Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.07.2013, Síða 28

28The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 9 — 2013
It’s a kind of magic
Guided tours daily
Experience the awarded
design and enjoy the
amazing view.
Information
& booking:
www.harpa.is
Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre
NEW: Best Cheap Thrill
THE CITY LIBRARY
This was a really strong winner as the
library is not only a thrilling adventure
of knowledge, but it’s also as cheap
as you can get–free (lateness fees not
included)! You can only take items
out if you are a registered resident of
the city, but everyone is welcome to
browse, dawdle, skim, analyse and
delve deeply into their vast collection
of books of all types, in several differ-
ent languages. There’s also a great AV
collection, particularly for Icelando-
philes, and the Reykjavík Museum of
Photography is on the top floor. We
told you so.
Tryggvagata 15
NEW: Best Walking Tour
REYKJAVÍK HAUNTED
WALK
With tourism booming, we’ve noticed
a bunch of new walking tours in town.
While most of them focus on a city’s
notable sights, the Haunted Walk is
more concerned with Reykjavík’s
notable frights. Combining histori-
cal research, supernatural hearsay
and a healthy dose of scepticism, this
tour cannot guarantee you will see
a ghost, but you will certainly walk
away from it knowing more about
dark Icelandic humour and Reykja-
vík’s unofficial history.
Reykjavík Haunted Walk
SHOPPING
AND
COMMERCE
Best Place to Shop for
Touristy Stuff
GEYSIR
There are polar bears and puffins in
every other store window in Reykja-
vík, but is that what you want? Stuffed
polar bears and puffins? What are you
going to do with them when you get
home? THINK ABOUT IT. Instead, why
not get something useful? If we were
tourists in Iceland, we’d definitely go
to Geysir to treat ourselves. In fact,
their high-end, durable wares cater
almost as much to locals as they do
to tourists. So go there to pick up top-
notch brands of outdoor-wear and
functionally fashionable things that
you’ll actually use when you get back
home.
2012: Geysir
2011: Geysir
2010: Handprjónasambandið
2009: Handprjónasambandið
Skólavörðustígur 16
Best Place To Stock Up
On Local Design
KRAUM
Kraum is THE place to stock up on
local design. It represents more than
200 Icelandic artists, with a range of
products and prices that are sure to
satisfy any shoppers’ cravings. We
threw around some contenders to
take the title this year, but it ultimately
came down to the undisputed variety
at Kraum, and the professionalism
and dedication that the folks there
have in curating their excellent vari-
ety of products. Naturally, they took
this category for their fourth straight
year. Keep up the good work, Kraum!
2012: Kraum
2011: Kraum
2010: Kraum
Aðalstræti 10
Best Place To Stock Up
On Local Fashion Design
KIOSK
When talent meets talent, beautiful
things happen. Throw in five more
blossoming young talents, and some-
thing like Kiosk is born. The seven
local designers that make up this
collective create all of the merchan-
dise and run the shop themselves,
guaranteeing one-of-a-kind local
designs that you won't find anywhere
else on Laugavegur. At least not all in
the same place.
2012: Kiosk
2011: Kiosk
Laugavegur 65
Best Bookstore
MÁL OG MENNING
Mál og Menning isn't just a place to
buy your next recreational read. It's a
place to buy your schoolbooks, liter-
ary tomes, get a caffeine fix, pick up
the latest Sunday Times, grab a DVD
for the weekend, get your kid some
crayons, and stock up on stationary to
write home about it all. Even though
the four storeys of Mál og Menning
have more than you even thought
you needed, it is very well-organised
and easily navigable. The staff know
their books and are happy to help you
out. They also do writers’ events and
sometimes host concerts too.
2012: Mál og Menning
2011: Eymundsson, Austurstræti
2010: Eymundsson,
Skólavörðustígur
Laugavegur 18
Best Place To Get A
Trendy Haircut
SJOPPAN
Not only will you come out of Sjop-
pan with a trendy haircut, but you’ll
have had a trendy experience too.
Seriously, how many places can you
play Nintendo and drink a beer while
getting your hair cut in Iceland? Prob-
ably just one. Sjoppan.
Runner-up: Rauðhetta Og Úlfurinn
came in a close second: 90% of the
hairdressers are guys, the price
seems to go down the more of a
regular you become, and those of us
who go there think our haircuts are
perfect.
Honourable mention: We really
should mention Hár Expó on Frak-
kastígur. The majority of Grapevine
staff these days gets their hair cut
there. Sometimes we even all go
together. It may not be as trendy, but
they offer you coffee, a super nice
massage when they wash your hair
and, well, we think our hair is pretty
nice too.
