Iceland review - 2013, Page 6

4 ICELAND REVIEW
Do I believe in love at first sight?
Yes. The first time I visited the Faroe Islands, I
was overwhelmed by the light. Then I met the
people and my affection grew. The other country
which took my breath away the first time I set
foot there was Kalaallit Nunaat, better known as
Greenland. It begs you to come back and back
again. And again.
Back in Iceland there are some places that call
on you to come back too, like Öxarfjörður in the
northeast, the region where I was born. I have to
visit at least a couple of times a year. Last time I
was there I went to pick bilberries with journalist
Eygló Svala, the morning after we listened to four
talented divas perform in a beautiful concert in
nearby Húsavík. That was the last day of summer.
Talking about summer… Hrafntinnusker is a
magnet. Every summer I have to visit the place,
try to take a different image than the year before
and listen to the sound of silence. This summer,
even at the height of the tourist season, I didn’t
meet or see any human being there. Just three
birds and one sheep with two lambs. As beautiful
as Hrafntinnusker is on a good summer’s day, the
weather in the south-central highlands can change
in a matter of seconds. Horizontal ice cold rain
comes out of the blue, blocks visibility and makes
Hrafntinnusker a scary place.
On a good autumn’s day, Hrafntinnusker is the
best place to witness a dance in the sky. The
closest house is far away—there’s no light
pollution. It’s the ultimate place to witness the
northern lights.
My latest love affair is with the winter sky,
watching the northern lights flirt with the stars.
Páll Stefánsson
ps@icelandreview.com
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EDITOR
Páll Stefánsson
DEPUTY AND
fEATUREs EDITORs
Ásta Andrésdóttir (on leave)
Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir
DEsIGN
Erlingur Páll Ingvarsson
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERs
Ásta Andrésdóttir
Deb Smith
Mica Allan
Zoë Robert
CONTRIBUTING
PhOTOGRAPhERs
Áslaug Snorradóttir
Geir Ólafsson
Kristinn Ingvarsson
RAX (Ragnar Axelsson)
Stefán Pálsson

WEB EDITOR
Zoë Robert
COPY EDITORs
Julie Ingham
Zoë Robert
PRODUCTION
Erlingur Páll Ingvarsson
COLOR PRODUCTION
Páll Kjartansson
ADVERTIsING sALEs
Helga Möller
Sunna Mist Sigurðardóttir
Sverrir H. Geirmundsson
Advertising Sales helga@heimur.is
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