Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2013, Blaðsíða 27

ACTIVITIES
AND
FUN-TIMES
Best Pool
LAUGARDALSLAUG
Oh, we know, we know! Everyone has
such strong opinions about their local
pool and fights for their sundlaug to
the death, so people generally furious
and defensive about this category.
Through all the myriad opinions and
local favouritisms, Laugardalslaug
still manages to shine through like
a beacon of watery pool good-
ness, especially since their exten-
sive revamp that’s still in process.
This pool literally has it all – fun and
games, relaxation and leisure, exer-
cise pools, therapeutic hot tubs and
sports facilities. This place is so icon-
ic, too; a must-go for any visitor.
2012: Laugardalslaug
2011: Neslaug
2010: Laugardalslaug
2009: Laugardalslaug
Sundlaugavegur 30
Best Museum
THE NATIONAL
MUSEUM
There are so many curiosities about
Icelandic culture, art and history
that have been focused on in other
museums around town, but this one
has neatly condensed it all into one
awesome building. We were totally
on board to give it this honour as
it’s one of those places that kind of
blends into the landscape, but when
you go for a visit, you remember
how fucking cool this country is. The
permanent collection is impeccably
displayed and is full of hidden gems
(look up, look down) and their tempo-
rary exhibits are state of the art. Plus,
they turned 150 this year! Top THAT!
2012: The National Museum
2011: The National Museum
2010: Þjóðmenningarhúsið
Suðurgata 41
Best Gallery
I8 GALLERY
In terms of the sheer level of success
and popularity of a gallery’s artists,
i8 is unquestionably leagues beyond
the rest. They represent people like
Ólafur Elíasson, Ragnar Kjartans-
son, Elín Hansdóttir and Sigurður
Guðmundsson and consistently
display work from top-notch inter-
national artists as well. Their space
alone is great, being simple, stark and
spacious, allowing the exhibitions
to be unimpeded by structural bells
and whistles. Plus, going to an open-
ing there makes you feel so fucking
fancy!
2012: i8 Gallery
2011: i8 Gallery
2010: i8 Gallery
2009: Gallery Kling og Bang
Tryggvagata 16
Best Place to Spend
Time with Kids
FJÖLSKYLDU-
GARÐURINN
(THE FAMILY PARK)
Nestled right in the same spot as our
Best Place to Cheer Up (The Zoo), is
another super uplifting, fun place that
is pretty much unbeatable for enter-
taining the kiddies. Whether with
your own or babysitting someone
else’s, this activity park in Laugar-
dalur is chock full of fun shit to do:
a mega-huge trampoline to bounce
on, little go-kart dealies for kids to
speed around in, a small rollercoaster
for thrills and a generally awesome
playground. If your kids aren’t smil-
ing when they leave here, you need to
take them to the doctor.
2012: Lynghagaróló Playground
Múlavegur 2
Best Place to Spend
A Rainy Day
REYKJAVÍK ART
MUSEUM – HAFNARHÚS
This was hard to settle on because,
obviously, there are a fuckload of
rainy days here and “on my couch
watching movies!” wasn’t a valid
contender (although that is one of our
favourites). We had to agree that if
you had to be out of a rainy day, you’d
want to be dry, have lots to do and
maybe be able to get some refresh-
ments, all under one roof. Our winner
is one of those places that you basi-
cally want a minimum of three hours
in to take in the vast exhibits and
permanent collection by Erró. Mean-
while, you can also sit and read about
art in their little library or go upstairs
for a coffee and light lunch. Bring on
the rain!
2012: Bíó Paradís
2011: Bíó Paradís
2010: A hot tub
2009: Borgarbókasafnið
Tryggvagata 17
Best Place To Spend
A Sunny Day
NAUTHÓLSVÍK
You probably didn’t come to Iceland
to hang out at the beach. You prob-
ably would have picked a tropical
island if that’s what you were after.
That said, Nauthólvík is a pretty
awesome beach and it’s probably
the best place to spend a sunny day.
The water is warm thanks to the hot
geothermal water that gets pumped
into the ocean and the sand was
apparently imported from Morocco.
There’s also a great beachfront hot
tub there if it’s getting chilly.
2012: Hjartagarðurinn
Nauthólsvík
Best Biking Tour
NAUTHÓLSVÍK – ÁRBÆR
The City of Reykjavík is about
pour money into maintenance that
includes sprucing up streets, bike
routes, and public spaces before the
year is out. This promises good things
for those of who like to get around by
bike, as Reykjavík isn’t the most bike-
friendly of towns. Still, there are some
nice places to go for a ride and one of
these is a ride that starts at Nauthóls-
vík and takes you into Fossvogsdalur
and up to Árbær. It’s basically the
same Best Biking Tour as last year,
but this one goes even further, up to
the swimming pool. It’s a good one.
Bring your bathing suit. Even if you
don’t top it off with that swim, it’s a
pleasant ride mostly along the coast
and you hardly ever have to cross any
streets.
2012: Nauthólsvík - Fossvogsdalur
Nauthólsvík – Árbær
NEW: Best Place to
go to a Movie
BÍÓ PARADÍS
Bíó Paradís is hands down the best
place to go to a movie. This art house
theatre always seems to have some-
thing exciting going on with regular
festivals all year round. During the
summer they have a series called
‘Cool Cuts,’ featuring six Icelandic
films show with English subtitles.
This summer they are showing
‘White Night Wedding,’ Sigur Rós’
‘Heima,’ ‘Children of Nature,’ ‘Either
Way,’ ‘Backyard,’ and ‘Noi the Albino’
(read a review of this one elsewhere
in the issue). The theatre also has a
huge room with tables where you can
drink coffee or beer and play games
or catch the occasional concert.
