Luckily all three of us are feeling a bit stronger. To celebrate that fact we spent our first full day in Paris mostly underground and surrounded by death.

Covid squeezes life like an accordion. At home and during the first scary months of the pandemic it shrunk my work, home and life to a one mile radius. Then the tight ever present fear would loosen it’s grip and we would escape before eventually returning to that same tight squeeze.

As Corey said we have Covid. Despite being fully vaccinated, taking reasonable precautions (like telling everyone on this blog we wouldn’t be talking about Covid) and not wanting to get it we still got it. So far it has been a mild ride and for that we are extremely grateful. Others we know whom are equally vaccinated have seen this illness turn to pneumonia or have it linger for weeks. Hopefully this will not be us.

We are grateful as well for family. Our niece Kristine and her boyfriend Francois have been incredibly patient with us. Together they have fixed toilets (they are a lot trickier here), unlocked doors (you have to turn the key exactly three and a quarter times) and defused tricky dining out situations (people don’t work on tips here so you have to be extra nice if you want to be seated near closing time). Francois by the way is French and, maybe this is the Covid talking, is like a son to me. A son whom I will never tire of badgering for favors.

It’s a great time in Europe to be traveling with Covid. There are no restrictions. There is no mandatory quarantine. In-between naps we have actually seen a lot of Rouen but only within an approximate one mile walking radius (and not the beaches of Normandy and not by kayaking the Seine as was previously planned). Our apartment here in Rouen is both lovely and cheap so we will stay one extra day/one less night in Paris to rest. And we of course wear masks whenever we are near another person. Life could be worse. A lot lot worse.

The typical Icelander, per random articles pulled from the net, is a published author, excels at chess and believes wholeheartedly in Elves. Find that last factoid a bit difficult to swallow which pushed me to ask Icelanders whether or not they believe in Elves. First lesson I learned; it is very awkward asking people if they believe in Elves.

I did though manage one such conversation with a very patient National Park ranger. His take was that Icelanders embrace Elves due to their place in folklore. Believing in Elves then is like believing in the Spirit of Christmas.

Really though what it comes down to is that there is so much in this Universe we just don’t understand. Why not just blame it on the Elves?

My current Facebook feed is mostly pop-up “articles” related to recent Google searches. For example, a typical FB generated article for me might be “All The Reasons Why You Should Buy Yourself Yet Another Coffee Maker. Reason 11 Will Surprise You.” I will then mindlessly flip through this slide show from Hell in search of that elusive eleventh reason. One pop-up article though that I did not mind from last week concerned the weirdness of Iceland.

Iceland is in fact pretty weird. Take Wyoming and populate it with Vikings. Then separate those Vikings from the rest of Europe for a few hundred years. Add to that the Northern Lights, a genuine belief in Elves (so Facebook tells me) and unlimited hot water. That my friends is Iceland.

And that is also our Airbnb. For less than $100 a night we have ourselves a beautifully large and well appointed guest bedroom complete with small fridge, access to a cute kitchen and a nice ocean view.. This is in a country where hotels regularly go for $700 or more a night.

The experience here also includes a shower too bizarre not to be mentioned. Standing in at about five foot six is something better resembling a Singer sewing machine than a shower. I say that because the plumbing involves a series of handles that, when operated correctly, blend two competing streams of water. One stream is boring and cold. The other is a sulphery, boiling mess of liquid possibly pumped in from Old Faithful. If ignored it might burn. Equilibrium between the two streams, while theoretically possible, is not a likely outcome. More than a metaphor, the shower exists as a challenge; it might even possibly make me a better man.

So this is the plan; Shari drops us off at the Blue Line which takes us to O’Hare and then it is off to Iceland we go. Three days later our flight continues to Paris where our lovely niece Kristine and her cool boyfriend Francois have promised to show us around. Then we take a very fast and mostly underwater train to London which will later be followed by a whole bunch of other train rides through Scotland and Wales. Eventually we take a boat to Dublin before one last final flight back to Chicago.

First thing to do though is to begin packing. In my backpack there will be a sweater, a very light rain jacket, a pair of pants, two shorts, lots of underwear, socks and t-shirts as well as a few odds and ends such as my favorite Yeti cup and a couple of paperback books. Henna and Corey will pack in a similar manner with Henna right now choosing to also bring along one incredibly dense piece of classic literature. I do not like the literal weight of the book but Henna thinks it will be fine (update: Henna has since abandoned that plan). We will also of course bring along a few rapid tests just in case plus one tiny backpack for walking about.

Covid, Covid, Covid. Yep. We might get it. We will try not to get it. But we do not plan on taking any extraordinary precautionary steps. And by that, I mean we will not be skipping out on pubs. Pubs might be the thing I am most looking forward to. Scampi and chips with a pint of ale. Yum.

With or without Covid the world is a scary place. It has gotten too hot. And overcrowded. Things also cost too much and everyone is always shouting at one another. And guns, whether they be the easily purchased assault rifles here in America or the ones held by Putin’s conscripts, make everything just that much worse. Given all that, it would make perfect sense for us not to leave our pleasant northwest side Chicago neighborhood. But that is just not what we do. We travel because we can. We also still very much love sharing our insights, ramblings and other such nonsenses.  A shout out to M&M at Chase Bank because I promised I would do so. Cheers.