Reader Letters: An American Reader Returns After 15 Years

Dear Grapevine,

I visited your lovely island back in ’99 and there weren’t that many menus in English, let alone shopkeepers who were willing to engage in my native tongue of English, whether they spoke it or not. I found it interesting that most prices were in increments of $5 & $10.

Flash forward 17 years and one #MyStopover promotion and you can’t spit in the Old Town without hitting a witty joke on a restaurant facade. My wife and I are visiting from Alaska and figured out your exchange rate on our first day after I paid $22 for a white russian at Lebowski bar.

However, we arrived just in time for the Grapevine’s “Best of Reykjavik” to hit the streets. Perfect. Guilt free pulled pork at Kaffi Vinyl? Check. French Onion Soup and a killer G&T at Snaps? Copy. Fill up our fridge with ham, cheese, and nuts from Bonus? Roger.

But even more important intel, how to truly stretch your Krona? Happy hour. It takes a rich guy to get drunk in this town, but not if you play your cards right. So, foreigners, here’s your happy hour tip: go to Kaffibarrin 15:00-20:00; Loft Hostel 16:00-19:00; Hurra 18:00-21:00, Bjarni Fel 21:00-23:00.

Thank you Grapevine, I wouldn’t have this hangover today if it wasn’t for your pioneering research in this field. Cheers!

Brian MacMillan & Dalena Small

(Ps. As people who also live in a tourist destination, we can sympathise. Have patience and smile, they’re only here for a minute.)

Dearest Brian,

Wow, that’s quite a pub crawl you went on. Smashing down bargain pints from 3pm until 11pm? Good job. Funny thing is, as you may have noticed, drinking culture in Iceland is a bit different from the US and the UK. People often go out around midnight, especially on the weekend. It can be hard to get used to: when an English person from London might be pretty wasted and getting the last tube home, Reykjavík is just getting warmed up.

But yeah, if you’re on a budget, Happy Hours are a gift from the gods (of alcohol), that’s for sure. As well as our Appy Hour app, we at the Grapevine also now have our free Appening app in the iTunes and Android store, so after you’ve rinsed the Happy Hours, you can see what bands and DJs are playing around Reykjavík.

And we’re glad you found the Best of Reykjavík useful! The 2017 edition is dropping soon. It’ll be free on the streets of Reykjavík, but we’ll put it up for sale at shop.grapevine.is for those who wanna plan their next trip, or just stay on top of what’s going on.

Skál!

Your Friends at The Reykjavík Grapevine

Send us a letter at letters@grapevine.is.