We were in the northwest corner of Iceland and it felt like the edge of the world. Huge rock formations shot up to the sky where the land met the sea. It was unbelievably remote and beautiful and exhilarating.
It was also the week of the summer solstice, so it was perpetual daylight. It was past midnight when we walked back to our place after dinner, but it was bright outside. It felt like mid-day except that the streets were quiet and empty. We had just devoured a huge and perfect meal of fresh fish served family style at the best fish restaurant I’d ever been to, Tjöruhúsið. You should go there if you’re ever anywhere near Ísafjörður. Trust me, it’s amazing.
Julie, Des and I ate breakfast at a bakery the next morning. It was the first rainy day of our trip, a cold and persistent drizzle. Julie asked the girl behind the counter what would be fun to do with a five-year-old on a day like this. She suggested the public pool in Bolungarvík, the next town over. It had an outdoor waterslide, she said. Des immediately loved the idea. He had never been on a waterslide. And he didn't care that it was just forty five degrees outside.
It’s a strange feeling walking around in a bathing suit in the frosty rain, but your body adjusts much quicker than you’d think. I won’t lie, it made me feel rugged, badass, Icelandic. I loved that everyone there was treating this as a perfectly normal human experience.
Des ran to the two-story twirly waterslide. The first couple of times we went down together, but then he got the hang of it and wanted to go by himself. It was surreal watching Des go down that waterslide over and over with the snow capped, hazy mountains behind him as a backdrop.
There was a cold plunge pool the size of a large barrel next to the waterslide. I worked up the courage and climbed in. It took my breath away. It felt like I was rapidly turning into a block of ice. I lasted thirty seconds and then jumped in the hot tub with Julie. The quick and extreme temperature change was thrilling. My whole body was tingling and buzzing. My pores exploded like fireworks.
Julie had been hanging out with a bunch of locals, just chatting and relaxing. They were so kind to her and friendly, speaking enthusiastically in broken English. Up until that moment, we hadn’t really spent any time with Icelanders doing what they do, away from the restaurants and tourist spots. But then everything changed and from that point forward we went to the local public pool everyday no matter where we were.
The next day we drove south to Stykkishólmur, a much bigger town. The countryside was stunning and otherworldly. At times it felt like we were driving on the surface of the moon.
When we arrived we settled in to our Airbnb, had a quick snack, and then went directly to the Stykkishólmur pool. This one was bigger and more impressive. The waterslide was three stories high. There were several hot tubs at varying temperatures. And the locals were just as friendly, just as kind. We stayed for a couple of hours and left totally refreshed, body and spirit.
And so it went for the rest of our trip. Waterslides, hot tubs, heated pools, cold plunge pools and easy conversation with the local Icelanders. And it all culminated at the Laugardalslaug swimming pool in Reykjavík, where we spent our last couple of days before heading home.
Reykjavík is a proper city, the largest by far in Iceland, and the public pool was absolutely massive. It felt like a soccer stadium, but it was filled with lap pools and kid pools and too many hot tubs to count, including a geothermal seawater tub that made me feel so loose and mellow. The waterslide was gigantic, too, probably five stories high, and it had blinking lights and lots of twists and turns and Des must’ve gone down it at least thirty times.
Iceland is so untouched, so raw, such a profound natural experience, but what stayed with me more than anything else that we did or saw on that trip was our experience at the public pools. Hanging outside and fully enjoying the cold weather in our swimsuits, seeing my son so happy and free on the waterslides, relaxing and unwinding with my wife in the hot tubs, feeling the warm water and cold water nourish my body. It was so good and unpretentious and therapeutic. It was so friendly and inviting and communal. And it made me feel so connected to the people of Iceland and their culture.