Snowcation in Europe

Our first day in Milano started very late because, man, Livia can sleep! But in this case after going to bed   at 2am   I could too…  We headed into the City on an impromptu museum tour. Our first stop was a coffee shop by the Duomo, where I got a brioche (they don’t call breakfast pastries cornetti here) called Maritozzo, which is a cream puff with a bread ball around it. The whipped cream was delicious but I can’t imagine having that for breakfast regularly. I can’t remember if I ever saw the Duomo without scaffolding - I think the only other time I saw it the facade was being restored. It was so impressive. I think in photos it looks flatter than it is- the relief sculptures definitely give it some depth. Right next to the piazza is the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II, which is so beautiful, I love walking through these in Italian cities. The acoustics, the sense of togetherness and bustling, the energy is so great. There is a new addition though- there are balloon ...

  Our last day in Iceland was the most chill, with a relaxing morning at breakfast. We had a little bit of time to walk around Reykjavik and pick up some gifts in the little shops. I bought a bag and a bracelet made out of fish leather, which I thought was super cool.  Joost had plans today so we had a new driver take us to the Blue Lagoon. Unfortunately I got the timing wrong of my moms flight and the driver was late so the Blue Lagoon trip was a little rushed. I had heard not great things about it- that it was touristy, that the water irritated their skin, that it was too crowded. Well let me tell you, it was one of my faves for sure! Also super cool because it was snowing out! Step 1 of the mud mask The water is a milky white color from the silica content, and turquoise as well. We also had a mud mask treatment which was super cool, there was a pool bar you walk up to for each step in the 3 step process. The water is directly fed from a natural spring too.  These are t...

Our most adventurous day kicked off   at about 9am   because we had a long drive ahead of us. Apparently it snowed an unusually large amount the night before so we were greeted to a more wintry wonderland than before! We set off for The Cave which is a lava cave that was formed in 1000 AD… it was a 2 hour treacherous drive… pretty crazy actually and I was so happy to not be driving. Like literally 6 inches of snow on the road - the only way we knew it was a road was because there were little posts on the sides- it was crazy! We were about 20 minutes late but right after we arrived we learned that there was a car and tour bus stuck on the road to the cave- we could actually see them- didn’t look fun, but Icelanders always help each other when they see each other stuck on the side of the road. Thank god for studded tires, but we were still sliding around from time to time… 9am commute The cave is literally in the middle of nowhere- it’s in the highlands, which is pretty much the...