Author: Valur Grettisson
Troubled Party Fights For Pets At Restaurants
The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Björt Ólafsdóttir, announced this weekend that she is going to present a bill…
Reykjavík Of Yore: A Towering Artist
Although we at Grapevine can be cynical about art, life and the purpose of everything—some people even think we are…
Editorial: Silly Season With A Taste Of Cucumber
There are two news stories I remember reading in the past two weeks. One was about a twenty-something makeup artist…
News: The Top Stories, July 14th–July 27th
It’s been a dry two weeks here up North, news wise, and for a weekend the weather decided to mirror…
Forty To Fifty Earthquakes In Southern Iceland, Tremors Felt In Reykjavík
The people of Reykjavík felt an earthquake around 11:40 this morning. The Icelandic Met office (Veðurstofa íslands) reported that they…
Reykjavík Of Yore: A Spinning Political Monument
Perlan in Öskjuhlíð is some kind of Icelandic version of a Ferris wheel. The restaurant on top of the old…
The Hip-Hop Industry Needs To Check Themselves Before They Wreck Themselves
The last issue of the Reykjavík Grapevine was met with some harsh criticism. People on social media raised some good…
We Need To Talk About The Water Closet
For decades now, the Icelandic nation has successfully been using something called a toilet. Some call it a bathroom. But…
Reykjavík Of Yore: From Mundane To Watergate
Well, to be honest, the story of Háteigskirkja is painfully uninteresting. This is probably not the best way to start…
The PR Generation
I consider myself lucky in a way that I didn’t grow up with constant internet connectivity. When I was a…
How to Become Icelandic in 60 Minutes: Rude, Drunk and Boundlessly Optimistic
Are Icelanders just like everyone else or are they a little, well… special? This show, which purports to teach you…
Weird Flag Ceremony At Eurovision Probably A Violation Of Icelandic Law
Icelandic singer and Eurovision hopeful Svala Björgvinsdóttir participated in a weird flag ceremony in Kiev in Ukraine last Sunday, in…
Strolling around with Sorelle
Our favorite YouTube star, Sorelle Amore from Australia, showed our Facebook followers around the summer streetlife of downtown Reykjavík last…
Sexy Gandalf And Something About Abortion
What would happen if a bunch of nerdy intellectuals assembled some kind of strip show? Well, we would probably have…
The Same Goal
Here’s the thing: terrorism is a form of politics. It’s a disgusting and extreme form of politics, but it’s nothing…
Where was it shot? “Black” by Dierks Bentley
So, even American country musicians have discovered our little sub-Arctic island, although relatively few Icelanders have discovered American country music….
Some Kind of a Metaphor
When I was a child, my parents taught me two things about Iceland: one, that we were once strong Vikings,…
Reykjavík Of Yore: Squatting, And The Total Failure of Zoning
Ah, the wonderful year of 1919. The year after Great War ended. The Europeans were still dealing with its devastating…
Reykjavík Of Yore: Sundhöllin
Although houses don’t change as the years pass by, society does. We at Grapevine found this absolutely amazing photo of…
Reykjavík of Yore: Laugardalshöllin
Laugardalshöllin was Iceland’s largest gymnasium for decades. The house was designed by Gísli Halldórsson and Skarphéðinn Jóhannesson, and its construction…
Editorial: Raw Talent
It’s not often that Iceland produces raw talents in classical music like Víkingur Heiðar Ólafsson, the young concert piano artist…