Hverfisgata 54
Best Romantic Walk
GRÓTTA
There are really few walks as roman-
tic as the one to Grótta. An island at
the end of Seltjarnarnes, Grótta is
easily reachable by foot. As you get
further away from downtown Reyk-
javík, you won’t have anything to
distract you from appreciating each
other’s company (save for other
romantic couples maybe). DO NOTE:
The island is only reachable when the
tide is low, so watch your step lest
you get trapped by the lighthouse
(and wouldn’t that be inconvenient?
Being trapped on a beautiful remote
island with your lover… hmm…).
2012: Grótta
2011: Grasagarðurinn
2010: Sæbraut
2009: Öskjuhlíð
Grótta
Best Place To Go
For A Jog
ÆGISSÍÐA
Once again we’ve voted Ægissíða
best place to go for a jog. With the
ocean on one side and beautiful
houses on the other, this coastal path
in 107 Reykjavík is hard to beat. If
you’re not super hardcore about your
workout, you can stop along the way
to admire the old fishing station there
and read the information placards
about the area and its history. And,
like we said last year, if you’re feeling
really good, you can run all the way
to Nauthólsvík and take a dip in the
hot tub. See: “Best Place To Spend A
Sunny Day.”
Runner-up: Laugardalur, with its tree-
lined paths and footbridges, is also a
good option, especially if it’s a windy
day and you don’t like the wind.
2012: Ægissíða
2011: Laugardalur
2010: Laugardalur
2009: Elliðaárdalur
Ægissíða
Best Place To Enjoy
A Zen Moment
TJÖRNIN
It’s a common saying in zen practice
to “keep your mind like calm water.”
Since that is exactly what Tjörnin
(“The pond”) is (except on some of
the most astonishingly windy days),
it’s the perfect spot to accept what is
and feel relaxed and at peace. Those
ducks know what we’re talking about.
2012: Öskjuhlíð
2011: Húsdýragarðurinn
2010: Alþingi
2009: Reykjavík Botanical Gardens
Tjörnin
NEW: Best Shock-Walk
5:00 IN THE MORNING
ON LAUGAVEGUR
If you’re looking to be dragged into
the throes of both utter disgust and
complete amazement, try to stay
lucid enough on a weekend night out
to catch the revelry of the post-clos-
ing time parade on the main drag. A
few things we’ve witnessed: people
vomiting over their shoulder as they
stumble-walk, girls hiking their skirts
up and literally pissing in the middle
of the sidewalk, two obvious strang-
ers approaching and making out with-
in 20 seconds, the list goes on. Maybe
this is a bit of a no-brainer, but we still
think Laugavegur at 5 AM is a sight to
behold.
Laugavegur
Best Place To Cheer Up
HÚSDÝRAGARÐURINN
Another third time winner, Reyk-
javík’s petting zoo is just perfect if
you’ve got a terminal case of the
blues. There are few things as uplift-
ing as watching the baby seal cubs
swimming around in their massive
pool, or watching those adorable
lambs take their first shaky steps on
the green meadows. If you’ve got a
dark sense of humour, you can also
cheer up over the fact that at the end
of summer the seal cubs get fed to the
foxes, and members of the staff eat
the oh-so tender lambs.
2012: Reykjavík’s pond “Tjörnin”
2011: Nauthólsvík
2010: Húsdýragarðurinn
2009: Húsdýragarðurinn
Múlavegur 2
Best Place To
Read A Book
STOFAN
If your living room isn’t good enough,
Stofan is really the next best thing
with its vintage parlour décor, antique
furniture that cradles you like a hug,
mix-and-match wall hangings and
unobtrusive music picked by the
warm and lovely staff. It’s the ideal
spot to really plow through those last
chapters of that novel you can’t put
down, whether its by day with their
great coffee or by night with their
even better whisky selection. Our
book-reading, whisky sipping contin-
gent gave this one out hands-down.
2012: Stofan
Aðalstræti 7
NEW: Best Day Trip
from Reykjavík
REYKJADALUR
Less than an hour’s drive away, the
road takes a massive curve down to
the southern lowlands and into the
geothermal area of Hveragerði. Here
is one the closest and easiest places
to escape to for a beautiful hike and
a swim in a natural hot spring when
you reach the end. This incited us to
wholeheartedly declare this the best
day (or night!) trip, given its proximity,
ease and enjoyability. Plus, a bunch of
bus companies organise tours now,
so it’s as easy to go on your own or by
public transport.
Reykjadalur
NEW: Best People-
Watching Spot
THE BOOTHS AT
HRESSÓ
Okay, okay we admit it – we’ve given
Hressó a lot of flak over the years! It
was mostly about how much Nick-
elback they played, but we can’t
deny that we kind of love that place.
It’s charming and entertaining, and
has the unquestionable best spot
to spy on passersby in the form of
the booths in the window that skirts
Austurstræti. Get there early to watch
your acquaintances and enemies
drag their asses to work (or do the
walk of shame), or head there after
work to feast on the evening’s brew-
ing debauchery.
Austurstræti 20
NEW: Best Graveyard to
Hangout In
HÓLAVALLAGARÐUR
CEMETERY
Hanging out in cemeteries isn’t just
for goths anymore! On a tangent
discussion from another best of cate-
gory, we suddenly realised that, holy
shit, we LOVE hanging out in grave-
yards! Especially this one, which is
actually full of vitality: plants grow
abundantly from the graves creating
one of the few places in town with
a full canopy. It’s also crawling with
neighbourhood cats, who accost
people for cuddles and sit on head-
stones to lick their butts. Insert some
platitude about life and death here!
Suðurgata
Best Place To Spend A Rainy Day: Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús
27 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 9 — 2013