Have I told everyone that my apartment sits right across an alleyway from 2 nightclubs. Does everyone know the kind of partying one does (well, one that´s younger than this woman) in Reykjavik? According to my ears, the party gets started around 12:30 am and goes until at least 5:00 am. So…that´s when I was finally able to take out my earplugs and get some sleep! Yes, I am old 🙂 But this morning I was able to make my own coffee and relax before the run in my room. It was a gorgeous day for a run – around 55 degrees and overcast. But the run itself was not so gorgeous. There´s nothing like a solo half-marathon to put a self-proclaimed ‘fit’ person in her place! Let´s just say that the ONLY thing that didn´t hurt was my lungs. Even my elbows hurt after that! But – one thing that I´ll try to bring back to a run in the states…around mile 11, instead of sports gels, they gave out bites of chocolate! That made me very happy. Needless to say, it wasn´t my best run; but I did finish and felt wonderful afterward. Friends and family, next time I say I´m going to do something like a half-marathon on my own, please gently tell me how STUPID that is 🙂

The rest of my day has been even better than yesterday and more than made up for my tired feet and aching back. It was the Reykjavik Culture Night – a yearly party that I´m equating to our Fourth of July celebrations. There were tens of thousands of people eating, drinking, dancing and playing music in the city. It was absolutely phenomenal. After a leisurely stroll (because I could barely walk!) through the city with a local beer, I went to sit down in one of the parks with my book when I hear my name being called. As I know all of about 10 people in this town, I was shocked. But it happened to be a couple that I met on the way from the airport on Thursday. So we hung out in the park and they invited me to dinner with them.

Dinner was a traditional Icelandic lamb that was out of this world! That and good wine and wonderful, fascinating people made the dinner so much fun. And we had tons of laughs. This is what I live and travel for – meeting incredible, interesting people that I would otherwise not have the opportunity to meet! It makes me so thankful to be able to do the things I do. Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent…we then decided we needed a bit more wine and took the party to their apartment where we shared more stories and laughs.

The Culture Night ends every year with fireworks across from the main stage. So we headed down to the park and caught the last few songs from the band. I´ve included a picture below of the crowd. Absolutely amazing!!!! I LOVE the feeling of experiencing something that so many aren´t even aware of; let alone get to experience. It was soooo cool. Seeing all of these different people from so many different cultures coming out to experience and celebrate the same thing – together. Wow…I don´t even have words. And the fireworks were pretty cool too.

It´s been a long, freaking amazing day and I´m exhausted. I´m hoping to sleep like a baby but thinking the party in the clubs outside may nix that idea. But here´s to trying.

Stay tuned…tomorrow I´m going to the famous Blue Lagoon.