Returning back to Iceland after a wonderful trip back home with my family and friends has been a bit rough on me. Homesickness and jet lag have hit me hard this past week and the dark winter days have not made things any easier. After a weekend spent basically sleeping I am starting to feel a bit more like my old self and am determined to not let these dark, cold winter days get me down!
While H and I took a chilly walk over the weekend I challenged myself to come up with things I loved about winter in Iceland. H, the most optimistic person I know, happily played along and decided we couldn’t head home until I came up with ten things. I came back home from our walk frozen but with a list to hopefully help with this January slump. Lets hope this positive outlook on winter last past today!
So what do I enjoy about winter in Iceland? What is the bright side of the dark Icelandic winter?
1. Naps are encouraged. When there is only 4 hours of daylight anytime is a good time for a little rest.
2. Back to those few hours of daylight. While the sun may not ever completely rise it creates the perfect golden hour look in the sky, ideal for beautiful pictures.
3. Hibernating an entire weekend is acceptable. No one else wants to leave their house either so keep the Netflix marathons going.
4. Snowy afternoons are perfect for curling up with a cozy blanket and a good book. This is especially helpful right now as I work towards my goal of reading 50 books this year.
5. Winter walks turn into photo shoots, everything just looks so beautiful with snow covering it.
6. An entire new wardrobe is required. You can never have enough winter sweaters! I finally got a new winter coat, it is life changing. And thanks to a beautiful new scarf my mom knitted (in my favorite color purple, thanks mom!) I am now more prepared for our chilly winter walks.
7. Little kids being pulled in their sleds on their way to school. The cutest thing ever! I live near a school and every morning when I head to the car I always see a few kids being pulled by their parents giggling the entire way. I wish I could to take a sled ride on my way to work every day.
8. There can never be too many candles. I love candles and with just a few hours of daylight candles are basically necessary at all times. Even our office has candles everywhere.Any reason to stock up on candles is good enough for me!
9. The extra long Christmas break. Coming from the states where there is hardly any time off during the Christmas holiday I love the near two week holiday period here in Iceland. It is a much needed time off to recharge your batteries in the middle of winter that is for sure!
10. Soaking in the pools on a chilly winter night. Laying in the hot water with the steam rising off adds a mystical feel to the pools and I love it, well until I have to get out of the pool and run into the locker room I love it.
Ten reasons to love winter in Iceland, done!
By the time I finished my list (which was only 15 minutes in to our walk) I could not feel my hands at all, not really helpful for my love winter time goal. At this point in our walk we had arrived at a small hot water pool, perfect for warming your hands, and my hope for tolerating loving winter was restored.
I seriously debated dipping my whole head into that toasty warm water, it was tempting for sure.
By this point I had been outside 20 minutes to long and made the break for the car. Try as I might I am just not made for cold weather, I may live in Iceland but I have my limits!
When it is this beautiful outside I can face the cold, at least for a little bit. Now I am off to re-read my list over and over again until I forget the fact that snow fall off the roof of my car into my coat this morning.
Happy Monday!
Question of the Day?
Are you a fan of cold weather? What do you love about winter?
If you are ever in Reykjavik a visit to the Grótta Lighthouse is a must! You will want to save this map, it is the perfect place for a walk!
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