holidays
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Feast Like An Icelander, Holiday Edition
Taking a look at Icelandic holiday staples So, you wanna feast like an Icelander? I hope those pants you’re wearing are loose fit because after this, you’ll be so sad that you’ll spring. A traditional Icelandic Christmas meal, eaten and celebrated on…
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Grapevine New Music: Múr, Talos Feat. Atli Örvarsson, & The Christmas Omnibus
We here at the Grapevine believe in healthy balance. So, in honour of that philosophy, we present you with this Friday’s picks, which include the healthy balance of black metal, electronica and a shitload of Christmas releases. Don’t hate us, it’s just…
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Getting Ready For Jesus’ Birthday Party
Let the Christmas spirit fill the hollow inside Unless you live in a cave, it’s hard to avoid Christmas. Whether you affiliate with any religion or not, at some point, you’ll find yourself face-to-face with festive window displays, a crazy variety of…
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One Company Sells Up To 800,000 Disks Of “Laufabrauð” Each Year
Gæðabakstur, perhaps best known to our readers as the bakers who provide renowned hot dog vendors Bæjarins Bestu with their buns, has one business that consistently does well every year: laufabrauð. [su_pullquote]Need a Christmas present pronto? Get the Iceland lover in your…
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Wow! Quirky Things Iceland Does Over Christmas
Although Icelandic Christmas traditions are often very similar to others in the western world, there are still some differences, quirks and oddities here and there. Many go back to our early Pagan society, but really that’s for your interpretation! We think all…
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This Is How The Buses Are Driving Over The Holidays
Not all of us own a car, but many of us have places to go. For such people, the municipal bus service (Strætó) exists, which also covers transport services for the disabled and the elderly. As the holiday season is upon us,…
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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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Priests Support Change In Law On Holidays
The Society of Priests in Iceland believe it is time for the law to reflect “modern society” where Christian holidays are concerned. A bill submitted to parliament last March would change Iceland’s current laws about working and operating a business on Easter…
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Still Plenty To Do Over Easter
If you were worried that the five-day Easter holiday will limit your choices of things to do this weekend, worry no more. The Easter holiday in Iceland begins today and will not end until Tuesday. As such, bus service, bar opening hours…
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Time To Get Your Eat On: It’s Bolludagur
If you’re a fan of whipped cream, puffed pastries and jam, we have the holiday for you. Today marks the first day in the holy trinity of Icelandic holidays, Bolludagur, or Cream Puff Day. On this day, which is held three days…
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Union Official Wants To Change Law On Holiday Closings
A union official believes employers should decide if they want to close up on certain holidays or remain open, and make their own contracts with their employees to that effect. By Icelandic law, designated holidays from the National Church – including Christmas…
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Schoolkids’ Peace Display “Anti-Christian”, Says Religious Scholar
One school’s decision to form a giant human peace symbol and sing the Icelandic translation of John Lennon’s “Imagine” has brought sharp criticism from a theologian, who accused the school of “sending a clear and negative message about the church, Christianity and…
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Celebrating Yr. Xpat Xmas Away From Home: A GUIDE
So you moved to Iceland and you’re about to celebrate that most popular of Christianity-based holidays—and for some reason, this year you’re not making the trip home to attend your traditional celebrations! Oy gevalt! Maybe this is a lump of coal in…
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Dirty Holidaze
December is by far the darkest and spookiest month. It is also the booziest, by far. The overwhelming joy one often associates with the annual Christmas frenzy increases the longing for a nightcap, the fright that correlates with mass expenditures in gifts…
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DESCENDING INTO FOOD-A-GEDDON
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads. And their teeny-tiny bellies rumbled all fill’d with seven kinds of animals kill’d and smoked, salted, cured, canned, hung, dried, buried, beaten, signed, sealed, delivered,…
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Wanted: The Icelandic Christmas Mood
When they stop stacking the Rjómi (heavy cream) neatly on the supermarket shelves, you know Christmas is just around the corner. The Rjómi hasn’t disappeared though. Entering the walk-in cooler (don’t forget your jacket!) you’ll see a huge container spilling over with…
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BREAKING: No Butter Shortage This Christmas
Icelandic dairy producer, Mjólkursamsalan (MS Iceland Dairies), has confirmed that there will be no shortage of butter at supermarkets this upcoming holiday season, reports RÚV. Last year, in the wake of a potentially crippling butter shortage, MS Iceland Dairies was forced to…
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Parliament Called To Stop Strike
An emergency meeting of parliament has been called in order to impose a law stopping air mechanics from going on strike over their collective bargaining negotiations, reports RÚV. Air mechanics held a 24 hour work stoppage on Monday and plan to go on strike again…
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Thirteen Things About Þrettándinn
Often known as the Twelfth Night in the English-speaking Christian world, Þrettándinn (directly translated as “the thirteenth”) marks the end of Iceland’s epic Christmas season. The last of 13 straight days of Christmas merry-making, January 6th is the season’s last gasp—and not…
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Happy First Day Of Summer!
Today is the first day of summer and you may be wondering what that means, it is April after all. Contrary to what you might imagine, it’s not a sardonic meme that everyone picked up on simultaneously after the sudden snow at…
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VIDEO! Special Rotted Skate Special!
Your friends at The Reykjavík Grapevine sure love them some fermented skate. We dropped in at a rotten lunch party earlier and got the skinny on skate from a verified skate expert. https://youtube.com/watch?v=7YP2vqmdaQE%3Ffs%3D1%26hl%3Den_US As you will probably know, today is December 23rd,…