Hotel Laugarholl

I've slowly been catching up on posts from my amazing trip with my son to Iceland a year and a half ago.  What a trip it was, and, truthfully, it may have been my all-time favorite overseas adventure.  Not only is Iceland extraordinary, but, as I've discussed in the past, it very rare that you get an entire uninterrupted week with your adult child. Gary and I were waiting for the road to clear so that we could travel a little further; essentially, waiting for the designation to change from Closed to Dangerous. As part of the planned adventure our friend at the Museum of Witchcraft and Sorcery, Thorunn, told us about a hotel where we could go for a swim, and since it was on the way we figured that's where we would start the day. Getting there proved to be quite the adventure because as it turns out they were working on the road, or were working on the road during the summer, because the road was terrible, and I'm not quite certain that we weren't actually off the road for a while (and I wasn't driving my Subaru).  We finally arrived at the Hotel Laugarholl, which was, naturally enough, closed for the season, but the hotpot and the spring-fed pool was open year-round.  And that included the changing room.  The Icelanders took the logical approach of simply saying, "Look, be careful and don't drown your fool selves," which we appreciated.  It's neat to think that any time in the winter you could just decide to head over to the closed hotel to grab a swim or a soak.  It was so desolate, and staggeringly beautiful, and we were the only souls for miles.  It was only a small sliver of the best day that the Boy and I have spent together since he was a kid.

The road to the Hotel Laugarholl, and this was by far the best part. Like I said, for a while I think we were actually off the road, or were on the abandoned road, or the road under construction. It was a little unnerving considering that it was early January and we were operating with around six hours of daylight.  Guess we could have soaked in the hotpot all night.

The entrance to the Hotel Laugarholl, closed up tight for the winter, with only the slightest feel of The Shining.

The view of the hotel.  You can see the pool, open year-round, and the desolate rocky hills in the distance.

The sign to the spring that fed the hotpot and the pool, with an appropriately unpronounceable Icelandic name.

The Gvendarlaug thermal spring that fed the hotpot and the pool.

Gary climbing into the hotpot, which was deliciously hot.  The only problem was climbing across the frozen tundra to get to that delicious warmth.

That little bump in the far end of the pool is Gary.  I love this picture.  It really gives us a sense of how we had the universe to ourselves, but seems quite busy and crowded by what we did later in the day, but that's another story.