DIVINE BY DESIGN The Retreat at Blue Lagoon Written by Bridget Williams Fuzzy-headed and bleary-eyed from jet-lag and with daylight still hours away in this Nordic nation, I felt like I'd stumbled into a futuristic utopian society focused on wellness as I crossed the threshold of The Retreat at Blue Lagoon. Staring out a tall window behind the reception desk, I surveyed frothy, milky blue water covered with a gauzy layer of steam that lapped at the lowslung brutalist-style concrete building whose designed mimicked the surrounding vast lunar-like landscape devoid of trees. Guests shuffled by in fluffy robes, a look of complete contentment on their faces, while a New-Agey soundtrack
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sprinkled with lyrics sung in a language imperceptible from my own kept the sounds of the whistling winter winds at bay. One of a bevy of rosy-cheeked hosts appeared with a pot of tea, and I could feel my senses awaken with every sip. I knew that this was going to be a stopover like no other. Begun in the 1960s and taking off in the early aughts, Icelandair's layover program allows travelers to book a three-day stopover in the country on the way to or from major European cities for less than merely booking a fare with a transfer in Reykjavik Airport.
