Perfect Day: Eydís Blöndal

Eydís Blöndal has been revered as one of the freshest voices in Icelandic poetry since her first book of poems “Tvist og bast” came out in 2017. Her newest work, “Ég brotna 100% niður”, was released on September 8th. It’s available for purchase at Forlagið Bókabúð.

Rise and relax

My perfect day starts with an early rise, around 6:30, with a reverential amount of minutes scrolling through social media. I drink my coffee on the balcony overlooking Laugardalur with my partner—preferably before our daughter rises so we can have a moment of stillness together. After our morning routine I walk my daughter to kindergarten and we stop way too often to look at trees and kittens.

Singing on the street

I then have to pace to the gym to catch a hot yoga class to really get me going. My preferred way of commuting is with Hopp, listening to music and singing along. I started singing when riding a bike or Hopp as a way of fighting off my social anxiety and justification of using the car more than necessary (where you can sing all you want), but I’m afraid my little experiment may have gone too far. Who cares?

photo by Júlíanna Ósk Hafberg

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A slow afternoon

My next stop: Sundhöllin, where I lie around aimlessly in the pools and the sauna until my hunger and dehydration make me dizzy. With wet, tangled hair I go straight to my pit stop for early lunch downtown: Emilie and the Cool Kids. I get a vegan bagel and coffee (and baked goods!) and usually sit around for an hour or so reading or writing. Since money wouldn’t be an issue I would walk around post-late-lunch and buy some books that have been hanging around on my wish-list.

A dancefloor is a damn good time

On Laugavegur you usually run into some friends, and that would of course happen on my perfect day. After grabbing a cup of coffee and catching up we would stroll around Hljómskálagarðurinn and maybe even visit a museum or the library, depending on where the wind blows us. Then we would hit up some more of our friends and lay down our plan for the night. The night usually starts at Hlemmur Mathöll with dinner and a drink, and ends on the dance floor at Röntgen after a couple of cocktails.