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Learning How To Drink, One Swallow At A Time
“Ehm yes, this is wine isn’t it?” The line accurately sums up my slim knowledge of wine, or at least when I’m put in the stressful situation of having to taste wine from a freshly opened bottle prior to a meal. Also,…
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Drifting From Vienna to the Americas
Rushing into the concert hall, the latest to enter, stinking of Thai food, I capture everyone’s attention. Gazing over the hall I see mostly senior residents with their grey heads popping up from the seats like so many sticks of candyfloss. A…
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Barry And His Guitar: Can Iceland Please Have More Comedy Shows?
Who doesn’t love to laugh? On bleak January nights we need to lift our spirits by having more comedies and stand-ups in town. In early January, I suffered one of those nights, but a comedy show saved me from my Vitamin-C deprived…
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The Reykjavík Grapevine Design Awards 2015
For our fifth annual Design Awards, we gathered a small panel of experts to help us determine what was on the cutting edge of Icelandic design in 2014. Here are the results: the winners and runners-up in each of the four categories,…
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The Langjökull Glacier Tour Is Great (If You’re Not Paranoid)
“Golden Circle! Langjökull glacier!” Our enthusiastic driver Hjörleifur Kristjánsson, “Hjölli” to us, calls out the day’s destinations as he presents the gigantic truck that will chauffeur us around. His demeanour indicated that the “ooohs,” “aaahs,” and “wows” emitted by the group in…
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Welcome To The Dark Side
Winter is upon us. It’s here, enshrouding your very being in short, frosty days with only a few hours of sunlight, followed by long, frozen, windy nights. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Some handle it just fine, getting cosy at home as the weather…
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Listicle: A Survival Guide For The Darkest Months
In Reykjavík and beyond, there are some activities that are available only in the winter season. January can be made into a lively month, with a few ideas and a bit of willpower—never before has the frozen city pond looked as inviting,…
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Barry And His Guitar Are In Iceland
The third production of the one-man show “Barry And His Guitar” has arrived in Reykjavík. After a successful year in London the show will launch in Iceland at Mengi tonight, January 2. The production charts the unfortunate tale of a young musician, Barry, whose…
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Holiday Opening Hours
If you are a tourist stranded in Iceland over the holiday season, you may find yourself hard pressed to come up with activities to engage in, as the country practically shuts down in late December (admittedly, this has been changing along with…
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Have Yourself A Sexy Little Christmas
Chocolate. Oh heavenly Chocolate! The Aztecs—early converts to the cause—believed that it was a gift from the gods, and that it could even bestow special powers upon those who consumed it. We can confirm that this is true. We learned it at…
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Inspired By Iceland. For Real
In Southsea, Portsmouth, UK, where Castle Road meets Kent Road, you’ll find 101 Reykjavík, a cosy Icelandic café. Huh? An Icelandic café? Yup. There is such a thing. 101 Reykjavík (the café, not the postal code, novel or film) is indeed an…
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All Out Of Ideas? Grapevine’s Got Your Back!
Get some Yule Lads! Jólabúðin, Laugavegur 4 This lovely Christmas shop on Laugavegur (open year round!) offers a wide range of cool, Iceland-specific Christmas crap your friends back home will totally appreciate (a lot of it’s on the cheap side, too). For…
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‘Austurland: Design From Nowhere’ Wins 1st Annual Design Award!
A comprehensive project titled ‘Austurland: Design From Nowhere’ won Iceland’s first annual design awards, accepting the prize at a ceremony on Thursday. The project was initiated by Pete Collard and Karna Sigurðardóttir, and features designers Þórunn Árnadóttir, Gero Grundmann, Max Lamb and Julia Lohmann. Two…
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Get Outta Town: Stuff To Avoid Airwaves
Feeling an overwhelming urge to explore the nearby towns without missing out on Airwaves? Do you feel crushed by the drunken crowds? Guess what, here are some suggestions for how to get outta town, make the most out of your time –…
