Our Smithsonian Student Travel Iceland 2024 group has safely made it to Reykjavík! Our Icelandair flight arrived around 6:00 am; it was only a 4.5 hour-ish flight from JFK, where we all gathered yesterday evening. Some sleep was had (thank you eye mask and ear plugs), but we know many of us are excited to get some GOOD rest tonight. Immediately upon landing, co-leader Graham met us at the Keflavík Airport with our wonderful bus driver Barbara. Graham’s been on the ground prepping things for our arrival for the last few days, making our first day here seamless.
We’ve hit the ground running – after we stowed our luggage and boarded our bus, we headed straight for a local bakery for breakfast and then to the Blue Lagoon. Many of you know there has been some volcanic activity of late around here, and we were able to see some of the recent lava deposits and flows on our drive. A 24-day-long eruption that occurred north of Grindavík on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula ended on June 22. It’s perfectly safe to visit; we’re always monitoring the activity and the government’s updates, and it’s an awesome opportunity to see some of this geologic activity in real time. Graham, our resident geologist, gave some excellent background on volcanoes, lava, and plate tectonics.
The Blue Lagoon is world renowned for its incredible healing geothermal seawater, rich in silica, algae, and minerals that are known to be very skin-nourishing. Trust me, all of us are radiating that healthy Icelandic glow. It’s incredible. We were given silica-rich clay masks to spread on our faces and spent a couple hours exploring the various pools, caves, steam rooms, and saunas. It was the perfect intro to Icelandic hot pot culture.
We finished up mid-day and headed to our hostel in Reykjavík to check in and get some rest before having lunch nearby. We’ll have an early night tonight after we go over our orientation materials and make sure we’re all on the same page with group expectations and our itinerary. A few of us have been on a Smithsonian trip before, but many are first-timers; and trust us, we’re all in for a treat! Please stay tuned here to watch our adventures unfold in the land of fire and ice.
– Lauren & Graham