Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.08.2011, Page 34

The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2011
Aðalstræti 2 / 101 Reykjavík / tel. 511 1212 / sjavarkjallarinn.is
FEEL WELCOM E
Fischersund
Vesturg
a
ta
A
ð
a
ls
tr
æ
ti
Tryggvagata
Austurstræti
Hafnarstræti
Ingólfs-
torg
Hafnarhús
At the SEAFOOD CELLAR RESTAURANT we place New
Nordic kitchen in the forefront. We are a seasonal
restaurant that worships everything that Icelandic
nature brings us as well as getting a few things from
Scandinavia. We only use the freshest and the best
nature brings us. We, and our ambitious, productive
friends collect and produce the raw materials and
bring it home. We serve it with love and respect for
the ingredients and the environment around us.
We do it our way.
34
In my opinion, the pleasure of re-
ceiving presents has somewhat
diminished by the time you reach
your 30th birthday, but this gift was
different. It had been chosen with
care and thoughtfulness. It was a
beautifully packaged jigsaw puz-
zle, containing a stunning image of
Hvítserkur in northern Iceland. I’m
not usually into this sort of stuff, but
this really caught my imagination. A
clear product of yet more ingenious
Icelandic creativity; I wanted to
find out more.
The Icelanders behind ‘Puzzled by
Iceland’ are Þóra Eggertsdóttir and
Guðrún Heimisdóttir. The two, who de-
scribe themselves as “two blue eyed,
blonde haired moms,” came up with
the idea of starting a company when
they were both on 18 months maternity
leave from work. Puzzled by Iceland be-
came the antidote to changing nappies.
Perhaps unusually, they didn’t have
any idea what they would like to do,
other than to start a company of some
sort. Inspiration often comes from the
strangest places. This time inspiration
came from the Swedish Royal Family.
Guðrún came across a puzzle featuring
a photograph of the Swedish monar-
chy. It got them thinking that in Iceland,
you couldn’t buy a puzzle of say, the
Icelandic President. This was some-
what tongue in cheek; any such puzzle
would be a comedic novelty, but noth-
ing more. Slowly, the concept changed
and evolved into what is now Puzzled
by Iceland.
Since its inception in August 2010,
Puzzled by Iceland has produced beau-
tifully designed puzzles displaying pic-
turesque Icelandic scenes and stunning
Icelandic wildlife. They are packaged
in neat little boxes, and come with an
information leaflet. Even this filled me
with delight: “some say it looks like a
rhino drinking from the sea, others say
it looks like a dinosaur.”
I caught up with Þóra to find out
more. I asked whether puzzles were a
bit old fashioned in this day of super
electronics, apps and consoles. “They
are, of course, competition for us,” ex-
plains Þóra, “but we wanted to encour-
age families to spend time together,
to do something together. We wanted
more quality time. This is something
close to our hearts.” I am won over.
The thought of wiling away cold winter
evenings completing puzzles with your
nearest and dearest whilst the very
worst Icelandic weather rages outside
seems almost impossibly cosy and ro-
mantic.
I can see why the puzzles have be-
come so popular. Regardless of wheth-
er they are of tourist hotspots, lesser
known sights, or Icelandic fauna, the
images are visually stunning. Northern
lights flashing over Oxarfoss. The cut-
est puffin caught in a close up. A white
Icelandic horse against distant, snow-
capped mountains. The neon-streaked
landscapes of Þeistareykir in North
Iceland. Evocative of Iceland’s natural
rugged charm and beauty, each piece
of the puzzle clicking into place leads
you to the next, until the beautiful im-
age is complete once again.
Guðrún is apparently the puzzle
master, and is the first to complete new
designs to test out. This doesn’t sound
like a bad job to me, but there is much
more to it than just building puzzles.
The first batches of designs were re-
leased in November 2010, in time for
the Christmas market, and went so
well that a new batch of designs was
released earlier this year. They have
already teamed up with UNICEF to
produce a charity puzzle. They have an
online presence and social media. They
have the global rights to the “Puzzled
by” name, and they have their sights set
on Norway next, although they don’t
plan on stopping there. In fact, Þóra
says that they are aiming for “world
domination.”
Þóra is excited to tell me that Mayor
of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr unexpectedly
popped into the office last week. He
must have loved the puzzles as much
as me, as Þóra says that he left with a
puzzle in his hands. With puzzles this
beautiful and adorable who can blame
him?
I hold the boxed jigsaw puzzle in
my hands and look at the photograph
of Hvítserkur on the front. Its white
and black jagged rock form looms out
of the light blue sea, against a green-
blue sky. Arches cut through the rock
reveal the Icelandic landscape behind.
The picture is just stunning. A puzzle,
so simple, yet so ingenious. It feels like
I’m taking a piece of Iceland home with
me. Or several hundred pieces. If world
domination looks and feels like this, I’m
all for it.
How you can take a piece of
Iceland home with you?
Iceland | Puzzling
EDWARD HANCOx
EDWARD HANCOx
Or several hundred pieces ...
“A puzzle, so simple, yet so ingenious. It feels like I’m taking
a piece of Iceland home with me”