I wear my sunglasses at night…

Time always slows down when I travel. Everything around you is new, your senses are heightened, you are outside of your normal routine. Add this to the summer solstice in a country situated just below the Artic Circle when the sun really doesn’t fully set and you really enter a time warp. The almost constant daylight plays tricks on your body. You know that you should be exhausted and yet you manage to stay awake.

Reykjavik is known for its nightlife. Party until the sun comes up? The sun never actually went down. It is bizarre to be in a bar or a club, look at the clock that says midnight or 2 a.m. or 4 a.m. but then look out the window to see broad daylight. We barhopped Saturday night, constantly in disbelief that it was actually night. What time is it? We finally wrapped up the night (morning?) around 4 a.m. and went in search of the infamous hot dogs from a street vendor, amazed to see that people were still waiting in line to get into clubs around town.

We have discovered the magic of power naps, catching an hour of much needed sleep here and there, at the Blue Lagoon spa or on our day long road trip yesterday. Going on two hours of sleep, we picked up our rental car at 8 a.m. yesterday and spent the day driving the Golden Circle to see waterfalls and geysers and then down to the Southern Coastline of the country. Without having to worry about getting back before dark (I would not have wanted to drive those winding counry roads in the wintery darkness), we had as much time as we needed and took naps at many of the parks we visited throughout the day.

Iceland has captured us with its beauty. I don’t think that I have ever seen such brilliant shades of blue, such vast open spaces, such varied landscape. In one direction, the ground is covered with volcanic rock in bizarre formations that give you the sensation of being on another planet. In another direction bright green pastures stretch as far as you can see and slope up into mountains. Silver springs cut through the fields and cascade down the mountains to form impressive waterfalls. Beyond that you see glaciers. The sky never ends; the countryside here goes on forever. And it is quiet, so peacefully quiet. Outside of Reykjavik anyway…