what have we won
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What Have We Won?: Iceland Smites The Panama Papers!
Ever seen ‘Scarface’? Fantastic film, right? Well, imagine that for every minute of that 170-minute movie featuring guns, mountains of cocaine, and greed, a real life greedy Icelander was there, making bank, stacking it up and burying their face in it, before…
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What Have We Won?: The 4th Happiest Country, Baby!
Iceland has the second-highest rate of antidepressant use worldwide, so it’s no surprise that they were also recently named the fourth happiest place on Earth, according to the World Happiness Report, which ranks overall satisfaction based on a country’s GDP, available social…
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What Have We Won? More Gin More Grins
Just this February, Icelandic gin came out of the shadows. Emerging proudly, bare chested, banging on pots and pans in woollen sweaters, they smugly howled, “HÚH bitches, I’m here to stay!” While that particular sentence might be an alternative fact, the gin—Old…
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What Have We Won?: Valhalla’s Kitchen
On November 26th, Iceland proved to the world once and for all that their cuisine is way more than just fermented shark and firm yoghurt. With one hot meal, the country shook the world, wowing tastebuds internationally and grabbing the gold medal…
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What Have We Won?: The Hardest Race In The World
None of us here at the Grapevine can run 1 km without thinking we will die. We’re a collection of drinkers, smokers, couch potatoes and DJs—not the most athletic bunch around. So, when we heard that Elísabet Margeirsdóttir won the women’s division…
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What Have We Won?: Chocolate, Bitch
The Grapevine has always been hardcore into Omnom chocolate. Just look at our past shopping and gift guides or our 2015 Grapevine Design Awards, where their packaging won first place. We are, therefore, understandably very happy to admit that once again, we…
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What Have We Won?: World’s Greatest Record Store
If you trust viral listicles and industry insider books—and who wouldn’t—then trust and believe local record shop 12 Tónar is the world’s greatest record store. Sit down Amoeba Records! OTT grooviness The accolade was given by self-described ‘journalist and crate-digger’ Marcus Barnes,…
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What Have We Won?: Aerials All Around!
How do you feel about rhinestones? Tight ponytails? Older Russian coaches? If you just yelled, “YES!” Well, have we—or rather, Iceland—got the sport for you. Better than the Olympics In 2010 and 2012, Iceland’s women’s team took home gold in the European…
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What Have We Won?—Number One For Chlamydia
The clam. The myds. The Reykjavík Handshake. All of these are terms you can use to describe chlamydia, one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world. Iceland distinguishes itself in having the highest rate of chlamydia in the world—about…
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What Have We Won?: Overwatch Us Shine!
There are two sentences which strike disappointment into the heart of all parents. “I really think my mixtape is gonna go viral,” is the first. Shudder! The second though, is even more jaw-droppingly horrific. Your child sits you down. “Hey Mom,” they…
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![What Have We Won?: The Smiter Of The Score Sheet [Checkmate, World]](https://grapevine.is/wp-content/uploads/img2671.jpg)
What Have We Won?: The Smiter Of The Score Sheet [Checkmate, World]
Chess is not for wimps. Tactical plays, shocking openings, endgame calculations, referential moves—chess is to drama what football is to faked injuries. While cretins might think that notorious anti-semite Bobby Fischer is the strongest connection Iceland has to those fated knights and…
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What Have We Won?: The Wedding Planner (Iceland Edition)
Wedding planning may not require burpees, but it certainly involves sweat, tears and potentially even blood—especially if you have a terrible MIL involved. Seriously, the fact that any wedding at all goes off without a noticeable hitch is a testament not only…
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What Have We Won?: Middle-Distance Running!
While Iceland’s success in the area of javelin throwing might not come as a big surprise—considering their Viking past of throwing sharp objects—their abilities in running away shouldn’t be underestimated. 22-year old runner Aníta Hinriksdóttir first gained national attention when she emerged…
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What Have We Won?: Gender Equality! Ok, Not Quite…
Iceland has been placed first in the Global Gender Gap Report not once, but nine times. The report, which is published annually by the World Economic Forum, measures the gender gap in the areas of economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health…
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What Have We Won?: An Oscar (Nomination)
Have you ever confused ‘The Green Mile’ with ‘8 Mile’? ‘10 Years A Slave’ with ‘10,000 BC’? Yes, pretending to be a film intellectual is hard, especially in Iceland, where there’s only one movie theatre dedicated to the more chichi side of…
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What Have We Won?: One Muthafuckin’ Michelin Star
Iceland has never been known for its culinary prowess. Let’s be frank, when most foreigners think of Icelandic ‘matur’—that’s food in Icelandic for all you idiots—they probably think of acidic piss-soaked shark meat and bleeding sheep heads. Most don’t expect a superb…
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What Have We Won?: Paralympics Domination
The Paralympics are the sister sporting event to the Olympics where high-level athletes with physical disabilities can show their stuff. It’s an intense competition. Seriously, try and watch para ice hockey without being like, holy shit this is extraordinary. Iceland has won…
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What Have We Won?: World’s Strongest Man
Some people like kayaking. Some opt for doing cartwheels. Others enjoy badminton or throwing javelins. Then, of course, there are those select few who prefer to get their adrenaline endorphins from picking up things and immediately putting them down. Enter the few,…
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What Have We Won?: 2008 Handball Olympic Silver
“Great moments are born from great opportunity,” Guðmundur Guðmundsson, the head coach of the Icelandic Olympic Handball team, was recorded as saying in the locker room before the 2008 Olympic finals game against France. “And that’s what you have here tonight, boys.…
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What Have We Won?: Miss World Triple Crown
There are some countries renowned for their culinary expertise, others for their proclivity to take to the barricades, and even others for their ability to elect reality show hosts to office. Iceland, meanwhile, has a more sparkly reputation, full of big hair,…
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What Have We Won?: The European Yo-yo Championships
There are many sports not given the coverage they deserve—oh, so we only care about curling once every four years? Bullshit. That said, the lack of focus on yo-yoing is probably the most egregious. Action packed, intensely difficult, involving a beloved childhood…
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What Have We Won?: Jóhanna Guðrún’s Second Place Triumph
In a previous Grapevine article, British journalist and unabashed Eurovision-obsessé Joanna Smith described Eurovision as, “The time of year when half the population of Europe goes crazy—flag-waving, song-singing, chaos-inducing crazy—and the other half wants everyone to know that they don’t even care…
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What Have We Won?: The 1991 Bermuda Bowl
While Iceland is known worldwide for being good at things like bizarre music, waterfalls, and banking fraud, the country has never really, until recently, made headlines for their sporting finesse. Sure, the 2016 Euros gave the country some pizzazz, but foreigners—and Icelanders,…