2012: Rauðhetta og úlfurinn
2011: Barber Theater
2010: Rauðhetta og úlfurinn
Bankastræti 14
Best Second-Hand Shop
RED CROSS
We had some arguments about what
exactly counted as a “second-hand”
shop, but it ultimately came down to a
vintage store with no curating--as in,
no hand-picked collections or price
mark-ups for various styles or labels.
We ultimately boiled this down to the
Red Cross stores on Laugavegur – one
near Hlemmur and the other more
centrally located – for their treasure
trove-like atmospheres. Here you can
get the best of a second-hand shop-
ping experience, sifting and sorting
and finally finding that dream item
you never even knew needed. Plus,
they are really damn cheap so it’s a
total win-win.
2012: Fatamarkaðurinn
Laugavegur 12
Best Shop For
High Fashion
KRONKRON
Anyone who has fallen under the
impression that “high fashion”
is synonymous with minimalistic
designs for major prices needs to
stroll over to KronKron. This high-end
shop is refreshingly colourful and
pattern-happy. The stockings that
hang on the centre display could easi-
ly double as art pieces, the same goes
for most of the clothes in there. KronK-
ron was opened in 2004 by Hugrún
Árnadóttir and Magni Þorsteinsson,
who double as mastermind design-
ers behind their own store brand. The
couple's high-end homemade brand
mingles with established imports like
Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood,
and Bernhard Wilhelm. For their third
straight year, we give this fancy fash-
ion shop our highest honour!
2012: KronKron
2011: KronKron
Laugavegur 63b
Best Haberdashery
JÖR
It takes a certain level of slick to pull
off naming a clothing line after your-
self. JÖR by Guðmundur Jörundsson
has that and more. Whether you're
looking for clean, classic styles or
some flashier pinstripes and pastels,
they will deck you out. The company’s
Laugavegur location has head-to-toe
supplies for the Reykjavík gentleman:
hats, coats, ties, watches, everything
down to the soles of the shoes. JÖR
has the fresh cuts that can take you
from a Friday night out straight to
your best bud's wedding day.
2012: Herrafataverzlun Kormáks
& Skjaldar
2011: Herrafataverzlun Kormáks
& Skjaldar
2010: Herrafataverzlun Kormáks
& Skjaldar
Laugavegur 89
NEW: Best Place To Buy
A Wool Sweater
HANDPRJÓNA-
SAMBANDIÐ
You might be able to beat city hall, but
you can’t beat the Icelandic Knitting
Association when it comes to getting
yourself a super-nice, authentic lopa-
peysa. Their main headquarters on
Skólavörðustígur offer a gorgeous
selection of ready-made handknit
sweaters, or if you are the more ambi-
tious type, you can get all the supplies
and advice you’ll need to make your
own.
Skólavörðustígur 19
Best Organic Food
FRÚ LAUGA
At Frú Lauga, no one can keep a
secret. We mean this in a good way.
No slimy pesticides or corner-cutting
shipping practices tainting the path
between producer and consumer.
Frú Lauga prides itself on conspicu-
ous labels that let consumers know
exactly where their food is from. Two
locations (one at Laugalækur 6 and
another at Óðinsgata 1) stock only the
freshest seasonal produce and high-
est quality goods. Eat well and know
your grower.
2012: Frú Lauga
2011: Frú Lauga
Laugalækur 6
Best Record Store
LUCKY RECORDS
Now in its huge new digs on
Rauðarástígur, Lucky Records is like-
ly to win BEST RECORD STORE for
all perpetuity. It’s not just the great
selection of records that makes Lucky
the best, it’s also the store’s personal-
ity, which has only gotten better since
the move. Many of us are devoted
customers and we are so proud to see
them doing great things. Luck really is
on their side.
2012: Lucky Records
Rauðarárstígur 10
NEW: Best Liquor Store
HEIÐRÚN
Okay, liquor stores in Iceland are all
pretty similar. They are all owned by
the state. They are all marked by the
same “Vínbúðin” sign, and the ones
in Reykjavík all have more or less the
same opening hours—mostly closing
at 18:00 or 19:00, with three of them—
Dalvegur, Skeifan, and Skútuvogur—
closing at 20:00. A store called
Heiðrún doesn’t have the longest
opening hours and isn’t particu-
larly conveniently locate either, but
it is superior to the rest for another
reason: It is the store where they test
new brands of beer, alcohol and wine
before rolling them out to the rest of
the stores. So go there to help push
that new obscure brand onto the
other shelves.
Stuðlaháls 2
Best Haberdashery: JÖR