Last month I went for a week to England to visit my former au pair family who lives in Surrey, close to Hampton Court. It was absolutely gorgeous to arrive there in the spring sun and walk past all the blossoming daffodils.

It was the beginning of March and earlier that morning I had taken the bus to the airport in Keflavík. The drive had taken 30 minutes longer than usual due to a blizzard. Take-off was delayed as well because of bad weather and then we had to wait inside the plane while the wings were being de-iced.

But spring had arrived in England and I strolled around Hampton Court Gardens smiling at the daffodils, feeling much more light-hearted than I had been a few days before. This winter has been so long and cold in Iceland that my spirit had really reached a low point.

Merely one glance at the daffodils was enough to lighten my mood and I recited Wordsworth in my head as I “wandered lonely as a cloud” in the Gardens. Well, I wasn’t exactly feeling lonely, though, and took great pleasure in observing other visitors while having tea and scones at the Tiltyard Café.

Being welcomed at the Salters’ was also heart-warming. Not having visited for nine years, I had a bit of a shock realizing that those three handsome young men greeting me politely were the wee boys I had looked after 12 years ago. The youngest one, Rory, didn’t really remember me, which is understandable, but my heart still sunk a bit. When I had arrived he was only six weeks old and I had cared for him as if he were my own until he turned two years old.

After a week of being treated like a princess at the Salters’ house, visiting the British Library, The Imperial War Museum and antique shops, meeting up with friends in London, having dinner in Notting Hill, seeing Jeff Goldblum and Kevin Spacey in a Mamet play…and doing a bit of shopping, I returned to icy Iceland completely recharged.

Now, exactly a month later, I think spring has finally arrived in Iceland. The spring sun is in my face before 8 am, making it impossible to have a long lie-in, and the daffodils have blossomed. Outside I have to wear sunglasses as well as mittens but the earthy smell of wet mud and moss is a clear sign of winter giving in.

We might get one or two more attacks from the Winter King, but we’ll fight him with daffodils and soft ice-cream. Once we’ve tasted springtime, we will not let go of it so easily!

P.S. I have to take advantage of this opportunity to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to the aforementioned Rory, who’s turning 13 years old today.

IRB – ingibjorgrosa@gmail.com

Ingibjörg is filling in for Bjarni who will be away for a few weeks.