Author: Stephanie

A 9am flight meant I am up at 5am. I think I saw every hour on the clock cause I didn’t want to miss the alarm. Also, I started feeling like I am coming down with a cold last night. Melissa and I left for the airport at 6am. Easy check-in and flight to JFK. I had a 4 hour layover and then on to Atlanta. My sweet hubby picked me up for dinner while we waited for Sophia to fly in from Austin. Which was icing on top of the trip. She is home for 3 days and can’t wait to hang at home with her.

Today our group split up. Some went to the Artic Circle. Jane, Margo, Robin and I decided to go to Perlan Museum. We also went to a Michelin rated restaurant called Skar. It was in a food hall. Then we headed to a lava cave that was formed 5,000 years ago. And enjoyed a delicious meal at The Fish Company. We met up back at our house. I had kind of given up on seeing the Northern Lights. The sky tended to be cloudy at night. Just like out of a movie, about 9:30pm the Northern Lights appeared. It’s hard to describe them and we are so grateful that this happened on the last night.

The week is speeding up. We had nice day in Reykjavík shopping, lunch and then to a lava show. We also found a new natural hot springs and enjoyed more soaking time today. I enjoyed the most delicious seafood soup. Went back to town to pick up a very unique piece of art. And then home for a family shrimp pasta dinner and birthday cake for Robin.

A two day trip to the southern region of Iceland to hike to the Jokulsararlon Glacier Lagoon. The ice is blue and our guide explained how glaciers are formed and how you can tell how old they are. We tasted glacier water and was delicious. We went to Diamond Beach. It’s magical and cold. We drove through the town of Vik and finally arrived to a cute little hotel in the middl of nowhere for a delicious dinner of baked cod and vegetables. We tried to see the Northern Lights but not as clear as we were hoping.

Iceland is 5 hours ahead of Atlanta. Started the day (Sunday) with a trip to the city indoor flea market. I found a pretty navy felt hat – Italian made. I wore it inside the flea market and the quickly realized when we left the building I needed my warm toboggan. We went on a food tour and walked through the city learning about Icelandic history. I had zero idea Iceland was owned by Denmark and beer wasn’t legalized until 1989. Icelanders eat a lot of fish and lamb. We had smoked and fried charr. I also tried lamb and pickles shark. I am not a fan. Even their hotdogs have lamb.

After a 5 hour overnight flight from Boston, we arrived in Iceland at 6:30am. We are a group of ten celebrating Robin’s 60th birthday. First stop is the Blue Lagoon. Words can’t begin to describe this magical place. We soaked in the 100 degrees outdoor lagoon for 5 hours. I had a water massage and 3 facial masks Three hours after we left, the place was evacuated because of the volcano and hot lava.

It’s 8am and raining. Jason driving me to the airport trying to teach me how to post here. I am rusty. I am distracting his driving. But here we are driving down 400 headed to the airport. Iceland seems far away. Looking forward to celebrating Robin. But always hard to leave my family. ❄️♥️

Landed in Rome!  First pasta, first gelato and first stroll through the city.  Jet lag is real.