suspects. I didn't notice anything especially Icelandic, apart from skyr of course.

We checked out and dragged our suitcase to the #8 bus stop, which was conveniently  to the side of the Hallgrimskirkja.  

We got there early, worried we were going to miss the bus. And it was lucky we did.

An unmarked minibus turned up,  I didn't think it was ours because it arrived much earlier than our arranged pick-time. It turned out it was the right bus. Moving on it picked up a few other people from outside other hotels before stopping in a large empty car park outside the Bus Hostel.

Here, we transfered onto a our "Destination Blue Lagoon" coach. With our luggage in the hold, and our tickets confirmed, we sat down relaxed in the knowledge we were finally on our way, not just home but to visit the famous Blue Lagoon.

At midday we left the car park, and drove through the Hlíðar neighbourhood, catching a glimpse of the gothic inspired church spires of Háteigskirkja and the nearby secondary school with its own very impressive spire.

We soon turned onto route 41 heading South. When we reached Hafnarfjörður at the outskirts of Greater Reykjavik, we past an Iceland supermarket. The UK based "Iceland" frozen foods chain actually has stores ... in Iceland. Julie and I found it far too funny!

The roads were clear, which was a relief and we were making good time. After half an hour we were crossing the lava fields when we saw a very distinctive conical volcano called Keilir. In itself it wasn't a volcano but more part of the larger Krýsuvík volcanic system. It would have been created when lava spewed a thousand feet high out of a crack or fissure in the relatively thin crust which makes up the Reykjanes peninsula.

After 45 minutes we turned off route 41 towards Grindavik and of course the Blue Lagoon. We could see plumes of steam billowing up, which we assumed was the hot waters of the famous attraction but it was the Svartsengi Geothermal Power Plant.

In the background was Þorbjörn, another mountain created by spewing lava. This was flat-topped because it was formed whilst under ice. 

The road was littered with stranded cars, some that had strayed off the road into the ditches. We hoped someone had checked that no one was still inside!

At the Blue Lagoon car park we retrieved our suitcase and wheeled it over to a building where they had large lockers for us to store our luggage. It was a good idea to locate it next to the car park. At least the resort's reception wouldn't be cluttered with visitor's baggage.

We followed a path, cut through the lava rock, shuffling in the slushy snow along like a pair of geriatrics.

When we arrived at reception there was a long queue waiting to be processed. I then realised we had paid for premium entry tickets, which not only included lunch, a robe and a free drink, but also fast track entry.

With our time here limited this perk was priceless. Every minute counted.

We collected our robes and were given a smart wristband, one that allowed us to buy some mud treatments or drinks at the bar by tapping a sensor and then settle up later.

The wristbands also activate the lockers, locking them by tapping a sensor. Very clever ideas.

We both emerged from our respective changing rooms in our swimming costumes and robes.  

We de-robed, and entered the water via a gradual ramp, making it very accesible. We were already waist deep in lovely warm water before even going outside. The average temperature is said to be between 37C and 40C.

Submerged up to our shoulders, we made our way towards the middle of the lagoon. I had my phone in a water-proof pouch on a lanyard around my neck. I was so glad I had it with me to capture our magical moments.

It may have been somewhat busy but we were in a world of our own. 

We bobbed about, making our way slowly towards the bar. There was no need to get out of the water, it was like the swim up bar in Club Tropicana. We had a beer and wine, tapped my wristband and found a quiet corner to sip our drinks.

Where we stood felt like it was near an inlet where hot water was being pumped in. It was certainly warmer there than other places. It felt so nice, as warm as I like my bath at home.

With our drinks finished, and glasses returned to the bar, we bobbed back across the middle of the lagoon, towards another swim-up bar, only this one was selling mud.

They had three different types, a dark sludge, a green gunk and an almost pure white clay. Unsure which one to try the young girl behind the bar suggested we should try all three of them, but start with the dark one first. It was an exfoilating mud mask made from black grains of lava mixed with silica and seawater.

She scooped it out with a wooden spoon and placed it on the back of our hands. They had a mirror for us to apply it.

