Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.02.2019, Page 26

BEST OF REYKJAVÍK
Best Happy
Hour
Kaffi Brennslan
Laugavegur 21
As the day wanes and the caf-
feine jitters kick in, this cool cof-
fee house does the job of transi-
tioning you into beer-land with
their very nice happy hour deals.
“I always find myself going there
because it’s just comfortable and
nice,” one panellist said. Locat-
ed right smack in the centre of
town so you can easily pop in for
a quick one on your way home, or
stay and drink the evening away,
it’s just a cool, casual, calm place
with friendly staff, good beers
and tasty snacks. There’s also a
great patio for when the weather
is nice.
Runners-up:

Bravó
Laugavegur 22
It’s pretty hard to be unhappy
when happy hour literally lasts
all day long! From opening at
11am until 8pm you can get beers
and wine at discount prices and
sip them in warm cosy comfort
whilst people-watching the
downtown riff raff passing by.
Bravo, Bravó!
Bryggjan Brugghús
Grandagarður 8
This massive bistro and micro-
brewery boasts a gorgeous se-
lection of beers that you can see
being brewed on location, and
serve up their own IPA for just
500 ISK during happy hour. It’s
right on the gateway to Grandi—
a rapidly booming hot spot in
town—so it’s the perfect place
to start before catching some
culture.
Dig Up Her Bones:
Austurvöllur Graves
Alþingi
The square in front of Parliament
has recently been a hot topic for
ghoul-lovers and history conserva-
tionists alike, as an ancient burial
ground was unearthed during the
early stages of foundation work
for a new hotel being built on the
site. When first uncovered, staff
in the previously standing build-
ing looked out of their windows
directly onto open graves contain-
ing intact skeletons, possibly of
their own ancestors. The burial
site is now covered, but the park
is still unsettling. If you feel too
rattled, dip into Skúli Craft Bar on
Aðalstræti—on the edges of this
burial site—and they’ll ease your
nerves with good beers. They also
have tables perfectly sized for your
Ouija Board.
26The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 02— 2019Best of Reykjavík
Bleak
Midwinter
Haunts
A spooky winter city
Words: Rex Beckett & Hannah Jane Cohen Photos: Art Bicnick
Trapped On The Shore: The
Húrra Ghost
Naustin
This famous nightlife hotspot
is built where Reykjavík’s former
shoreline landed, and a portion of
the city’s original foundation wall
is still exposed in the basement
of the bar. Staff in the bar have
reported seeing strange shadows
along the wall, and feeling random
cold chills and sudden nauseating
waves in the far staircase, particu-
larly earlier in the day and when
the bar is sparsely filled. Theories
have suggested that it is the spirit
of a young man lost at sea—either
overboard or by choice—and that
he is lonely and sad. Join him, if you
desire, in his sorrows, with a couple
shots of Fernet.
Hallowed Ground:
Hólavallagarður Cemetery
Suðurgata
Of course, it is essential to men-
tion the wonderful old cemetery
on the west side of Reykjavík, just a
hop from downtown. With some of
the oldest graves in the city, where
locals can truly go trace back their
family history, this consecrated
square is less ghoulish than a spiri-
tual playground with every kind of
energy flowing freely, like a high
school cafeteria. There are also a
lot of cats. For an extra beautiful
spooky night, go late and stroll
when it is snowing while listening
to Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson’s origi-
nal score to ‘Children of Nature.’
When you finally get home, and the
nightmares come, let them.

Cry Little Sister: Höfði
Borgartún 105
The most notorious haunted house
in Iceland, Höfði, is best known
abroad for being the meeting place
of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gor-
bachev, an instrumental moment
leading to the end of the Cold War.
That said, this house has hosted
its own cold war for far longer.
The earliest occupant, judge and
poet Einar Benediktsson, claimed
it was haunted by the ghost of a
young woman, Sólborg Jónsdóttir,
who poisoned herself after Einar’s
verdict on a notorious assault case.
At Höfði, she would appear to him
at night, pleading and crying. This
claim was further substantiated by
a British Ambassador who resided
at Höfði in 1952, who demanded
that Britain sell the house because
of what he called, ‘bumps in the
night.’ Since then, it has remained
uninhabited and owned by the
state. But is it really haunted? Is
Sólberg there? Or are these bumps
merely the work of a time traveller
from the future, super addled by
the end of communism? Find out
for yourself.
Reykjavík is a creepy ass place.
From the weather-beaten houses,
to the ancient and decrepit grave-
yard, to the industrially extended
shoreline of downtown, there
are all kinds of souls-without-
flesh-prisons strolling around
these parts. Although the end
of October is when our veil be-
tween the physical and ethereal
is thinnest, the constant win-
ter darkness sure does make for
some supernatural encounters.