Teitur

This one used to be quite good but I’ve repeatedly gotten bad service here in recent times.

Still, it’s quite an ok café. They usually make quite good coffe and chocolate and the have plenty of good cakes and pies. The other possibilities in downtown Hafnarfjörður are in Hafnarborg and in the bakery in the shopping center for example…

This modern art gallery start-up for young artists takes the whole category of such places to another level – deeper under ground of course. This gallery is smaller, darker and more dilapidated than all others!

Those who seek to seek the dwarven gold and jewels or the new ideas to become the dwarfs who would stand on the shoulders of giants shall have to strap on their mining gear and crawl down.

With mud floors, bare walls and a ceiling at a few feet lower than average height, the dark space creates an intensely personal space ideal for the exhibition of video art. All shall be forced to bow to it or sit down and watch what you have to show!

Having ample hot geothermal water and plenty of long winter nights two of the greatest mainstays in Icelandic culture are the reading and writing of books and bathing and lingering in hot pots (/tubs).

Though a number of other activities have gotten people through the long nights, such as singing and the making of music, the reading and telling of stories and histories (sagas) has had a great place through Icelandic history. This is thankfully still alive and well, with Icelandic literacy at a hundred percent and with Icelanders giving books for any and all imaginable occasions. This for example results in an annual book flood around Christmas and a popular activity during the Christmas holidays is staying in bed reading “the Christmas books”.

Bathing is another popular pasttime and cultural mainstay. As an affirmation of this Saturday is named Laugardagur or Pool-Day in Icelandic. One of the oldest and most notable of pools in Iceland is Snorralaug at Reykholt. Which is also a place to learn about the Sagas, since the lord Snorri Sturluson of Reykholt is likely to have collected and written some of the main ones. Those sagas which are on display however would have to be seen at the Saga exhibition at the national Culture House in Reykjavík.

If you’d like to get involved with this part of Icelandic culture however; whether it is to go to the Blue Lagoon, the swimming pools, gyms or spas, you have to be aware that in all of these places there are shared locker rooms and showers and one is required to strip naked and wash properly before using the facilities. This has, needless to say, created some problems with the cultural descendants of the Victorians..

I can assure you however that the locker rooms are a completely non-sexual environment and that no one will pay the least bit of attention too you in there unless you start doing something strange there such as trying to sneak to the pool without washing or even more ridiculously – try to bathe with your kit on! If anything these are probably the most assured ways to arouse some strange looks and comments.. :P

-If you mange to get to the pools though you shouldn’t be disappointed. Top quality pools with bubbling massage pots, steambaths and saunas are pretty much in every small village and neighborhood these days :-)

There you’ll also find a nice and relaxed atmosphere with locals sitting in the hot pots and chatting, going for their swim, kids playing and even people trying to sunbathe :D

This of course mostly replaces the beach life of warmer places. A small geothermally heated beach with facilities is still available in Nauthólsvík bay in Reykjavik. Reykjavik’s other pools are still more popular :D

Either way a dip in the geothermal waters is a must for the “Icelandic Experience”. Of course for those with less time a single stop at the Blue Lagoon might well do the trick ;-)

This small town between lake and highland is superbly located for exploring both the Þingvellir National Park on the other side of Lyngdalsheiði highland and other pearls of southern Iceland such as Gullfoss and Geysir, Skálholt, Kerið or other destinations. The environs around Laugarvatn are also interesting.

At Laugarvatn you have hot springs which provides steam for a unique natural steambath in addition to geothermally heated greenhouses, hot tubs and swimming pools. You have the lakes and the rivers which are excellent for fishing and boating (/rafting). And a local boat and quad-bike rental can supply you. You can also go golfing and horse-back riding in the area, hike and play paint-ball. At Laugarvatn there are also two hotels, a hostel, a camping ground and a restaurant.

One warning though; The road over the highland seems quite straightforward and many travelers opt for it when going from Þingvellir to Gullfoss and Geysir just northeast of Laugavatn. One should be aware though that it reaches quite some altitude and is not paved, so it is a Real Highland Road, and is impassable most of the year. If you’re traveling in a jeep and have some experience you might still take it and amuse yourself with the tourists as they stop and gawk at the driving-conditions in their first encounter with the Icelandic highlands ;-D

Apparently I was there at sixteen, but I’m afraid my memories of this are a bit hazy..

It seems like a nice old town and I’d like to see as many of these as I can in Finland :)

Eigilshöll is Iceland’s largest arena. It’s main field is an 120×90 m artificial grass soccer field. At 10.800 m² and 20 m ceiling height more than fulfills UEFA A-League standards for indoor arenas. The arena also has a sprinting track and pits and can therefore also be used for track and field athletics and other sports. The sports complex also has a competition-size ice-rink which is open to the public. Furthermore the complex houses a gym, a shooting range, an assembly hall, a cafeteria and a hotel.

As Iceland’s largest arena it has also hosted many concerts, fairs and other big events. Though I’ve perhaps seen fewer of these then I have wanted the few I’ve seen manage to span quite a range between them.. namely from Snoop Dog to Placido Domingo :D

Situated beautifully at the bay of Grafarvogur Grafarvogskirkja is one of the few cultural highlights in this area. In the halls of the church you can often find exhibitions and events and in it’s cellar you’ll find the City Library for the neighborhood, Foldasafn. Central and above the altar there is also a great stained glass window by Leifur Breiðfjörð. Situated as it is, the church can also be a good stop for those who are out bicycling or otherwise enjoying the paths around the bay.

The Icelandic Medical Museum at Nesstofa (Læknaminjasafn Íslands, Nesstofusafn) is housed in the beautiful old building Nesstofa on the Seltjarnarnes Peninsula. It is situated at the edge of town just next to the bird sanctuary around Seltjörn, the pond the town is named after. Close by you also have both rocky and sandy beaches.

Next to the small Nesstofa sits another building housing the Pharmaceutical Museum. I believe that these are in name two museums but that they may be considered just one.

The Museum is a part of the National Museum of Iceland and sadly does not have a separate homepage as of yet. Some info might still be found at the National Museum’s page. As the museum is soon to be expanded I believe a new homepage should be on the way as well. Until now, however, the Museum has only been open from May to September and only on certain days of the week. For opening hours or to arrange a visit outside normal opening hours please contact The National Museum of Iceland (p: (+354)-530-2200)

You can read about it in more detail in this article in the Grapewine...

Pretty damn sad, I have to say..

If you agree please sign this petition to Reykjavík city council.

Just remember that you’re standing on a planet that’s evolving
And revolving at nine hundred miles an hour,
That’s orbiting at nineteen miles a second, so it’s reckoned,
A sun that is the source of all our power.
The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see
Are moving at a million miles a day
In an outer spiral arm, at forty thousand miles an hour,
Of the galaxy we call the ‘Milky Way’.
Our galaxy itself contains a hundred billion stars.
It’s a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle, sixteen thousand light years thick,
But out by us, it’s just three thousand light years wide.
We’re thirty thousand light years from galactic central point.
We go ‘round every two hundred million years,
And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions
In this amazing and expanding universe.

The universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding
In all of the directions it can whizz
As fast as it can go, at the speed of light, you know,
Twelve million miles a minute, and that’s the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you’re feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there’s intelligent life somewhere up in space,
‘Cause there’s bugger all down here on Earth.

(The Galaxy Song)