Pay No Attention to That Plane on the Tarmac
It’s not often that Iceland gets to play with the big boys. We only ever seem to draw international attention when whale hunting season begins, but whaling will soon be […
The Rape of the Prime Minister
Imagine a quiet evening in December. Imagine Halldór Ásgrímsson, prime minister, lighting a candle with his family after dinner. Imagine his family members decorating the house.
Inconsistent, Antisocial, and the Only Talk Show Host Worth His Salt
Egill Helgason started out as a cultural affairs journalist for the Progressive Party newspaper Tíminn in 1981. Since then, he’s worked in numerous media, both in print and on t
Imagine You Didn’t Have to Buy Moon Boots
It is late November as I write this, and the season of “What do you want?” has just begun-it will last in Iceland until about 3 am on December 24th. […]
The Critic
The most popular comedy program in the country, the comedy troupe behind the show Spaugstofan recently celebrated 20 years working together. Founding member, and former Grapevine c
The Most Complete Laugavegur Store Review Ever
{Red Green}A Sporty lifestyle wear for both sexes from the Danish Red Green label. Scandinavian influences are apparent with wool coats, sweaters and shirts dominating. Laugavegur
The Neighbourhood Mall
As much as many of us have been conditioned to loathe anything to do with large, characterless malls located far from historic city centres, to see them as community destroyers, [&
To the Furthest Extent of the Law
On 10 October of this year, Phu Tién Nguyén was sentenced in Reykjanes District Court to 16 years in prison and fined 12 million ISK (about 200,000 USD) on the […]
The Place Where Choreographers Feel Like Rock Stars
Skrekkur is the annual Reykjavík Elementary School Talent Competition. It is explicitly for grades eight to ten (or teenagers from 13-15 years of age) in the Icelandic elementary
Malt & Appelsín
No Icelandic Christmas would be complete without it. A carbonated, non-alcoholic blend of orange soda and “Malt Extrakt,” a drink some have compared to sweet, unfermented Guinn
Letters
Hello, I was reading your magazine one of these days when I ran across a piece called “more reproduction needed in Iceland” by Stephen Taylor-Matthews where he discusses the bi
Bónus Christmas Bags
Still only 15 ISK, only in a Christmas colour scheme with a pig wearing a ribbon. Not only can you look festive when doing your discount shopping, but if you’re […]
Protecting the Parents:
According to World Health Organisation statistics from 2002, the average number of live births per 1000 in Scandinavia, among women aged 15 to 19, is 10.4. In Iceland, it’s 19. [
Naked Ape Shirts at Naked Ape
Nihilism is so 2004, and wearing black clothing with skulls stenciled on them is not likely to cheer you up during these, the dark days of the Icelandic winter. Naked […]
The Legislation Behind Iceland’s Baby Culture
Portions of the rules and regulations for Child Welfare Payments in 2005, from the Director of the Internal Revenue: Child welfare payments are paid for children up to 16 years [&h
Christmas Cookies (Frón) at 10-11
449 ISK Take your pick: pípardropar (small ginger cookies), píparkökur (larger ginger cookies) or súkkulaðibítakökur (chocolate chip cookies). Whichever you go with, you’r
Buy Sweets
Flatkökur The only bread Icelanders knew before late eighteenth century, flat bread is actually one of the best (and only) inventions of this nation when it comes to combining gra
Mr. Destiny
Grapevine: (To Egill, whose band Vinyl will perform at Airwaves) Is Destiny destroying your band? When do you have time to play, if you’re doing this full time and you […]
GRAPEVINE’S PURCHASES THAT JUSTIFY EXISTENCE
Coalface from Lush About 1000 ISK. Lush is the soap store on Laugavegur and at Kringlan. Inside the store is a black bar of soap called Coalface: it includes liquorice […]