Iceland
In February of 2014, Spud thought he would take a trip to the Mediterranean to escape the blustery cold of winter. The tato packed his bags and smuggled himself aboard one of the plane's first class food trolleys disguised as, (what else) a potato.
The flight path would cross over the North Pole as it was the shortest distance between his home in Arizona and his destination in the Canary Islands.The weather during the flight was tumultuous and the aircraft fought feverishly to maintain control. Storms raged and lightning struck - hitting one of the plane's turbine engines and killing it instantly. Limping along on one engine and trailing a stream of black smoke, the plane bounced about in the turbulence as if it were a lone tennis shoe in an unbalanced dryer. The potato was beside himself with fear and panic.
Crossing over the Arctic Ocean, the plane lost lift and started plummeting toward the icy waters below.
The pilot struggled feverishly to regain control of his injured airplane, but it. Was a losing battle as the plane continued to lose altitude. Water was all the tater could see out of his window, and it was getting closer and closer. Finally, just at the last second, the pilot wrestled the nose of the plane up just enough to skim the top surface of the waves before plummeting face first into a black sand dune. They had hit land.
The potato was rattled and part of his peel torn away, but he was alive. The pilot and the rest of the passengers had all survived the impact due to some heroic aerobatics.
Still dazed, Spud gathered his belongings which were scattered across the vast expanse of black sand. There were no signs of civilization, only miles of empty beach. Where had he landed?
The side dish began his journey inland, hoping to come across someone that lived in this barren place. After a few miles the tuber finally reached a roadway; a sign of habitation. Minutes later, a Land Rover Defender came rambling by, slowing to see if they could help the potato.
Spud asked the kind driver where he was to which they replied "Why, Iceland, of course!" Well that was certainly not the destination he planned for, but the resilient side dish decided to make the most of it.
He asked the man if he recommend any unique sites to visit on the island, to which he responded with numerous suggestions of waterfalls, mountains and geysers. Certainly natural landforms are beautiful, but Spud is a fan of the unique and quirky, so when he asked about something more offbeat, the man replied with Snowman Frosti; the world's largest snowman, located just outside of the northern town of Akureyri.
The man was happy to take Spud up to see Iceland's northern mascot. Frosti calls the Ráðhústorg plaza home each winter. This frozen bad boy stood a good 35 feet tall. no doubt he was popular with the snow angels in town.
Speaking of Angels, Spud remembered that Iceland is renowned for its impossibly beautiful women; many of which have won the Miss Universe title over the years. Eager to get his eyes on some of the Scandinavian sensations, the potato asked at one of the local bars where the best place would be to find them. Collectively the patrons all agreed he should head south to The Blue Lagoon.
The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa; a man made lagoon fed by waste water from the Svartsengi power plant. The water is rich in minerals, such as silica and sulphur, and is renowned for its healing properties. The spa is superheated through thermal vents that maintain a constant temperature of 37-39 °C (98-102 °F) year round, making it particularly pleasurable in the cold winter.
Spud learned that the pageant princesses of Iceland seek out the spa to frolic in - needless to say the potato was in the mood to be frolicked with.
After paying his $58 entrance fee, the tato slipped out of his woolens and into the toasty mineral bath that was blanketed in a curtain of steam. It didn't take long before he was surrounded by beautiful women emerging from the mist, eager to show him some traditional Icelandic hospitality. We'll be lucky if we ever see Spud on the road again...
