This January I decided I would do my utmost to skip any sort of alcoholic beverages. It’s a bit hard because I’ve come to love combining wine with food, quite a lot, specially after living in Paris, where it’s quite unavoidable to not be tempted by the variety of wines available.

In comes dark, wintery, Iceland and Christmas celebrations just after I moved back home. At that point, it was hard to miss the celebratory glass here and there, so I postponed my challenge to January.

It has actually been a lot easier than expected. I did skip a day recently because of my cousins 30th birthday party, but other than that I have not had a sip all month. It’s hard sometimes when there’s something wine-friendly for dinner, but I guess it helps too that wine in Iceland is a lot more expensive than in France and harder to come by (only sold in specific stores, i.e. not in grocery stores).

Some say it’s more tempting to drink it when it’s dark outside, like during winter in Iceland - but I find it to be the opposite now that I think about it; it’s more tempting when the sun is high and the weather is clear and bright.

In the cold, dark, winter I tend to opt for tea.