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Author Archives: valgeir

Helga Kvam was here

Meet Helga Kvam, a one–woman, one–camera tourist board. If you’re looking for pictures of Iceland on Flickr, chances are that sooner than later you’ll run into Helga Kvam, a music teacher living in Svalbarðsströnd, north of Akureyri. Why? Because she takes lots and lots of stunningly beautiful photos of Iceland. And we’re not the only [...]

18 October 2006 – 2:16 | Posted in Helga Kvam, iceland, nature, northern iceland, people, photography | Comments (10)

From 14 CET on Tuesday: More cheap flights to Iceland

Attention shoppers: Iceland Express is releasing 20,000 seats to and from Iceland, for £69 (or €99) including taxes and charges. On sale from: Tuesday, 17 October, 14 CET (that’s 1 pm British Time), for three days. Flight Period: 18 October to 30 November 2006 All Iceland Express Routes: To Iceland and back, from London Stansted, [...]

16 October 2006 – 21:19 | Posted in cheap flights to iceland, iceland | Comments (5)

Sirkus: Hold the soleil

Crowded, chaotic, unpredictable and fun, Sirkus is a Reykjavík bar that’s more than the sum of its dilapidated parts. Sirkus is a rather improbable place. For starters, the fact that it’s still there at all is surprising in itself. This charmingly squalid, colourful and ramshackle little Reykjavík bar looks like it might have collapsed by [...]

15 October 2006 – 1:13 | Posted in 101, Bars in Iceland, clubs, DJs, drinking, nightlife, reykjavik, sirkus | Comments (10)

Something for the Weekend: Highbrow Edition

A round up of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, prepared by your good-looking and oh-so culturally minded editors. He’s back! Former General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Pizza Hut fan, Mikhail Gorbachev is back in Iceland this weekend. No Ronald Reagan this time, just a lot of [...]

12 October 2006 – 13:32 | Posted in 101, Bars in Iceland, concerts, events, iceland, Iceland Dance Company, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Icelandic bands, icelandic music, Jón Leifs, nightlife, Reykjavík City Theatre, Skakkamanage | Comments (0)

Coming up, some pretty cheap flights to Iceland

From 14 CET (1 pm British Time) tomorrow, Monday, Iceland Express is offering 2,990 seats to and from Iceland, from 25 pounds (35 euros) plus taxes and charges. On sale from: Monday, 9 October, 12.00 (14 CET, 1 pm British Time) Flight Period: 10 October to 15 December 2006 Routes: All Iceland Express routes. Price: [...]

8 October 2006 – 19:25 | Posted in cheap flights to iceland, iceland | Comments (6)

Skyr: the traditional Icelandic food for people who don’t like pickled ram’s testicles

Some say skyr is the new tiramisu. We say it’s traditional food that might actually be edible. Thick enough to stand a spoon in, skyr is a protein–filled dairy product, sort of like yogurt (except not really). What they don’t tell you, is that it’s often full of sugar as well, depending on the flavour. [...]

2 October 2006 – 16:43 | Posted in food, iceland, skyr | Comments (14)

Icelandic Music 101: Amiina

Here is a pretty long clip we found of quartet Amiina (formerly know as Amina) performing on Icelandic TV about a year ago. Mostly music, but also some talk in Icelandic. If you happen to be in London on 18 October, you can catch them at the Arts Theatre [map]. They’ll also be in Paris, [...]

1 October 2006 – 10:18 | Posted in iceland, icelandic music, music | Comments (4)

If it’s Thursday, this must be Something for the Weekend

A roundup of things to do in Reykjavík this weekend, prepared by your lovely and very well connected editors. Krzyztof Penderecki conducts the Iceland Symphony Orchestra tonight, playing Beethoven and himself, with soloist Florian Uhlig. Play the funky music, Krzyztof. The Reykjavik Jazz Festival is in full, er, swing. If you can bear to wake [...]

28 September 2006 – 13:07 | Posted in events, Festivals, iceland, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, music, Reykjavík International Film Festival, Reykjavík Jazz Festival, reykjavik, Visual Arts | Comments (0)

Andri Snær Magnason cements status as Reykjavík’s Prince of Darkness

Courtesy of an Icelandic author, some of the biggest stars in the world can be seen in Reykjavík on Thursday night. For years, Andri Snær Magnason has been asking Reykjavík city authorities to turn off the street lights for a few hours. If all goes well, this Thursday night he’ll finally get his way. Andri [...]

27 September 2006 – 19:11 | Posted in events, iceland, múm, people, reykjavik | Comments (2)

Some good old-fashioned Icelandic music, baby: Múm

Here’s a golden oldie for you, múm‘s Ballad of the Broken Birdie Records (ruxpin remix II). múm: Official Site | Fansite | MySpace | Last.fm

26 September 2006 – 3:39 | Posted in icelandic music, múm, music | Comments (2)

Now you see it, now you don’t

At Kárahnjúkar they give a dam. According to some tree-hugging hippies, the twin mountains of Kárahnjúkar in the north-east of Iceland are some of the most beautiful examples of the Icelandic Highlands. However, according to some cold-blooded technocrats, they are also the best place for an absolutely massive dam project. The technocrats are winning. The [...]

23 September 2006 – 15:43 | Posted in eastern iceland, hiking, nature | Comments (0)

Iceland’s highest waterfall is falling for you

At 196 metres, we think Glymur should get some more respect. Once upon a time, Glymur, the highest waterfall in Iceland, was a pretty popular destination. Not surprisingly, given that it takes less than an hour to drive from Reykjavík to the bottom of Hvalfjörður where you start your hike. But guess what. Something happened [...]

23 September 2006 – 15:29 | Posted in Adventure in Iceland, hiking, iceland, nature, southern iceland | Comments (2)

Kaffibarinn: Less coffee, more bar

Kaffibarinn is the granddaddy of Reykjavík bars/clubs. Featured prominently in a gazillion guidebooks and magazine articles over the years, Kaffibarinn is probably the best known bar in the universe Reykjavík. Founded back in the early nineties by some really, really fun people whose names escape us, this Reykjavík institution featured prominently in a little film [...]

21 September 2006 – 15:13 | Posted in 101, Bars in Iceland, clubs, drinking, iceland, nightlife, reykjavik | Comments (9)

See, here’s the Thing

Thingvellir, the site of Iceland’s ancient parliament, is where the Thing-Men used to hang out at the Law Rock. And no, we’re not talking about action heroes or comic books. We can’t think of a better subject for the second post of this blog on matters Icelandic than the place where some of the most [...]

18 September 2006 – 2:52 | Posted in iceland, nature, southern iceland, thingvellir | Comments (4)

How do you like Iceland?

In which we welcome you, dear reader, to our new blog about Iceland and explain how we have Ringo Starr to thank for its name. Way back in 1983 or 1984, our favourite Beatle (a former drummer, like our CEO) had barely stepped out of his private jet at Reykjavík airport when the burning question [...]

16 September 2006 – 20:03 | Posted in drummers, meta | Comments (3)