We rubbed it all over our faces and left it to do its healing work for only a few minutes, as she recommended, before gently grinding the grains of lava across our skin as we washed it off.

Now our skin was clean and our pores opened we returned for the green one made from silica and microalgae grown at the Blue Lagoon. We did smell a bit like a fish tank that needed cleaning.

"Leave it on for 5 - 10 minutes" she said for this one.

So we went a little further afield across to lagoon to the opposite side. There seemed to be another section but it had been roped off. I was tempted to go beyond the rope but Julie reigned me in.

After 10 minutes we washed the seaweed mask off. I don't know what healing qualities it reportedly possesed but our skins had had never felt so soft.

We waded across to the bar for another round of drinks, before returning to the mud station for the third and final treatement.

 The last application was the white mud, made from just silica, the natural by-product occuring here and one that gives the Blue Lagoon it's milky blue colour. It was smooth and smelt earthy.

After washing it all off we felt rejuvinated. 

We stood arm in arm looking across the lagoon towards the sun. It was already setting low in the sky behind the hills. With one eye on the time we decided it was time to leave. We had enjoyed a good 75 minutes in the water. We wished we could have stayed all day and already started planning a revisit on our return trip, staying the night as the resort's hotel.

It took us twenty minutes to get out of the pool, showered, dressed and settle up our wristband tab. Eager to get going we arrived ten minutes early for our 3pm lunch reservation at the Lava restaurant.

In many ways it was a shame that we were too early. When we got shown to our table the perfect one was just being vacated. It looked out through the floor-to-ceiling window to a secluded spot with snow-dusted black lava rock and the milky blue water of the lagoon.

I'm sure if we had asked we could have moved, but time was of the essence.

We order, skipping starters, diving straight into our main course. Although we did have something very delicious to nibble on whilst we waited.  They brought to the table a bread board with three slices of sourdough and three slices of dark rye bread. It came with a salted skyr butter, served on a puck of lava.

The vegetarian option was mushroom croquettas with lentils. It looked beautiful on the plate, piled up in colourful stack. But more importantly it tasted wonderful, truly amazing flavours.

Julie chose the fish dish, which was Blue Hake, served with a puree of potato, pieces of romanesco cauliflower and red cabbage. 

Oh my word, we've eaten well on this trip!

Service wasn't the quickest, so we ran out of time for desserts. We quickly paid our bill and hurried back to the car park.  

The 4pm bus was waiting for us. We retrieved our suitcse, chucked it in the hold and found our seats on the coach, breathing an enormous sigh of relief. It was the last bus from the Blue Lagoon to the airport. If we had eaten dessert, we would have missed it and be stranded! 

We rolled up to the airport just after 4:30pm. Our flight's hadn't been cancelled yet, which was fantastic but the departure time wasn't until 9:30pm. That meant we had five hours to wait inside the terminal.  

We spent a considerable amount of that time at the Tax Free claims desk, filling out forms to see if we could get some of our money back. My cardigan, Julie's jumper, a hat and a scarf, the claim amount was for a refund of £50.

Even at the time I didn't believe we'd see a penny of it, and I was right. We never did. 

Around 6pm we had a look at the check-in desks and there was hardly anyone there. We were still an hour early for check-in but we chanced our luck nevertheless. The staff were most accomodating and sent our suitcase on its way.  

Airside, we quickly found the Loksins bar which made us laugh, because in Welsh "locsyn" meant beard where as in Icelandic it meant "finally".

We got talking to a young Icelandic couple with their two kids. They were on their way to the warmth of La Palma, one of the Canary Islands. It seemed a very popular destination. There were multiple flights to Tenerife, La Palma or  Lanzarote.   

The bar shut at 7pm which was ridiculous!

Even the nice looking restaurant was closing. So we ended up grabbing a tray wan walking down the canteen style eatery. I had an insipid veggie burger and Julie had greasy chicken drumsticks. The great foodie adventure certainly didn't end on a high.

Time dragged but we eventually boarded the plane. Julie was quite calm, just relieved that we were going to make it home for Christmas.