Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.06.2010, Qupperneq 16

www.inspiredbyiceland.is
OOd NEWS
We are generally inspired by Iceland and the stuff going on here. We wanted to bring y'all the good news
happening in our fair country and why we love living here.
G R A P E V I N E
SHOWS SOME LOVE
A buncha stuff we thought we’d love on
Havarí,
Austurstræti
They regularly host live music,
and often serve free wine to
go with it. This is very, very
commendable behaviour.
Furthermore, Útúrdúr’s
selection of art books is
excellent to browse through
while listening to the live music
and partaking in a plastic glass
of box wine.
Noodle Station
Skólavörðustígur
Hell yeah. Two flavours, 850 ISK
and a whole lotta awesome.
GUS GUS
While their last album was a
tad too depressing for crazy
dancefloor spaz-outs, it was
still really good. And it lasts
remarkably well. If you haven’t
yet blasted Add This Song in
your headphones with your
eyes closed, go try it right now.

Kaffibarinn,
Bergstaðastræti
It does what it does, and what it
does ain’t failed us yet, damnit.
Name: Ellen
Strömme and
Mari Lillejord
Hometown:
Oslo
“It was my
granddaughter’s
idea to go to
Iceland; it was
the only place
wanted to visit. She has heard very
much about the Blue Lagoon. We were
there yesterday, after our flight. It was
wonderful. Today we have seen the city.
[Mari speaks to her grandmother in
Norwegian.] And the church, she tells
me. She has taken many, many pictures
of the church.
It’s very beautiful, isn’t it?
E: Very beautiful. And also some very
different architecture from what we
have in Norway. The Perlan building
was very fantastic. And the view from
there. [Asking Mari]: Did you like the
view? Yes, she likes the view. Tomorrow
we are going on an eight hour trip, the
Golden Circle and the continental rift.
So she’s going to America tomorrow!”
Name: Claudia & Juan Hernandez
Country: Mexico
“We have
walked around
downtown. I really
like the weather,
the people. When
we took the
decision to come
to Iceland it was
because Iceland
is a country
without delinquency problems. There
is a ranking around the world about
what are they countries with the least
problems. My surprise was that Iceland
is the 3rd place.
What will you be doing on your
trip?
J: We plan to go to Gullfoss, Selfoss,
Landmannalaugar. That's the original
places we thought about. I'd like to
visit the volcano, Eyjafjallajökull. I
really like the people. When we made
the decision to come here, we were
thinking about some other countries
to visit as well, but we have the opinion
that Nordic people are very interesting.
They are very inexpressive people but
their heart is with us.”
Name: Mark and
Laura Pauls
Hometown:
Winnipeg
“We really had
no idea what
to expect at all.
We’ve done a lot
of the galleries.
The one that
we like best so far was the National
Museum. It was tremendous. That was
incredible. The building itself was really
impressive. And I guess the Icelanders
are really into sculpture, because there
are so many museums dedicated to
sculpture.
Public sculpture too!
M: Yeah, that too. And the cafés here
are amazing. We’ve hardly seen any
North American chains, except for
Subway.”
Name: Spencer
& Jennifer Arne
Hometown:
Chicago
“We're renting
a car tomorrow
and driving to
Akureyri. We're
just going to be
up there for the
weekend and driving back here on
Monday afternoon and our flight is
Tuesday afternoon back to the US.
Jennifer: We're on our honeymoon.”
What a great place to spend it!
What made you chose Iceland?
S: Kind of a random shot pretty much.
J: We booked it before the volcano
[laughs].
S: We're actually wishing the volcano
is still going, so we can get a good tour
of it.
What do you think of Reykjavík?
J: It is SO clean. You come from a lot
of the cities in the US where it’s really
dirty and you just kind of get used to
that, but Reykjavík is gorgeous and
immaculate.
S: You don't have to worry about crime
here either. You feel very safe.
What are you excited to see
between here and Akureyri?
J: I want to see the puffins. They are so
cute, and you see them in all the stores.
I want to see if they are as cute in the
wild.
Names: Marieke van Buren
and Johan de Rooý
Country: Netherlands
We always wanted to go here.
Marieke: We’ve wanted to see
Iceland, for years. And now
we finally get a chance to go
here. We just came back from
whale watching. We saw a lot of
whales! We were lucky.
Tourists On The Street I Am Never drinking
Again!
How to overcome the hangover
promise that none of us keep
We stopped to interview some lucky tourists on the street to see
why they chose to visit Iceland. The following people graciously
complied to dish out the details of their trip.
The waterslide at
Laugardalslaug
swimming pool
It’s crazy, that slide. It starts
off all intense, with a couple of
bendy, swirly parts, before you
descend into total and scary
darkness. Then some sorta light
show starts up. Waterslides
are always awesome, this one
especially so.
Lucky Records
Hverfisgata
Reykjavík was practically
begging for a store that sold
used CDs and vinyl and other
assorted music paraphernalia.
Lucky Records is that store –
go get lost in there right now.

Age limit: 22
www.facebook.com/kaffibarinn
You’ve said it. I’ve said it. We’ve all
fucking said it. But let’s face it; we
are both drinking a cold one right
now. There is nothing worse than
a horrible hangover though, and
we’ve all had those nights where
we had one or seventeen too many
shots of Opal or Brennivín after
already too many beers. It was
probably an awesome night (what
we can remember), but the next
day was harsh. Here are a few
sure-fire Icelandic-style remedies
that will set you straight before
tonight’s party.
Kristall Plús
Much like ginger ale, this
deliciously fizzy drink has
marvellous effects on upset
tummies after you’ve done
unsightly damage to it with alcohol.
Available almost everywhere,
it comes in a wide variety of
awesome flavours like Mexican lime
and blood orange, which of course
sound really appetizing when you‘re
recovering from the dry heaves.
But seriously, it’s magical. It’s great
with a bit of orange juice and
boosted up with Treo, a caffeinated,
effervescent pain-killer tablet.
Hot tubbing
This one is a classic. Hitting up
the pool after a serious night of
destroying oneself is as Icelandic
as buttering your dried fish. For
some locals, it’s the ONLY time
they ever go to the pool. Wait wait.
I don’t mean pool as in going to do
laps. I mean go sit in one of those
marvellously steaming heated tubs
of geothermal water while basking
in the sunshine, replenishing your
weakened body with vitamin D and
hydration. With three awesome
pools in Reykjavík proper at 360 ISK
per visit, it’s also hella convenient.
Sweaty food
English-speaking countries usually
refer to this as “greasy food”, but
Iceland has gone and made up an
even grosser sounding term for
the life-saving nourishment of the
booze-hound—heavy, starchy meals
cooked in loads of oil. A few good
options: the Forget-Me-Not burger
at Vitabar on Vitastígur; Nonnabiti
“boats” (subs) on Hafnarstræti;
the Truck breakfast and Bruce
Willis shake at Prikið; pylsur, pylsur,
pylsur.
Go for a hike
Sometimes it’s just good to get
in a car and drive a few minutes
out of town to a nice, remote hill
where you can stretch your legs
and move around a bit. A great
spot to go is the Reykjadalur
valley in Hveragerði, roughly 30
minutes away from Reykjavík.
It’s a gorgeous area with views
onto the south coast and as you
hike down further into the valley,
you eventually meet a natural
hot-stream where a boiling and a
freezing river meet. You know what
that means? Skinny dipping.
Sleep
Duh. Close the curtains and go
back to bed, drunky!
By Rebecca Louder