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Sauðárkrókur Town Guide: VR Puffins, Local Craft Beer & Fishy Business
If you’re seeking to get away to a place with a small town’s charm and slow tempo, Sauðárkrókur, located in Northwest Iceland, may well be your cup of tea. The village is a three-and-a-half hour drive from Reykjavík, and home to approximately…
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Time Capsule: The Settlement Exhibition – Reykjavik 871±2
The Settlement Exhibition is located beneath Hótel Reykjavík Centrum, and is built out around the archaeological remains of a Viking Age longhouse. Immersive and informative displays tell the stories of Iceland’s first settlers, who, according to the evidence of this exhibit and…
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Impromptu, Pronto! Improv Comedy Hits The Stage In Iceland
If there’s stereotypes for the audience members at a comedy show, like for people on the dating scene, I would be the one who plays hard to get. No matter how cringe the situation is, you better go out of your way…
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Buddy Up With Ívar: A Reykjavík Music Walk
DJ and FM Belfast band member Ívar Pétur Kjartansson stands in his natural habitat, behind the counter surrounded by vinyl records and CDs amidst the music mayhem that is Lucky Records. “I actually don’t work here, I’m just helping out,” he says,…
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The New South: Midgard, Skyr Mojitos And Everything Volcanic
“Do you trust yourself going on a trip to the South?”, asked Grapevine’s editor-in-chief on the first day of my internship. “Does a bear shit in the woods?”, I thought, trying not to let my bubbling excitement show too much—they are quite…
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My Bubba: Milk From Another Planet
Icelander Guðbjörg Bubba Tómasdóttir and Swede My Larsdotter grew up close to each other in the southern part of Sweden, but never met until Bubba responded to My’s “roommate wanted” ad in Copenhagen ten years ago. Bubba moved in right away, and…
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Time Capsule: The Old Prison
The old prison in Reykjavík (called “Hegningarhúsið” in Icelandic), located just down the street from Hallgrímskirkja, pretty much looks like how one would imagine an old prison to look, when you think about it: grey, dark and frankly not the most accommodating…
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Entering A Microcosm: An Impulse Visit To Gæðingur
Wondering where to get a beer in Sauðárkrókur, North Iceland, my travelling companion and I catch a resident who directs us to the only bar in town, Microbar. The name might seem familiar, since its representative in Reykjavík is the first craft…
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Ask A Historian: Has Iceland Ever Been Involved In Any Wars Or Conflicts
Stefán Pálsson, Icelandic historian, explains: “As a NATO member Iceland have participated in wars and conflicts that NATO has engaged in. For example in Iraq and the NATO programme in Afghanistan there’s been Icelandic personnel, but none of them have been soldiers,…
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Hour Of The Wolf: Cheeseburgers Got Nothing On A Fifteen-Topping Pizza
Joaquim Monera Carretey is preparing for his night shift at champion pizza joint Eldsmiðjan. I don’t know what I had imagined when it comes to late night shifts at a pizzeria. Considering that Iceland’s outpost of the universal drunk food favourite McDonald’s…
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Time Capsule: The National Gallery Of Iceland
Entering the graceful main entrance of Listasafn Íslands (the National Gallery of Iceland), it’s hard to believe that the building was originally built for storing ice, back in 1916. It’s much easier to imagine citizens of Reykjavik gathering there for dancing and drinking—which…
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Creating A Universe: The Electrifying World Of Extreme Chill
“Electronic music is in my DNA”, co-founder of Extreme Chill Festival, Pan Thorarensen, says when asked about the annual electronic music event, which will be celebrating its 8th anniversary for the first time in Reykjavík between July 6 – July 9. After…
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Last Item I Bought – The Collection
Those people on the street: who are they? What do they do? What did they just buy? We dared to find out what’s new and who’s who in Reykjavík city’s street life. Name: Valtýr Örn Kjartansson Age: 19 Job: Developer at Takumi…
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Life In Pictures: Nightlife In The Midnight Sun
Oh, midnight sun, we can’t stop drinking about you. The most common question asked by foreigners during Icelandic summers is, “But how do I sleep?” The answer is quite simple: You don’t. At least not if it’s a Friday or Saturday night…
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Show Me The Money: 1000 ISK
Until the mid-to-late 19th century, most financial transactions in Iceland were conducted in vaðmál (homespun wool). However, since 1922, Iceland has issued its own currency, the króna. Iceland never being the best at economic stability, the króna has lost significant value every…
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The Unconventional Life Of Birgir Andréasson
Some might know him as the art scene’s exponent for the relationship between language and perception; others as the great influencer and portrayer of Icelandic culture and national identity. For the director and screenwriter Kristján Loðmfjörð, a meeting with the renowned Icelandic…
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Greenlandic Viking Beer Sets Sail For Iceland
Once upon a time, 982 AD to be precise, there was an Icelandic viking, who crossed oceans on a raggedy wooden longship, as vikings so casually did, and discovered the world’s largest island. He named it Greenland, and now Greenland finally returns…
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Beer Ahoy! Colossal 78-Tap Keg Shipping Up To Bjórfestival
First the Americans brought us Costco, now the Maine Brewers’ Guild is sailing in a 40-foot beer container to Iceland. If it was a Friday night at three in the morning, we would probably be hanging over a bar declaring our love for America in…
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Iceland Airwaves Announces Michael Kiwanuka And Sigrid Among 34 New Acts
Fasten your seat belts people, because the Iceland Airwaves festival just added 34 new acts to their already high flying line-up. Soul musician Michael Kiwanuka (UK), Malian desert punks Songhoy Blues (ML), rapper Alvia Islandia (IS), Norwegian rising star Sigrid (IS) and…
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Massive Storm Brewing: Upwards Of 40 Metres Per Second Predicted
Don’t get blown away, but here comes another weather update. Yesterday, cafés and parks in Reykjavik were filled to the brim with Icelanders wearing shorts and t-shirts. Today, they woke up to a serious storm warning in the south of Iceland. Oh Icelandic…
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Costco Be Thy Name, Thy Will Be Done
The Costco cult is here, and just own up to it pal, because you definitely belong to it. In the few days since it opened its doors, 64,674 people—corresponding to more than a fifth of Iceland’s population—have joined the Facebook group “Keypt í…
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Midsummer Music: Chamber Music’s Crème De La Crème
“This is my little experimental playground,” the brilliant pianist Víkingur Òlafsson says when we call him up for a chat about the award-winning music festival Reykjavík Midsummer Music, taking place June 22-25. Víkingur is the founder of the chamber music celebration, and…
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Prins Póló Band Together With Autistic Visual Artist
Let’s talk Prins Póló. And then we’re not talking about the Polish chocolate bar generations of Icelanders have eaten daily (OK, maybe a slight hyperbole) – but it’s for sure just as appetising. We are of course talking about the admired synonymous band,…
