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Track Of The Day: Daði Freyr – Every Moment Is Christmas With You
Daði Freyr’s Christmas ballad is as smooth and as soothing as a hot chocolate on a dark winter’s night. This track is the perfect accompaniment to what is proving to be one of the most low-key holiday seasons we’ve ever experienced. (Thanks…
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Applications For Food Assistance For Christmas Triple
Some 600 applications for food assistance for Christmas have been submitted to the Salvation Army in Reykjavík this year, according to a statement on their official site. This is roughly three times the number of applications that they received last year, and…
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Christmas Art Market In Reykjavík
Tucked away on Freyjugata, Ásmundarsalur is a quaint art space/coffee shop that runs a number of exhibits year round. From now until December 30th, the gallery presents “Ég Hlakka Svo Til”, (“I’m So Excited”) a collection of over 500 pieces from more…
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VIDEO: How Christmas Is Trying To Kill You, With Dr. Sebastian Kunz
It’s that time of year again: time for myocardial infarctions. Forensic pathologist Dr. Sebastian Kunz doesn’t want to see you in his workplace this holiday season. But he knows more than a lot of other people that Christmastime behaviour can kill people.…
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The Most Favourite Yule Lad Has Been Determined Once Again
As with every year, Market and Media Research has conducted a poll to determine which of Iceland’s 13 Yule Lads is the most popular. Turns out, little has changed over the years. As the data snows, Kertasníkir (shown above) is the most…
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This Week In Weather: Hail Will Prevail!
December might have just “ho ho hoed” its way in, but a warm air mass will bring Icelanders temperatures resembling a second summer today and tomorrow. In the north, Akureyri is estimated to potentially go up to 15º C today. At this…
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Food of Iceland: Hangikjöt
Hangikjöt, most famous as an Icelandic Christmas delicacy, is a distinctively-flavoured smoked meat typically made of lamb, but also occasionally horse. Around 90% of Icelanders indulge in the fare during the holiday season, and around the same number likely eat it thinly…
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FINALLY: Bingo During Christian Holidays No Longer Illegal In Iceland
If you decide to spend Easter playing bingo in Iceland, you will no longer be breaking the law, thanks to legislative changes made earlier this week. As RÚV reports, these changes were introduced to Parliament last February in the form of a…
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In Photos: Reykjavík Lights Up For Christmas
Yup. It’s Christmas. Reykjavík 101 is pretty famously a very cosy and pleasant to be at Christmas time. It’s dark and gloomy and cold, sure. But, all the more reason to get up as many Christmas lights as possible. So, people in…
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Christmas In Iceland: Unwelcoming Weather, But Clear Skies This Weekend
The weather on Christmas Day—this Monday—is expected to be crappy, but the weekend preceding it should be pleasant, at least. Vísir spoke with meteorologist Birta Líf Kristinsdóttir to ask the question on everyone’s minds: what kind of weather will we have on…
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VIDEO: Satirical Christmas Card (Not Actually) From Immigration Directorate Mailed Out
Numerous people, including reporters at Grapevine, has received a satirical Christmas card that sharply criticises the Directorate of Immigration (ÚTL). Now, that card has been given a dramatic reading on a video, which also translates the card’s text to English. The card…
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A “Red Christmas” For Iceland This Year. But Why A Red Christmas?
This year it looks likely that there will be no snow in Iceland for Christmas, a situation the locals call “a red Christmas”. Why red, and not some other colour? Fréttablaðið spoke with Daníel Þorláksson, a meteorologist with the Icelandic Met Office,…
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Fiiiiiive Goooooold Riiiings: Christmassy Goings-On In Reykjavík City
Reykjavík is a cosy and festive place to be at Christmas, from the decoration-festooned downtown streets to pop-up markets, special concerts and a city-centre skating rink at Ingólfstorg. Here are some recommended events to ease you into the holiday spirit. Heiðmörk Christmas…
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Christmas Is Coming & We Are Getting Fat: A Festive Guide To Reykjavík Restaurants
After last year’s tour of easy-going downtown havens like Mat Bar, Snaps and Skál, we decided to broaden the net a little for this year’s Christmas menu review to include some upscale, emerging and tucked-away eateries. Whether you’re planning a hot date…
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Christmas Cat Cost Causes Controversy
The City of Reykjavík spent a total of 4.4 million ISK on a large LED Christmas Cat (Jólakötturinn) on Lækjartorg Square, according to Vísir. The city told the website that the it will cost significantly less next year. The five metre high,…
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Downtown Reykjavik Closed To Car Traffic For Advent
As has been the case in holidays past, downtown Reykjavík will be closed to car traffic through Advent, in the hopes of boosting shopping. RÚV reports that the streets closed to car traffic from December 13 until Christmas Eve are the same…
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Most Icelanders Choose Artificial Christmas Trees
The majority of Icelanders will be putting up an artificial Christmas tree this year, but there was a difference in preference by party affiliation. According to a poll conducted by Market and Media Research, 55% said they will be putting up an…
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Probability For A White Christmas High
If the Icelandic Met Office is to be believed (grain of salt and all that) we can expect a white Christmas across Iceland, reports Vísir. It has hardly escaped anyone’s attention that today has been warmer than lately, but this is not…
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‘Tis The Season: Ten Christmas Menus Worth Writing Home About
As Christmas approaches, it seems like every restaurant in Reykjavík is posting appetising Instagram pictures of their special seasonal menus. The most common approach is to compile updated versions of reassuring Icelandic Christmas food staples like smoked lamb, pickled herring, cabbage, rye…
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Don’t Ask Nanna: To Write You A Poem, No Really
Hey Nanna, I’ve read that there’s a deep cultural history in Iceland for writing poems. Would you write me a poem about Iceland? Poet Laureate OK Poet Laureate, I don’t know what you’ve heard but only cool young women and grumpy old…
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Merry Orange-Malted Salmon: A Visit To The Latest In A Long Line Of Basements
Matarkjallarinn sits nestled in the cosy basement of Aðalstræti 2, a 160-year-old building in the heart of downtown Reykjavík. Prior to Matarkjallarinn, it housed a branch of the Akureyri-based steak and sushi joint Rub 23, but is most readily associated with Sjávarkjallarinn,…
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Christmas Is A Lie
Like parents all over the world, I spent my December this year spinning an elaborate web of deception. I am a two-faced swindler who in the same breath tells my six year old daughter that it is wrong to lie and that,…
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Lost Envelope Full Of Cash Returned To Rightful Owner
A large amount of money found in an envelope at Keflavík International Airport has found its way back to its original owner. The Suðurnes Police, who in part oversee the airport, posted on Facebook on Christmas Eve that they had found “a…