Thus it begins

Saying goodbye was hard! People asked if was excited, nervous, anxious, sad… and the answer was a resounding yes. All of the above. Whatever feeling you can think of, the answer is yes. Did I cry a little bit during yoga? Yes. Did I almost hit my kid after he hurt his brother? Yes. And that was before 10am. Did I nearly suggest we bail on the whole thing? Almost. But I remembered there are strangers in my home that have signed a lease letting them stay there even when said Landlord gets cold feet. My cup has been full to the brim and each little drop of feelings spilled me right over. As we boarded our flight and settled in, Ross and I looked at each other from across the aisle and both just filled with tears. We are so fortunate to be embarking on this journey, but we’ve sacrificed a lot to get here. And this also might be the first time we’ve actually really looked at each other in weeks. Also an unfortunate sacrifice.

Our late afternoon flight dropped us into Iceland a little after 6am, though our bodies were thinking it was midnight. Never have I been resting in the wee hours of the morning and thought, lets get up and go to the pool! But we willed our bodies to rally and headed to the Blue Lagoon. Picture mixing blue gatorade with milk, boiling it, and then multiplying by 40 million gallons. Charge an exorbitant entrance fee and you have your latest tourist attraction. It actually was pretty amazing to be driving through wind-torn volcanic landscape and then stumble upon the milky blue rivers feeding the larger wading pools below.

Iceland is like a far-off ancient planet. Asgaard via the Bifrost. Norse mythology rules here with Thor, Odin and Loki making their way onto T-shirts and street names. Though the actual street names are more like Odinsveljagatur. I felt like Seri might resign after using her navigation services for those few days. For better or for worse we had 3 days in Iceland hoping to accomplish some of the highlights. And for worse, the forecast was 100% rain and wind for the exact 3 days we were there. Ross and I were pretty heartbroken but in classic kid way, the boys were only interested in one thing listed on the travel sites: putt putt. We braved the weather for a few stops and then had to call it. When rain goes sideways, the jacket can only do so much. And the end of the rain joke on us was our sunny morning drive to the airport.

What’s the most important thing, Bowdeys?

Breakfast…

No! It’s that we’re flexible. Oh London, I have high hopes for you still. Instead of 2 trains and 3 buses we splurged on the airport Uber to our Airbnb. It never feels great to show up to your new home with someone getting arrested out front! Our sweet Uber driver surveyed the area, smiled and reminded us to lock our doors and windows. Hazaa. The furnishings and space were fine, but the chemical smell had me running to open doors and windows- only to find out that it was about to get worse with the neighbors constructing a new deck and at that moment painting epoxy over its entirety. Remember rubber cement from elementary school? It was like cracking open 20 jars and sticking my nose into each one. We ate dinner in the far bedroom for a little reprieve and by 8pm were on hotels.com to make a new plan.

And so I now write to you in the middle of said plan. Which is a hotel for the next couple days and then TBD. We spent a fun and informative day on the hop on hop off bus tour of the city which will help us hone in on the places to explore further. Did you know Romans built the first settlement here in 47 AD? Or that a Russian Oligarch merged 2 very fancy apartments in a rich neighborhood near Hyde Park and it sold for $150 million? I’m full of random facts now. The hope is a Chelsea match, a show, and a tour of the countryside, oh and maybe a new plan for where to live for the next 3 weeks. Also that. Sweet Jesus, mercy, also that.