Hot Jazz, Iceland, & The Blue Lagoon

For 18 years straight the summer European jazz festival circuit was my playground ; hitting  the North Sea, Montreux, Nice, Copenhagen, Juan Les Pins and a few others. After mulling over the 3 day North Sea lineup and schedule every year; my mentor, the incomparable, knowledgeable and distinguished  Dr. Wesley Johnson (rip) would say, “Kat, it’s not who we are going to see but who we are going to see  that may not be here next year”. Yes, so true.     Yesterday as I cleaned out the garage I came across photos of me with old timers, the old school  jazz musicians from the bebop era, the ones the youngsters these days have learned from: Dizzy, Lionel Hampton, Harry Sweets Edison, Brother Jack McDuff, Kenny Baron, etc….what memories! Well a lot has changed. Rotterdam is not THE HAGUE, but it’s still good, and it’s still an unforgettable experience.

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That Rotterdam Hotel, across from the Central Rail Station was once the Westin, then the Manhattan and now the Marriott —- yes the one everyone wants to stay at. What further excites me about this tour is Iceland and the Blue Lagoon with its geo-thermal waters.  It is here where the water remains 102 degrees Fahrenheit year round.  After our time in those invigorating geo thermal waters, we will have a 3 course lunch at their restaurant overlooking the Blue Lagoon.   Our hotel there has also been secured.  It is on the hip and trendy popular shopping street, Iceland’s single, coolest street, “Laugavegur”, which means “wash road”, was once the route to the hot springs where many Icelanders took their clothes to launder. Now this hyper-cool thoroughfare is a place where you shoppers can easily drop hundreds of dollars on clothes and accessories. All night long? Or all day long?  In the summer, the sun only sets for around 3 hrs!