Atlantica - Iceland Review

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iceland
Special promotion
Treat Yourself to Blue Lagoon Skin Care
The geothermal seawater of the Blue Lagoon is renowned worldwide for its healing
powers. Its three active elements—minerals, silica and algae—cleanse, boost
and nourish your skin in a unique way, giving it a healthy and youthful glow. Not
surprisingly, Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Awards selected the Blue Lagoon as
the world’s best Medical / Thermal spa and named it one of the ten best spas in
the world. Bring the unique spa experience to your own bathroom with the Blue
Lagoon skin care range, based on patent-pending exclusive active ingredients. It is
available at the Blue Lagoon, in Reykjavík’s city center and at Keflavík International
Airport. Make sure to pick up the Blue Lagoon Silica Mud Mask, harvested directly
from its natural source, the geothermal seawater. The silica mud is the base for all
Blue Lagoon products and treatments. The Blue Lagoon skin care range is also
available at bluelagoon.com
Luxury in the Country
Hotel Rangá, situated just 100 kilometers from Reykjavík, is Iceland’s only 4-star
luxury lodge. But don’t take our word for it: the hotel was recently runner-up as “best
wedding destination” in a competition run on Europe’s largest morning TV program
and it’s Iceland’s only member of the prestigious “Special Hotels of the World” chain.
Those looking for an indulgent retreat enjoy Hotel Rangá because of its proximity to
nature, its gourmet restaurant and the popular outdoor hot tubs. This July, the hotel
will open a new restaurant, kitchen, lounge, bar, massage area and meeting facilities.
It will also open a new wing, bringing the total room count to 52. Six upstairs suites
will represent all the continents in the “World Pavilion”. Each suite will be furnished
with the finest fittings available from South America, Australia, Africa, Asia and North
America, like giant cedar from Canada, cherry wood from Japan and ebony from Africa.
This variety is what makes the hotel popular with locals and visitors to Iceland
alike. hotelranga.is
A Scaled Friend for Life
It is water resistant, stronger than animal leather and incredibly fashionable. We are talking about
the fish leather Hulda Kristinsdóttir uses for her refined HULD Design bags and accessories. The
fish leather is processed in a factory in Saudárkrókur town and is a by-product of the Icelandic fish
industry which aims at utilizing every last bit of fish taken out of the water. Kristinsdóttir mainly
uses three types of fish leather for her hip designs: perch, salmon and wolf-fish. Some of the hides
are used with their natural colors but others are colored to suit her artistic taste. Kristinsdóttir’s
designs can be purchased at Embla, the store she runs on Skólavördustígur 4. She used to be one of
the finest dressmakers in Iceland but says she got tired of it and wanted to try her hand at something
else. She learned the craft of bag making in London and has since been working on her own design
line. “I chose fish leather because it is so Icelandic and there’s simply no stronger leather available,”
she says.
All her bags are named after her female friends and relatives and bear strong Icelandic names. The
only accessories in her line that bear a male name are her extraordinary key wallets. “I thought it
needed a bit of a stronger name and called it Gissi,” she muses.
Her bags and accessories are so well made that they make perfect scaled friends for life.
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