

The boys and I could only take thirty minutes of it, and indeed, Becky was right behind us. Kathleen enjoyed it a lot, but even she got out before an hour had passed. The water is very nice, and very soothing, but like a nice hot bath, you can only stay in it for so long before you just get too darned hot. It would have been nice if they had a regular freshwater swimming pool at normal temperature where you could "cool your jets" for a bit between hot baths. The boys would have enjoyed playing in a pool like that, but the spa-like lagoon was not really something you could play in.

There are two interesting things about eating in Iceland. One, it is very expensive. A dinner for one starts at about US $40. But it's not labelled in dollars, of course, so you have to do mental gymnastics to figure out the price. Looking at the salmon for KR 2.830, it doesn't totally hit you that you're getting raped and pillaged by these modern day Vikings.
The other interesting thing is that we never had Icelandic food while we were here. Every single restaurant had the same menu of Asian-inspired fusion cuisine. We were really tired of having all of our food looking as though the sous-chef for Benihana just worked it over. What we wouldn't give for a simple piece of fish with a side dish of rice or potatoes.
Which brings me back to the cafeteria in the airport. The boys and I got cheeseburgers. And the three cheeseburgers, plus the sub sandwich Becky got, cost me $50. Yikes. (Luke was just picking at his cheeseburger, and I informed him that he would be finishing his $20 cheeseburger!!)
I'm so ready to leave this country. I can't afford to stay any longer! I realized today that three of our meals in Iceland, meals for six, cost me more than my kilt in Scotland. That, and Eddie has had a particularly bad case of the "gimmes" while we've been here. His little brain is completely susceptible to the tourist trap crap that is on every street corner. There's not a plush walrus, a ceramic village, or a wooden troll that he hasn't asked me for. And I'm sick of saying "no".
So, my wallet is empty, and I am ready to come home. I suppose that at the end of a trip, the objective is to be rested and ready to return to a normal life. If so, then this trip has been a complete success.

For now, it's good to be going home.