Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.09.2016, Síða 56

Every tourist that comes to Iceland
sets foot in Keflavík, but they rare-
ly stay there—staring at the town
instead through the windows of
the Flybus. Not wishing to sugar-
coat it: Keflavík has a questionable
reputation. It’s not necessarily a
place most Icelanders would visit
in their free time. When I asked
friends who had lived there for
recommendations, most laughed:
“Uh, leave?”
Iceland 4 real
But, not to be deterred, I ap-
proached my visit to Keflavík with
no bias, and I’m happy I did, be-
cause I found it to be a delightful
little city with a charm of its own.
Unlike Reykjavík, dotted with Puf-
fin Shops and tourist information
centres, Keflavík feels more like a
real town. There are coffee shops,
hair salons, and an optician. It’s
kind of refreshing, especially for
those who’d like to see the “au-
thentic” side of life in Iceland.
I started my day at Kaffi Duus.
Armed with a cup of coffee, I sam-
pled the buffet, which had a selec-
tion of fish, meat, and soup. The
meal was satisfying, but I wouldn’t
necessarily choose the place as a
culinary destination. Rather, it
was the location that made this
place worthy of a visit. The café
sits right on the harbour, with a
beautiful view of the rugged sea
and colorful fishing boats. We of-
ten think of lava fields and volca-
noes when thinking of Icelandic
scenery, but the coastline of Ke-
flavík is a treasure. Mother Atlan-
tic is harsh and unrelenting, yes,
but she’s also incredibly beauti-
ful. There’s a path along the shore
from Kaffi Duus that was abso-
lutely marriage-proposal-worthy.
I didn’t get a chance to walk it, but
I certainly fantasised.
A sleeping giant
Attached to Kaffi Duus is the Duus
Museum. There are a few col-
lections housed in the museum,
each vastly different than the
other. The first contains a num-
ber of model ships, but the word
“number” fails to do it justice. The
guide tells me that only one fifth
of Grímur Karlsson’s work lies in
this particular museum, which is
insane, as there are model ships as
far as the eye can see.
There are also two temporary
exhibits at the moment—one by Íris
Rós Söring and another by Elínrós
Blomquist Eyjólfsdóttir. I was par-
ticularly fond of Elínrós’s flowers,
made in kind of an O'Keeffe-rococo
style. I was instantly in love.
But walk down the road from
Duus, and you’l l come across
something unexpected. After a
path sprinkled with massive foot-
prints, a haphazard stone house
comes into view. This is Skes-
suhellir—the home of a giantess.
Inside, fast asleep in a rocking chair,
a massive lady lies. I’m not going to
lie, I found the whole thing kind of
creepy. But it was definitely an ex-
perience I’ll remember—no magic
beans required.
So while you might not put Ke-
flavík onto your must-see list in
Iceland, you could definitely spend
a lovely day there. Stop by the Ice-
landic Museum of Rock ‘n’ Roll, en-
joy a coffee on the coast, check out
some beautiful art—what more
could you ask for?
DRIVE-THROUGH TOWN
Keflavík,
The Realest Town
What happens when
an entire town gets real
Words HANNAH JANE COHEN Photos ART BICNICK
Share & More pics GPV.IS/KEF14
The Norðurflug he-
licopter tours com-
pany has launched
a new combination
trip for the winter
season, when the
northern lights are often to be seen
dancing their way across Iceland’s
skies. Despite being prohibited
from making helicopter flights af-
ter dark, they’ve decided to team up
with a boating firm and offer an in-
teresting alternative: by day, they’ll
take people for a panoramic birds-
eye view of the city and the beauti-
ful surrounding mountains; then
by night they’ll shift onto boats to
get away from the city lights and,
hopefully, experience some aurora.
Find out more at helicopter.is
A survey was carried out by Fer-
ðapúls Isavia, the Icelandic Tour-
ist Board, and Gallup recently
to see how satisfied visitors were
after their Icelandic holiday. The
results were subdivided by nation-
ality, with Russian tourists turn-
ing out to be the most satisfied,
giving an average score of 90.8.
Japanese tourists were the least
satisfied, giving an average of 74.
However, the methodology could
explain why. Apparently, one key
question was about whether the
trip “exceeded expectation.” We’ve
so many questions of our own:
maybe the Russians just had low
expectations? And are Japanese
tourists in danger of a new version
of Paris Syndrome?
Despite the rumbling of the South
Iceland volcano Katla, and the
alarmed shockwaves it caused in
the international press, there are
no concrete signs of an imminent
eruption. As such, the Mýrdal-
sjökull area remains open for visi-
tors. Even so, anyone going to the
area needs to follow basic safety
advice, such as: don’t venture onto
a glacier without suitable attire and
preparation; if hiking in the area,
check the conditions ahead of time,
and keep a mobile phone or track-
ing device with you. And on the off
chance an eruption should occur:
seek advice on the safety of the area
before ploughing in there.
TRAVEL
NEWS
IN BRIEF
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 14 — 2016
56