Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2013, Page 16

The Sweat
Lodge
Best Of Reykjavík
Best Spiritual
Experience
That Post-Christiania Gay
Hippie Astronomy Vibe
Things They Like
At least, let me tell you this: Heiðar and Non-
ni—an on-or-off couple according to whose
gossip you’re paying attention to—‘imported’
a native American some twenty years ago
who served as their mentor in the traditions,
songs and preparations of native tribes when
it comes to cleansing the spirit through elon-
gated periods of sweating and chanting in to-
tal darkness. They then built a mud-igloo of
sorts in their backyard, which luckily happens
to be the best green area in Reykjavík—El-
liðaárdalur—and now they regularly welcome
groups of people there for extended seven
hour sweat sessions. Think red hot glowing
rocks, aromatic oils and chanting. Also, rab-
bits constantly roam their property and shit all
over the place.
For people steeped in Christianity, even
just the prayer at the outset of each session,
where we address the East and the West and
the North and the South and thank Mother
Earth and Father Sky, is pretty awesome. Did I
mention that you’re already wearing coloured
sunglasses at this point because Heiðar and
Nonni know that gazing into the fire with tint-
ed shades on is miles beyond cool? The co-
lours! That pink!
The sunglasses are only one of the post-
Christiania gay hippie astronomy twists that
Heiðar and Nonni put on the whole thing—
their sweat lodge is definitely a frontrunner
for most postmodern phenomenon in Reyk-
javík whatever way you look at it. Disclosing
exactly what that means or describing it in
detail would ruin the surprise (don’t worry,
there’s no nudity nor butt-banging nor drugs
involved, not on a regular basis anyway) but
I’ll just say that no one from my group has ever
left unsatisfied and I’ve been three times.
They claim that they have had babies as
young as a few months (why would they need
to cleanse their spirit though?) and people on
the brink of ninety in sessions. Somebody told
me that sweating is really popular on New
Year’s Eve. I know some people go for a ses-
sion almost every week. Others come from
weird families and grow up on this stuff. I went
for my birthday with a bunch of my friends
and it was great. But all I really know is that a
session is never the same but then again it’s
always the same because every time is awe-
some. Atli Bollason
Even just trying to put the sensation of visiting the sweat lodge in Elliðaárdalur
down on paper seems an exercise in futility; I don’t think words could ever quite
mediate the scale of physical and mental effects experienced during a session.
Nanna Dís
Sölvi Tryggvason
Host of TV show ‘Málið’
My favourite swimming pool is Laugar-
dalslaug. I grew up in the neighbourhood and
have a lot of good memories from the pool.
I have a lot of favourite cafés, but I’ve al-
ways liked Mokka on Skólavörðustígur the
most. My mother took me there as an infant,
so I was taking in the atmosphere whilst being
breastfed.
And on those sunny days, Laugardalur and
Grótta are my favourite places for a walk.
Teitur Magnússon
Singer of Ojba Rasta
Hólavallargarður cemetery is a great place to
go and relax, look around, connect with the
past and the old spirits. It’s also a good place
to have a nap after a night out.
Hemmi og Valdi and Faktorý by Hljómalind
square and Nasa by the parliamentary square
were great places to go, but now they are be-
ing torn down to build hotels. They were all
very aesthetically pleasing and played a big
part of the musical history of the nation. There
was something exquisite and beautiful about
enjoying live music in these old houses.
The Einar Jónsson Museum is a wonder-
ful sculpture park in the centre of town. It’s
a haven filled with majestic statues, offering
peace of mind. Einar, this idol, built himself an
epic house in a great location. It is just by Hall-
grímskirkja, and it’s got a very phallic vibe.
Benedikt Erlingsson
Actor and director
I believe Reykjavík is an incredibly ugly
city! The breath-taking view of Laugarnes is
blocked by concrete walls, which is an abso-
lute architectural disaster. It’s so bad that I
spent a lot of my younger years looking for
places of beauty, and the closest I came to
it was the streets of the Þingholt district in
downtown Reykjavík. Walking down Laufás-
vegur there allows you to pretend for just a
second that you are in a European city with a
rich cultural history.
Otherwise, I like to start my mornings at
the Kaffifélag by Skólavörðustígur. It’s like a
Greek men’s club—the men sip coffee in the
morning whilst their women are working. We
like staring at tourists passing by, and occa-
sionally we let them take pictures of us artists
sitting there.
The Hljómskálagarðurinn public park is
a great place to go fencing with sticks from
the birch trees, pretending to be a Viking. On
warm days it’s the perfect place to be, and oc-
casionally you’ll run into lovers tumbling in
the grass by the “Lovers” statue.
As rental stores disappear in Iceland
and all over the world, the video rental
Aðalvídeóleigan on Klapparstígur remains a
real treasure of a place where you can find just
about everything.
Dóri DNA
Rapper
I’m not the same party animal as I used to be
back in the day, and I really don’t give a shit
about the downtown nightlife scene. Having
just moved to the city centre though, I do love
City Hall, the whole of Tjarnargata and Suður-
gata streets, and the Hljómskálagarður public
park with its view over the Vatnsmýri swamp.
All of these places really form the heart of
Reykjavík for me.
Kjartan Yngvi Björnsson
Author
Despite the prevalent Icelandic distrust of cul-
ture and the much too common anti-cultural
snobbery, I have to say that my favourite
thing about Reykjavík is the creative scene. So
many people here are doing so many exciting
things, and sometimes the city buzzes so vi-
brantly that it almost hums. There is always
something new going on either in literature,
music, theatre or other disciplines of art. It
really is quite invigorating and inspiring, so
keep an eye out for exhibits, publications and
concerts—chances are you'll discover some-
thing new and exciting. For example, a new
and exciting publishing house called Tunglið
forlag just started up in Reykjavík and the
regular art festival, Lókal, is back in August.
Check them out.
Svavar Knútur
Folk singer
Víkin Maritime Museum and its attached café
is one of my very favourite places in Reykja-
vík. In today’s debate about music venues be-
ing shut down, we often neglect to talk about
new places opening up. It’s a really fun place
to host a concert, and it’s got the best view
in the whole of Reykjavík. The coffee is really
good, too.
Hemmi og Valdi was also a great place to
watch a new amateur artist take his or her first
steps into the live music scene, and I always
got more kicks out of seeing them than some-
body famous. It was also a great place to meet
up with friends.
Ágústa Eva
Actress
I really enjoy the sports club Mjölnir. The at-
mosphere is great, you are surrounded by
fun people and it’s the perfect place to train
both body and soul. Just being there takes the
pressure off everything else and gives you
a lot of energy. Then there are always social
events and parties happening.
by Tómas Gabríel Benjamin
16The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 9 — 2013