Places that Inspire Us

I’ve been very fortunate to have traveled overseas a great deal, thanks to my husband’s business.  There is one place I keep returning to, and that’s Iceland.  The first time we went there was over ten years ago.  We had a ticket that included a layover, so we were able to stay for three nights. That’s all it took for me to fall in love with it.

The island is like a cold Hawaii. It’s basically a lava field with an active volcano that occasionally erupts.  We go back every couple of years, especially for New Year’s Eve.  That’s when everyone in Reykjavik, Iceland’s largest city, gathers at different places around the city. We like to go to this big church in the middle of the city and watch the fireworks take off all around us - beautiful, gold, red, blue, silver, and every other color fly up in the sky and erupt.  People come from all over the world just to witness it and share in the magic, the Northern lights, and champagne!  It’s breathtaking!

But most of all, it’s a celebration!

There is also the love of the country itself.  You can snowmobile up amazing glaciers, soak in one of the many natural hot springs, and, my favorite, the Blue Lagoon, being the most famous one. You can also eat pancakes that are some of the best I’ve ever tasted, and I am a pro! 

Besides all of this, it’s a place that inspires me.  Whenever the fun of the day is finished, I lie in front of the wood-burning stove and reflect on how landscape shapes identity, just like Hilltown does in my novels.

Places hold memories. 

Places hold us.

The Hallgrimskirkja Church in Reykjavik