Iceland, day 2 > London

Iceland, day two!  We got up early so we could catch breakfast at Sandholt, a little cafe we noticed walking down Laugavegur Wednesday night.  It opened at 6:30am, so we got there right as it opened so we could be back in time for our 7:30 bus pickup.  Simple breakfast - greek yogurt with fruit compote for me and a croissant with jam for Margo, plus wonderful black coffee for both of us.  We quickly hoofed it back to the guesthouse to check out and catch our bus to the Blue Lagoon for several hours of geothermal spa time.  The Blue Lagoon uses a geothermally heated combination of sea water and fresh water, infused with algae and minerals, like the silica that gives the water its milky blue color.  There are also claims that the water is scientifically proven to improve skin health and help with conditions such as psoriasis.  Upon arrival, we were given bracelets on which we could charge all of our extras; the bracelets also opened and locked our luggage and personal belongings lockers.  We changed into our bathing suits, showered, and made our way outside to the lagoon, which is maintained at a temperature around 100 degrees F.  The air temperature was around 56 degrees, which made for a really nice discrepancy.  We submerged ourselves in the quite comfortable water and wandered through the extensive lagoon area.  We tried out all of the options available - the waterfall, the steam rooms/sauna, the silica mask, and got drinks at the lagoon bar, where you didn't even have to leave the water!  We spent almost 3 hours soaking before we went back inside to shower, change, and grab some lunch before catching the bus back to Keflavik airport to catch our light to London.  We grabbed some water and Icelandic chocolate for a snack while waiting and then waited at the gate for our 3-hour flight to be called.


Arriving at Heathrow around 8pm Thursday evening, we spent a good bit of time in line at customs before we could meet up with our friends, Kelli and Tim Powling.  Kelli was a media specialist/librarian/technology person at my school before moving to the UK with her northern English husband, Tim.  They live in Ruislip, which is part of greater London, but west/northwest of the city center.  They met us at the international arrivals gate and we took a classic black taxi back to their flat (the tube trains were running pretty slowly).  Since we hadn't seen them in over 2 years, we stayed up talking and catching up until after 1am.  Tim, unfortunately, had to work early shift so he went to bed long before we did.  We had a very good night's sleep after that, not waking up until after 9am the next morning.

Once up, we made a plan with Kelli to go for a run and then explore the surrounding area for the day.  We did a nice 5K run to and around the Ruislip lake park, and then walked to the Red Onion Cafe for brunch (having missed the breakfast buffet at the lake).  Tim doesn't usually want to sit in the garden area outside the back of the cafe, so that's where we sat with Kelli.  We all had the breakfast platter with eggs, sausages, British bacon (more like Canadian bacon - if you want bacon, you have to order crispy bacon), hask browns, beans, and toast.  The weather changes pretty quickly, with the sun coming out and disappearing just as quickly and the rain coming and going just as fast, so once we finished eating we went back to the flat to put on more clothes and then head back out to see the neighborhood.  We walked to Kelli and Tim's garden allotment to see how far they've gotten on their gardening.  While there, we helped secure netting over the blueberry bush to protect it from the birds.  Then we made our way to 4 different pubs, seeing all of the local neighborhoods on the way.  We made it a point to try different beverages at each pub - the Queen's Head pub, the Case is Altered, the Black Horse, and J.J. Moon's.  Lots of beautiful flowers everywhere!  English gardens are really a big deal!
 

Four pubs later, we placed take-away orders for dinner delivery and went back to the flat to watch the Wales-Belgium soccer match in the European championships with Tim on tv.  Since Wales is the only UK team still in the running, we were obviously rooting for Wales against the 2nd ranked Belgium team.  Over fish and chips for me and Tim and pizza for Kelli and Margo, we watched as Wales went down 0-1, and then rallied to win 3-1!  Apparently we are good luck for whatever country we are currently in.  After the game, Tim, who is originally from northern England at Berwick-upon-Tweed (pronounced "barrick"), just 2 miles south of the border with Scotland, gave us a lesson on how to speak his childhood dialect, which would be nearly un-understandable without Tim's interpretation, but was nonetheless a hilarious lesson.  We Americans are far too excitable and effusive for the Brits, including Tim, and he relishes every chance to poke fun at us for laughing too loudly or being too loud, all in good humor, of course.  Tomorrow, we'll make a plan for the rest of our time here.  Most everything we have on our list to see is all within a one square mile area, so we think we're going to buy the "London pass" for most of the the attractions and hit them on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before leaving Wednesday.  So much to do!