Published December 14, 2018
In Iceland, Christmas is a little wacky. Instead of one Santa, we have thirteen. And rather than being a jolly old white-bearded fellow who lets children sit on his on his lap in a shopping mall and showers them with presents, our Jólasveinar—or “Yule Lads,” in English—are a tribe of mischievous little weirdos.
Starting on December 12th, the Yule Lads come down from the mountains one by one, each day until Christmas. If you’ve behaved well, they’ll put a gift in your shoe; if not, you get a potato. In honour of this harrowing game of cat and mouse, we present: the Thirteen Days Of Grapemas, where every day, a Yule Lads will deliver one of you—our beloved readers—a special Icelandic gift.
So what’s a girl gotta do to get some cool stuff in her shoe? Just tag the friends or loved ones you think are most deserving on this Facebook status, along with a damn good reason that they should win. Remember: If you don’t enter in this life, you sure won’t win. #JÓLÓ
What’s In The Shoe Today?
It’s 8 AM. Darkness surrounds Vesturbær. You come downstairs, groggy from binge-watching ‘Lost’ last night. Making your coffee, you grab your bland porridge pot, all the while wondering if J.J. Abrams had planned out the show at all, or was just completely winging it. You conclude it’s the latter.
But wait—where is your wooden porridge spoon? Then, in the corner of your eye, you see it. Covered with a thick layer of spit, the spoon lies proudly on your IKEA table. Pvörusleikir—’Spoon Licker’ in English—has made their mark.
Next to the spoon lies a note. To apologise for defiling your cutlery, the Spoon Licker has provided you a 20,000 ISK gift certificate for Skelfiskmarkaðurinn. While a newcomer on the scene, the restaurant has quickly become a Grapevine favourite. Skelfiskmarkaðurinn puts fresh shellfish at the heart of its menu, serving immaculate escargot, langoustine, trout, and other choices like steak tartare and silken cuts of horse steak. So, dear reader, we’re praying for you. Get tagging here—and if you don’t win today, check out our page tomorrow for the next gift.
A note: the winner of yesterday’s Dillon Whiskey Bar contest was Brett Foote, who slayed with his lamentations on the price of rent in Reykjavík as well as how many sandwiches his wife and friends have stolen from him. Solidarity Brett. Drink your pain away, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s winner!
