We recently cruised from New York City up the East coast to Newfoundland, Novia Scotia, Greenland, and Iceland (for those that want all the stops - Martha's Vineyard, Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Corner Brook, Nuuk, Isafjordur, and Reykjavik). While we expected cool temperatures in Greenland and Iceland - almost our entire trip was way below seasonal temps. Fortunately, we had packed multiple layers and a pair of gloves which we used way more than we expected. We also seemed to be dragging rain clouds along with us since we had more overcast days than sunny days. The problem is overcast skies always seems to make it difficult for a city to show it's best side.
The weather aside it was a great trip with exquisite landscapes, some interesting wildlife sightings, and new cities/cultures to explore. We also had several days at sea cruising the Labrador sea and the Denmark Strait which provided us downtime to rest and recharge. We used the sea days to get massages, watch a couple of the 2018 Oscar nominated films, read and, most importantly, nap. The big hits for the trip for me were seeing Greenland and Iceland for the first time. Greenland was amazing, and much more mountainous than I was expecting, and the icebergs floating by the ship contained all sorts of shades of blue ice. We had the opportunity to speak with a native Greenlander in her home and found out that you've got to love winter. It starts snowing in September and continues to May. This means that the snow piles up past the windows on the house and the sun is out for a whopping 3 to 4 hours. And I thought Wisconsin could be a bit tough in the winter.
Iceland did not disappoint and it is easy to see why it has become a popular tourist destination. From seeing puffins and seals, to the geysers and hot springs that seem to be all over the landscape, to the multiple waterfalls and glaciers. We thought it would be interesting to go back and spend a couple of weeks hiking around the various parts of the island since we only had a limited amount time to explore. One of the highlights was hitting the local swimming pool to partake in the hot tubs that are at the public pools - although we did find that the hot tub at 44 degree C was a bit over the top, unless you are cooking a lobster.
The easiest summary is that it was a great trip and we could certainly do it again - although a bit warmer temperatures and more sunshine next time would be nice. Of course, as with any vacation these days we have hundreds of photos to bore you with should you ever make the mistake of asking to see our vacation photos!!
Northwestern Mutual's annual meeting was this week so we have been on the cocktail and dinner circuit since last Friday. The weather cooperated this year since it wasn't blazing hot and humid nor pouring down rain so it wasn't as bad being in a suit and tie for the week. It is a pretty standard set of events from year to year, but even so we had a nice time at the Summerfest grounds for the garden party along with the talks on Monday at the actual meeting and the closing concert on Tuesday - which was the Zac Brown band this year. A nice highlight this year was having one of the cocktail hours/dinner on top of the new Northwestern Mutual tower which has a balcony on the 32nd floor overlooking the city. It is always fun to see cities from up on high. If you look really close you can see our house in the picture below (not really, but it is fun to pretend).
The garden is chugging along especially since we ignored it for almost three weeks while traveling. Fortunately, we planted a lot of beans this year and they seem to be the most forgiving vegetable to plant. We harvested both yellow and green wax beans this week and have enough to enjoy fresh as well as freeze some for the upcoming winter. Our squash and cucumbers are also starting to produce so we will be frying the squash up for dinner this weekend. We still haven't figured a great use for cucumbers beyond cutting one or two onto salads and making pickles. I certainly don't like cold cucumber salads or soups and making fried cucumber doesn't seem particularly appealing. At least Jo's assistant likes to juice them so we always have a good way of taking care of the excess.
