Reykjavik, Iceland - January 23, 2016

Wow, we are here! Actually Iceland is only 5.5 hours from USA. We chose to start our trip from Boston as opposed to NYC. It was a good thing since the most significant blizzard to hit the eastern seaboard in years occurred on our departure date. The storm was mapped to cover a range from Little Rock, Arkansas to Charlotte, NC on the south side and NY State to the north. Since there was a slight chance it could go a bit more north, we played it safe and flew to Boston earlier on Friday to make sure we could be there for the Icelandair flight at 8:30 pm. What great planning! Yes, we made it to Iceland, but it took only 8.5 more travel hours to make it happen. Talk about dead when we arrived!!! But as I always say, you either do it and endure the travels or you just stay home and miss it all.

Already, we like this place. Yes, it is cold and it is windier than can be imagined. Actually, the temperature is mild - mid 30 to 40 degrees but the wind temp is probably around zero. Coupled with the fact that air is misty and the sun only peeks out occasionally, the 40 degree temp feels like 20 degrees. But it is fun! I kept wondering why this is a civilized spot - I mean, why on earth would anyone ever settle here since the weather is so harsh. But then we learned later on that Reykjavik (say rake-ya-vik, heavily rolling the R) was first settled in 871. Not 1871, really 871. They probably had nothing more inviting anywhere near.

After a big breakfast at the hotel and a nice hot bath, we napped for two hours, got up with an alarm and finally began this adventure! We layered-up and bundled-up like Eskimos and walked along the waterfront to the city center. We toured Harpa, the ultra-modern convention center and music hall and found the main-drag street with all the shops and bars and eating establishments.

The sun actually came out. We were careful to capture the blue skies in photos - but then, oh then, just for us . . . just to the right of the mountains across the bay . . . a rainbow!