Vacation: a period of travel and relaxation when you take twice the clothes and half the money you need. ~Author Unknown

So today the sun shone and boy did it shine.... such a lovely day... and such a good day - I can now go on holiday without too much guilt, finished the last tax return that I had all the information I needed (have two to do - but because the clients haven't provided the necessary information there was no way to do them... not my bad), I think that I have done most of the payrolls that need to be done before the 8th, the rest can wait till I get back, I mowed the lawn... yawn.. walked the dog, and packed my bag.

 On the walk with the dog the temp shown downtown was this... may not seem a lot to those that live in warmer climes but strangely enough in Iceland once the temp is over 15 it almost seems like a heat wave.  I wore a shirt and jeans on my walk (granted with scarf around my over sensative neck) and loved the fact that there was a breeze - otherwise it would not have been as pleasant as it was.

 The brook that is Sauðá - sheep river (from which the town gets its name - SAUÐÁrkrók - sheep river hook....)

Not a cloud in the sky....  so nice.  To top the day Olga, Ross and the dude (Henry) came over for dinner as well as my brother Helgi and Sigga and Maggi.  Mum and Árni were here as usual ofcourse...  the lamb was brilliant (am feeling a tad bad as my brother had to bring and cook his own meat..... will make it up to him in the not too distant future I hope).   

The bottom of the day was saying goodbye to Freyja... she is staying at Árni's while I am away - except for a day or two whilst the seamen's celebration is happening in town.....    She seemed fine when I left - I think she knew that this was about to happen..... this is the look I have been getting since I drew out the travel bag.

So in case you are interested this is the Rhine river... our trip starts in Strasbourg and heads north to Amsterdam...   Am so looking forward to catching up with my niece Kristín and her boyfriend Reynir in Frankfurt... added bonus Amanda and Matthias are coming up from Erlangen to meet us on the Friday and are staying in the same hotel as us on the Friday night.  Saturday is when the trip starts from Frankfurt airport - where we take a bus down to Strasbourg to join the boat/ship... what's the correct term for a river thing... I think it's a boat... Anywho - another added bonus is that the boat stays overnight in Nijmegen the home of one of my very good friends from a long time ago.... Evelyn - we worked together in the British Embassy in Reykjavik way back in 1987-1989.  We have remained in touch - sometimes sporadic - but whenever we meet it was just like yesterday... twill be good to see her and Gregor again!

So, I don't know when the next post will be.... maybe they have internet on the boat and I can borrow a pc off someone who could be bothered to take it with them.  Otherwise you will have to wait till the weekend - 9th / 10th June to get the latest plus perhaps some pictures and stuff...... (unless Hafnafjörður erupts... yep, there seems to be some volcanic activity happening in a suburban area in the greater Reykjavik area.... stay tuned)