Reykjavík Grapevine - ágú. 2022, Blaðsíða 4

What Are Icelanders
Talking About?
You’ve got the time, we’ve got the
headlines
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photos: Emma Ledbetter & Wikimedia Commons
As this is being written,
Icelanders are all talking
about earthquakes and volcanoes.
This is because we’re in the midst
of a swarm of tremors extending
from just southwest of Reykjanes
peninsula and up through Fagrada-
lur. Over one hundred quakes of a
magnitude of three or greater were
recorded over the first weekend of
August in this region alone, with
some reaching as high as four or
five. One point of interest: a 4.7 that
struck on August 2nd at 02:27 was
so close to Reykjavík (and to the
surface of the earth) that it shook
Hallgrímskirkja, briefly ringing its
bells.
If all of this sounds familiar
(except maybe the church part),
it’s also sounding familiar to our
country’s geologists. Well, famil-
iar pre-conditions became famil-
iar results when Meradalir erupted
in the afternoon of August 3rd.
Like Fagradalsfjall the year previ-
ous, this is also a fissure eruption
of a very photogenic nature. It is,
however, still a volcano, which
means you have to be careful when
approaching it. More on that later
in this issue!
The Reykjavík domestic airport is
back in the public discussion again.
For the unfamiliar: people who live
in Reykjavík generally loathe having
a giant airport right in the middle
of the city, as it’s loud and takes
up a lot of real estate that could be
used to alleviate our town’s hous-
ing shortage somewhat, if devel-
opers were allowed to build there.
By contrast, people living in the
countryside love having the airport
where it is, because wherever they
are in Iceland, they can pop right
into the centre of town, which is
virtually unheard of in any other
European city.

Whether to move the airport or
keep it where it is comes up in
the discourse every few years
or so, and this time, it’s because
someone did the math and figured
out that it’s actually cheaper to park
a private jet at Reykjavík Airport
than it is to park a car downtown.
Fortunately, this seems to be one
issue that Icelanders all over the
country can agree on—i.e. that it
absolutely should cost more to park
a plane than a car—but downtown
airport opponents are also using
this fact as yet another reason to
move the airport out to the suburbs
somewhere.
First
NEWS
We love lava as much as the next person, but don't get too close
Published by
Fröken ehf.
Hafnarstræti 15,
101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Member of the
Icelandic Travel
Industry Association
www.saf.is
Printed by Landsprent
ehf.
PUBLISHER
Hilmar Steinn
Grétarsson
hilmar@grapevine.is
+354 540 3601
publisher@grapevine.is
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Valur Grettisson
valur@grapevine.is
NEWS EDITOR
Andie Sophia Fontaine
andiesophia@
grapevine.is
CULTURE EDITOR
Josie Gaitens
josie@grapevine.is
PHOTO EDITOR
Art Bicnick
art@grapevine.is
COPY EDITOR
Catharine Fulton
INTERNS
Asha Edmondson
asha@grapevine.is
Iryna Zubenko
iryna@grapevine.is
Joana Fontinha
joana@grapevine.is
Emma Ledbetter
emma@grapevine.is
WRITERS
Shruthi Basappa
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Elín Guðmundsdóttir
Emma Leadbetter
Gemma Warren
Gosverksmiðjan
Grzegorz Bieńko
Heiðdís Guðbjörg
Joana Fontinha
Kristinn Ingvarsson
Óskar Hallgrímsson
Omen’s Eye
Photography
SALES DIRECTORS
Aðalsteinn
Jörundsson
adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Helgi Þór Harðarson
helgi@grapevine.is
FOUNDERS
Hilmar Steinn
Grétarsson,
Hörður Kristbjörnsson
Jón Trausti
Sigurðarson
Oddur Óskar
Kjartansson
Valur Gunnarsson
CONTACT US:
—» Editorial
+354 540 3600
editor@grapevine.is
—» Advertising
354 540 3605
ads@grapevine.is
—» Distribution
& Subscriptions
+354 540 3604
distribution@
grapevine.is
—» Press releases
events@grapevine.is
—» General Inquiries
grapevine@grapevine.is
The Reykjavík
Grapevine is
published every
month by Fröken Ltd.
Nothing in this
magazine may be
reproduced in whole
or in part without the
written permission of
the publishers.
The Reykjavík
Grapevine is
distributed
around Reykjavík,
Akureyri, Egilsstaðir,
Seyðisfjörður,
Borgarnes, Keflavík,
Ísafjörður, and at
key locations along
Iceland's route 1.
It is also avaiable
at all major tourist
attractions and
information centres
around the country.
You may not like The
Reykjavík Grapevine,
but at least it's
an independent
publication. None
of our editorial is
directed by sponsors
or advertisers, and all
opinions expressed
are the writer's own.
Park your jet for (relatively) cheap at the domestic airport
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08— 2022
Stay like
a local
[ 8 hotels, restaurants
& spas in the heart of
Reykjavik ]