Iceland’s Healthcare System: How Does It Work?
Iceland maintains a universal healthcare system, under which all legal residents are covered by the Icelandic social insurance system. All hospital admissions are paid for by this
All Out Of Ideas? Grapevine’s Got Your Back!
Seven stylish Xmas presents for less than 3,000 ISKGet some Yule Lads! Jólabúðin, Laugavegur 4 This lovely Christmas shop on Laugavegur (open year round!) offers a wide range of
The Nature Pass: The Stupidest Tax In History
According to official estimates, the number of foreign tourists in Iceland will top the one million mark for the first time in history by the end of the year. Which means [&hellip
Nature! Major Discount! Subscribe Now!
Debates on Monday #13Nature. The ultimate free lunch or an anomaly in today’s world, most easily fixed by charging for access? This debate really just got started at the end [&he
Healing Hands
An editorialIn the above photograph, I am accompanied by one of my favourite people in the world, Dr. Haukur S. Magnússon, my paternal grandfather and my namesake (I had to [&hell
Government To Charge For Iceland’s Nature
The controversial “Nature Pass” threatens to become a realityWith the annual turnover of overseas visitors set to break the one million mark for the first time this year, Ice
Sour Grapes & Stuff: Issue 18, 2014
Say your piece, voice your opinion, send your letters to letters@grapevine.is Most Awesome Letter of the Issue: In the last couple of days I witnessed how Biggi Lögga degraded fro
Enforcing The Status Quo
"Biggi the Cop", Foreigners, And Why The Majority Uses The Language of VictimhoodRecently, we covered the story of an opinion piece written by Birgir Örn Guðjónsson – bett
So What’s This Lack Of Army I Keep Hearing About?
Iceland has no army. It does operate a Coast Guard, which does have four ships, three of which are combat-ready vessels. The Coast Guard has a wide variety of guns […]
A Spaceship In Iceland!
A specially prepared Boeing 747 NASA aircraft landed at Keflavík Airport in May of 1983. This would probably not have made any headlines, had the plane not been carried the [&hell
An Ornamental Resignation
Why Hanna Birna's resignation might be cause for celebration, but is ultimately meaninglessToday, (now former) Minister of the Interior Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir resigned from
Regarding Julien Blanc
Comic artist Hugleikur Dagsson has some ideasI do not think we should prevent him from coming here. Barring people from coming here is stupid. Why make a martyr out of […]
Two Days Of Criminal Activity
Iceland Noir: it’s happening again! People thought we were nuts at the time, when in reality we were suffering from good old Icelandic gung-ho enthusiasm. This year, we ought to
A New Wave Of Protests
Icelanders are once again making their dissent heard, loud and clearTension has been rising in Iceland of late. An estimated 4,500 people attended a general protest against the go
All Highly Unlikely
Debates on Monday #10The freedom fighter Last things first: Styrmir Gunnarsson, former editor of Morgunblaðið, has published his memoirs from the Cold War. As reported, these dis
Old Men, Addicted To Power
Thoughts from a cab, on the state of IcelandI’m sitting in a cab waiting for Karin. She is the youngest member of the travel party, and it is our first […]
Future Perfect
Poetry as gateway to mainstream literary success?On “The Story Island,” a fresh young crop of writers is busy carving out a space, making way, creating a culture all of
Youth Groups In Icelandic Literature, A Brief History Of
From Fjölnir to Medúsa to Nýhil to Meðgönguljóð...Some accounts claim that modern Icelandic literature began in 1835, when four young students started their own literary jou
Debt-Relief Bullshit
Today, I am furious. Utterly furious. Everyone that supported the government’s so-called “debt relief” plan, and then made money from said “debt relief” plan,
Being The Other
I won’t soon forget the day I was finally awarded Icelandic citizenship. Having moved to Iceland eight years previous, I fulfilled all the necessary requirements for a non-Scheng