Good friends are hard to come by, but for Jamie and me, we know they live an eighth of the world away—well, a sixth of the world away from Jamie and a twelfth of the world away from me. They are Daði, Sessa, Gunnhildur, Björn Þór and family. If not for them, we would never be.

It all started before Jamie & I began dating. Gunna & Jamie, having both come to Ann Arbor by themselves, found a common bond in their fondness for strong drinks and distaste towards the life of a music student. They frequented many of the lovely establishments around Ann Arbor for post-concert gatherings, sharing thoughts on classes, rehearsals, gossip and more.
During one such outing, Gunna extended an invitation to Jamie to come to Iceland to be a part of the Icelandic Chamber Music Festival’s string quartet seminar: a one-week intensive string quartet seminar led by a member of the Pacifica Quartet with the option to stay a couple of extra days on vacation. Seeking a change of scenery, Jamie happily agreed to play. Around the same time, Gunna floated the same invitation to me. Knowing that I might be flying to the Netherlands just as the festival would take place, I happily considered the option to make music and hike in a country where I had never visited. Without any of us knowing, Gunna set the stage for Jamie and me to come together in Iceland.

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