Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.07.2015, Qupperneq 26

RESTAURANT- BAR
6.990 kr.
Vesturgata 3B | 101 Reykjavík | Tel: 551 2344 | www.tapas.is
Taste the best
of Iceland ...
... in one amazing meal
ICELANDIC GOURMET FEAST
Starts with a shot of the infamous
Icelandic spirit Brennívín
Followed by 7 delicious tapas
Smoked puffin with blueberry “brennivín” sauce
Icelandic sea-trout with peppers-salsa
Lobster tails baked in garlic
Pan-fried line caught blue ling
with lobster-sauce
Grilled Icelandic lamb Samfaina
Minke Whale with cranberry & malt-sauce
And for dessert
White chocolate "Skyr" mousse with passion
fruit coulis
late night dining
Our kitchen is open
until 23:30 on weekdays
and 01:00 on weekends
4X4ADVENTURESICELAND.IS
Lava Beach 2-hour tour starts at 12:00 and 14:00
Price: 17.500 ISK per person for two people on a bike.
21.000 ISK per person with transfer from Reykjavik.
Add 5.000 ISK per person for a single bike.
MOUNTAIN BIKING - BLUE LAGOON - GRINDAVIK FISHING VILLAGE - SHIPWRECKS - VOLCANO
2-3 HOUR BIKING TOUR
Price: 9.900 ISK per person.
13.500 ISK per person with transfer from Reykjavik.
Tour starts 9:45 at Blue Lagoon parking, 08:30-09:00 pick up in Reykjavik.
4X4ADVENTURESICELAND.IS BOOK ONLINE OR BY PHONE +354-857-3001
26 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 10 — 2015CULTURE
Denmark here has the role of Great Brit-
ain, a former colonial power who cling
to their scandal-prone royals for want of
Empire. Danes have been in touch with
the outside world the longest and Copen-
hagen is arguably the most cosmopolitan
Nordic capital. Other Nordic countries
grudgingly look up to them for historical
and cultural reasons, while making fun of
the way they speak.
Sweden is the United States of the Nor-
dics. It tore itself away from the Danish
Empire in the 16th century and became
a superpower in its own right, eventually
eclipsing the old motherland. Fought a se-
ries of wars with Germany and hereditary
enemy Russia, but eventually lost. It is
the industrial powerhouse of the region,
which sometimes inspires envy and re-
sentment even if it is no longer quite what
it used to be comparatively. Something
of a cultural melting pot with the largest
number of immigrants per capita, but with
a habit of assassinating their leaders.
Norway are the country cousins who
struck it rich, a bit like Canada. The
sparsely populated north reaches far
above the Arctic Circle and they have con-
siderable natural resources which they
use to fund an impressive social system.
Norwegians have historically spent much
time explaining to the world that they are
not Swedes, but apart from A-ha, Dark-
throne and Jo Nesbø, they have still to
make the same cultural mark internation-
ally as the Swedes did long ago with Abba,
Bergman and others.
Iceland is the Australia of the North, a
sparsely populated island with a virtually
uninhabited interior and a few settlements
along the coast. Feels very far away from
everyone else and everything seems a
bit upside down here. A strange culinary
tradition. Some interesting music—we
have Björk and Sigur Rós and they have
the Bee Gees and AC/DC (pronounced
“Akkadakka”). But whereas the dingos
and crocodiles and boxing kangaroos and
other critters of Australia will kill you if you
stray too far from the beaten path, here it
is the country itself that is likely to open up
and swallow you whole.
The Faroe Islands are the Kiwis of the
North. Much like Iceland in many ways,
but even smaller and more isolated. The
only famous Faroese person is singer
Eivør, and she moved to Iceland to make
the bigtime.
The Åland Islands are probably like
Guernsey. No one knows very much about
them, but you can take a ferry there. They
also have a different tax regime.
Finland is an outlier much like Ireland.
On the outskirts of a bigger country and
with a propensity for drink and strange
humour. Unlike the Irish, though, the Finns
held on to their bizarre language and
Swedish speakers are in a minority along
the coast, a reversal of the Gaelic-English
divide in Ireland.
Estonia is a little bit like Northern Ireland.
They are a lot like the Finns in most ways,
but were ruled by a foreign great power for
far longer and hence divorced from their
cousins. Many people still identify more
with Russia than Estonia, and the divide
can be problematic, though so far mostly
peaceful.
So this only leaves Greenland, a vast
country with a very different culture but
still a part of the Nordic Countries due to
colonisation in the 18th century. A bit like
India without independence, perhaps?
To the outsider, the Scandinavian countries tend to all look
the same. This is, in fact, not entirely true. First of all, Scan-
dinavia refers only to Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who
are same-ish and yet all have their unique attributes. If you
add Iceland and Finland, you are dealing with the Nordic
countries. But how do you tell them apart? Native English
speakers are notorious for not mastering foreign languag-
es, so, let’s have a closer look at the English-speaking
world in search of analogies.
Illustration
Lóa Hjálmtýsdóttir
Words
Valur Gunnarsson
Scandinavia Explained To
The English Speaker