Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.10.2016, Side 64

L I F E , T R AV E L & E N T E R TA I N M E N T I N I C E L A N D
Issue 16 × 2016
Oct. 7 - Nov. 10
www.grapevine.is
Curiosity Killed
The Quiet
Reykjavík was once a
quiet city. In 2008—the
year I first visited, dur-
ing the economic col-
lapse—the tourism boom
was just beginning. You
could walking the length
of Laugavegur and pass
maybe five people the en-
tire way. On weeknights,
bars were quiet, and for-
eigners—known locally as “útlendingar,” or “out-
landers” in English—were the object of much in-
terest. It wasn’t unusual to find yourself penned
into a corner as people threw curious questions
your way: “What are you doing here? Where are
you from? What do you do?”
➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚
Today, those days are long gone. Reykjavíkingar
shun tourists as much as possible, more con-
cerned with bypassing the slow-walking, rain-
coat-clad, “oh my gahhhhhd would you LOOK at
that cute sweater”-exclaiming masses on their
way to work. Understandably so: tourism has
impacted local life on many levels. The bars are
packed, restaurants are full, supermarket and
post office queues are swollen, and drivers have
to constantly be on the lookout for lemming-like
leaps into the road from Gore-texed amateur
photographers.
➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚
In terms of that curiosity I experienced in 2008,
the tables have turned completely. Now, it’s the
searching, curious eyes of the tourists that rake
across the faces of local residents, trying to soak
up every detail with the heightened, hungry at-
tention of someone in a state of bedazzled holiday
wonderment.
➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚
And as a result, locals—lesser-spotted Iceland-
ers, especially—have become de-facto actors
in an ongoing production called Reykjavík
Streetlife. Locals are now exotic creatures in a
never-ending downtown tourist safari. And if
you live in the tourism crucible of Miðbær, you
might start to feel ground down by the staring;
worn thin by the mental effort of keeping your
head down to avoid being in ten photographs
before you’ve even had morning coffee.
➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚ ➘ ➚
It’s enough to make you wonder about the wear
and tear of this heavy attention on the psycho-
logical environment of the city—if, along with
eroding peace and privacy, it might start to wear
away the corners of the buildings themselves.

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John Rogers
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