Published July 3, 2015

Welcome to our annual Best of Reykjavík issue, in which we like to get super positive (for a change!) and write about all of the best stuff that Reykjavík has to offer.

This is the seventh Best Of issue that we’ve made, and the fifth one that I’ve been involved with. In other words, I’ve done my fair share of thinking and writing about everything from the city’s ‘Best Hamburger’ and its ‘Best Romantic Walk’ to its ‘Best Haberdashery’ and ‘Best Art Museum’.

And I’ll be honest, at some point, I’ve certainly entertained the notion that it’s senseless to give out an award for something that really only has one or two contenders, especially when you’re doing it year after year.

But, at some point, I also became convinced that we should recognise and celebrate the fact that our favourite burger joint is still around and going strong, and we should continue to be impressed by the fact that this tiny city has a great art museum, with not just one but three locations.

I feel especially strongly about that this time around, having just returned from a trip to Cuba. Visiting a communist island nation that has been embargoed by the United States for half a century certainly provides a bit of perspective.

It was a fascinating experience (…you should hurry up and go!). Still, my travel mates and I breathed a collective sigh of relief as we boarded a very old, much-used porta-potty with wings (plane) and began our journey home, back to all of the modern conveniences we have grown accustomed to.

Four flights later, and I was finally back in Iceland (home sweet home!), on a FlyBus, staring out the window on a nice day (the sun shines here too!), thinking ‘Iceland is so great! We have all of this hot water here! We have toilet paper! There’s so little bureaucracy! We have working internet—all over the place! And we have some really, really GREAT food on this island (go read Vice’s “Red Gold: A Quixotic Quest to Find Beef in Cuba” to learn more about the state of modern Cuban cuisine)!’

Ahh, there’s nothing like leaving the country, enjoying some time abroad, and then coming back again with a renewed appreciation for all of the great aspects of living in Reykjavík. That’s just the BEST (especially if you can somehow avoid reading the news upon your return)!

…Enjoy our Best Of issue!