Reykjavík Grapevine - 29.07.2016, Page 60

To most people who visit Iceland,
the town of Hafnarfjörður is a
suburb on the way to Reykjavík,
or “that bit where the city starts.”
As seen from the Flybus window,
the main drag consists mostly of a
working harbour, a viking-themed
hotel, a row of grey seaside apart-
ment buildings, and a profoundly
uncharming mall.
But this architecturally unfor-
tunate first impression couldn’t
be farther from the truth. A few
steps from the main road, there’s
a historic old town with a charm-
ing tucked-away park, and inside
some of those shop units and har-
bour buildings, an organic and in-
teresting cultural regeneration is
taking place.
If you build it,
they will come
A good example is an unassum-
ing white harbour-side building
on Strandgata that houses a well-
regarded restaurant called Von,
and the Pallet café (facebook.com/
palletkaffi). Pallet is an ideal cof-
fee place: a spacious room with
lovingly prepared drinks, comfy
mismatched furniture, soft mu-
sic, big bright windows, plants
everywhere, and appealing clut-
ter such as sewing machines and
intriguing books in various lan-
guages. The atmosphere is hushed
and conversational, with a patio
for sunny days, and they also have
a kitchen that serves pies and pas-
ties, a rich lamb stew—complete
with a free second helping—and
light pastries. It’s the ideal place to
do some work, or just to chill, and
worth the twenty minute drive to
Hafnarfjörður alone.
Just across the street is the
Íshús, or “Icehouse” (ishush-
afnarfjardar.is)—a bright blue
harbourside industrial building
that’s been converted over the past
few years into an inspiring, thriv-
ing colony of creative businesses.
There are thirty different practises
going on inside these walls—a live-
ly community of people working in
everything from ceramics to fash-
ion design, woodwork, jewellery,
decorative arts and products of all
sorts. It’s not open to the public on a
daily basis, but they do take organ-
ised group visits, and a store and
café is planned.
Angelica and Myrrh
The central shopping streets are
home to an old-style bakery, an
Icelandic herbal preparation store
named Urta Islandica, a concert
house, some boutiques and, per-
haps surprisingly, an entire store
dedicated to Buddhism. Kailash
is run by Beggi and Helga, and is
named after a sacred mountain in
Tibet. The two are Icelanders who
embraced Buddhism when Beggi
and visited Nepal and Tibet. Now,
they import statues, incense, cloth-
ing, jewellery, oils and trinkets.
Customers are treated to a warm
welcome—Beggi answers ques-
tions about his journey into Bud-
dhism graciously, and Kailash feels
as much about importing Buddhist
ideas and culture as the products.
Our final stop is Hellisgerði,
Hafnarfjörður’s famous park.
Tucked away behind an unassum-
ing railing, this hilly area holds
many peaceful nooks, including a
sitting area with a fountain and
a waterfall, lava boulders, copses
of trees, flower patches, winding
pathways and busts of local his-
toric figures. There’s an outdoor
stage for community events, and
a twee elf-themed cafe, where you
can get a drink and hear stories
of the elves and huldufólk. Like
everything in Hafnarfjörður, the
best parts of Hellisgerði feel a
little hidden—but it’s well worth
taking the time to find them.
SHARE: gpv.is/hfj11
DRIVE-THROUGH TOWNS
Meanwhile, In
Hafnarfjörður…
Secrets and hideaways in one of
Reykjavík’s neighbouring towns
Words JOHN ROGERS Photos ART BICNICK
Not ones to be
caught resting
on their laurels,
Reykjavík Excur-
sions have quite
literally hopped on
the Pokémon Go bus, and started
a Pokémon trainers’ excursion
around Reykjavík. The four hour
trip costs 7500 ISK, and it’s prom-
ised that participants will “go to
all the best places in Reykjavík to
find Pokémon, where they will be
lured. Icelandic Pokémon Trainers
will help you evolve and transfer
your Pokémon, assist you in the
PokéGym and answer any ques-
tions you might have about the
game.” So for those who really
want to efficiently catch ‘em all, or
whatever… this is a thing now.
Two interesting new restaurants
have opened up in rural west Ice-
land. If you’re passing through
Borganes on your way to West-
fjords or the north, you can try
out some classic Icelandic dishes
at Englendingavík; and if you’re
driving the Snæfellsnes loop and
passing by Grundarfjörður, you
could try the new family-run Bjar-
gasteinn restaurant. If you do, feel
free to tell us what you thought via
travel@grapevine.is, or tag your
arty food pics with #GVpics on In-
stagram.
In somewhat less appetising news,
there was some controversy this
month when it was reported that
signs have been going up around
Iceland’s hiking trails and natural
beauty spots to create No Pooping
Zones. It appears that some tour-
ists—due to a well-documented
(and, tbh, easy to predict) lack of
facilities in the wilderness—re-
sort to taking an al fresco dump.
So, please—just use the toilet at
the gas station or waterfall park-
ing lot when you have the chance,
would you? Or, idk. Take it with
you?
TRAVEL
NEWS
IN BRIEF
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 11 — 2016
60