Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.01.2015, Qupperneq 4

Most Awesome
Letter of the Issue!
A big thank you
Dear Reykjavic Grapevine,
My wife and I stopped over last week
and wish to share with Iceland’s pub-
lic and your readers several wonderful
incidents in which we were helped im-
mensely and left with a full apprecia-
tion of the kind people who live in your
country. Our Icelandair flight from
London landed late in very strong
winds. Our hotel was the Hotel Smari
only 100 meters from the airport – a
very short walk which we were un-
able to complete on our own. Trying to
walk at 3:30 AM the very very strong
winds pushed us back and we could
only complete about 40 meters when
the wind blew my glasses off my face
onto the road. It was completely dark
and we were on our knees searching for
my glasses when a car stopped and the
driver and a passenger got out to ask if
we were OK……… this was the first ran-
dom act of kindness we encountered.
They offered to drive us the rest of the
distance to the hotel and only when we
got in the car did we realize there was
also a baby and mother. In order to
fit us in, the kind lady stood in the car
over her baby’s car seat. Her husband
entered the car, unbelievably, with my
glasses which he found quite a few me-
ters further back than where we were
looking!
We thanked them with all our heart
and we do so again now if they ever
read this. We never could have negoti-
ated the distance without their help.
The man working in the Hotel
Smari reception at close to 4AM was
also most kind, making us a cup of tea
and offering to waive the normal check
out deadline so we could have a decent
sleep. Thanks again very much to him
as well.
The next day was supposed to be
in a rental car driving to the Blue La-
goon and the Lucky bridge that spans
the gap between the North American
and European tectonic plates but the
weather again prevented that and, as
well, we wanted to be sure we sorted
out our luggage which had been left
behind at Heathrow. This is where we
were again blessed with the kindness
and extra effort of Ms Drofn Palmberg
who was working at the Icelandair lug-
gage services desk. She immediately
appreciated that we couldn’t leave for
Canada that night without our lug-
gage because all our grandchildren’s
Christmas presents were inside. She
suggested how I could check in with-
out our luggage and I could meet that
day’s incoming flight from London
which was carrying our four suitcases
and she would be there with me to tag
the suitcases so they could be loaded
onto our flight to Toronto. She sensed
our concern and made sure to give us
complete comfort that this plan would
work. She also made sure the check in
staff were willing to go along with this
plan. And it did work perfectly. An-
other big hug from my wife and me to
Drofn, who did so much to help our five
grandchildren have their presents to
open this Christmas.
My wife and I missed out on seeing
Iceland sights that day last week but
we saw so much that was absolutely
wonderful – the people living there. We
certainly will return to rent that car
and now intend to spend much longer
in your country. (As a further bonus,
my wife did see the glow of the North-
ern lights from her seat aboard the
London to Iceland Icelandair flight.)
Thank you for letting me share our
experience with you and your readers.
I hope those people who were so kind
to us somehow manage to read what
their kindness meant to us. If that hap-
pens our miracle visit will be perfectly
completed.
Merry Christmas
James and Sybile Scott
Dear James and Sybile,
Wow. Thank you guys for writing
that. Seriously. As you might have
noticed, we spend a lot of time rag-
ging on Icelanders and complain-
ing about shit in these pages (and
on our website!). In a way, it’s kind
of our job, you know, being “a criti-
cal media entity” and all, but we’re
not gonna lie: it gets tiring. Per-
haps especially lately, when there’s
all sorts of bullshit going down in
Iceland (seriously, so much fuck-
ing bullshit!), it gets a little too
easy to lose perspective and forget
that most of us humans can be re-
ally goddamn decent kind and well-
meaning when given the chance.
So thanks for the reminder,
James and Sybile, thanks for tak-
ing the time to write (a lot of the
time, folks only bother writing in
when they’re super upset about
something, like being overcharged
at some shitty restaurant or what-
ever). Honestly, you just made
our day.
Hope you can come back to en-
joy all your AWESOME LETTER
swag (drop us a line to collect it by
the way)!
Love,
Your Friends At The Reykjavík
Grapevine
Say your piece, voice your
opinion, send your letters to:
letters@grapevine.is
SOUR GRAPES AND STUFF

Dear reader. We love you very much,
especially those of you that write us
letters all the time. In fact we love you
so much that we keep trying to reward
you somehow for writing us those
letters. They entertain us, and they keep
us informed of what our readers think.
Now. Whoever wrote this issue’s MOST
AWESOME LETTER gets a prize. And it’s
a pretty great one. Yes, not one but TWO
delicious hamburger-style meals at the
wondrous ICELANDIC HAMBURGER
FACTORY, which is an Icelandic themed
restaurant that specializes in huuuuuge
and mouth-watering burgers to fit
every occasion. And if you for some
reason didn’t write this issue’s MOST
AWESOME LETTER don’t panic. Their
tasty burgers aren’t that expensive,
and you can always try for a MOST
AWESOME letter later.
Just write us at letters@grapevine.is
MOST AWESOME LETTER
TWO FREE MEALS AT THE
ICELANDIC HAMBURGER
Varma is available in various
tourist shops around Iceland
the timeless
warmth
of Iceland
Varma is dedicated to maintaining
Icelandic tradition in developing,
designing and manufacturing
quality garments and accessories
from the best Icelandic wool and
sheepskin shearling.
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