From the category archives:

MY ICELAND

MY ICELAND: The Eyjafjallajökull eruption

May 21, 2010

So I finally managed to find time to upload some of the photographs we took from our excursion into the ash cloud last weekend. We set off around 6 pm and drove to Selfoss, where we grabbed some dinner. We set off again around 8 pm and drove east, towards Skógar. It was a gorgeous [...]

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Our super-awesome eruption excursion

March 28, 2010

So EPI and I went and checked out the volcanic eruption on Friday evening. We decided to take a tour rather than drive up there ourselves, and chose to travel with Reykjavík Excursions since they were the first company that came to mind. The bus left at 6 pm from Reykjavík – I probably would [...]

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Winter pays us a visit

February 28, 2010

We’ve had a blast of winter up here in the last few days, after a very long spell where it was both dry and very cold. We got loads of snow, which was refreshing and also very pretty. I had to take my car to have the tires looked at and grabbed my camera as [...]

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Speaking of turf houses

February 23, 2010

In 1906, my great-grandfather Stefán drowned. In those years, widows and their children automatically became wards of the district council. My great-grandmother Þórdís was sent away to work on a farm in the vicinity and one of her children – her daughter Guðrún – went there with her. The other three children were all sent [...]

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MY ICELAND: Landmannalaugar

September 7, 2009

Landmannalaugar is a totally remote area in the southern highlands, far from any human habitation. As far as I know it is accessible only via two roads [unless you hike there, of course]. One goes past the power plants just north of the area and is accessible by regular vehicle [although the road is unpaved [...]

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MY ICELAND: Beautiful Snæfellsnes

June 10, 2009

This past weekend EPI and I attended the wedding of a dear friend. The ceremony took place here in Reykjavík and then a group of us drove up to beautiful Snæfellsnes peninsula  where there was a fabulous reception at Hótel Búðir, replete with three-course dinner and dancing afterwards. The following day the party journeyed up [...]

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MY ICELAND: the Christmas books

December 28, 2008

Every year in November, Iceland experiences what is known as jólabókaflóðið, or “the Christmas book flood”. It’s when publishers flood the market with new or [occasionally] re-released books, in time for Christmas. This is because one of the most long-standing Yule traditions in this country is to give the gift of books for Christmas – [...]

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MY ICELAND: The Phone Book

September 19, 2008

People from, you know, other countries, countries where they do proper family names and call each other Mr and Mrs and suchlike, are usually pretty aghast when they see our phone book. The Icelandic phone book lists everyone by their first names. Then comes your last name, then your address, then your occupation [to set [...]

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MY ICELAND: Berjamó

September 1, 2008

As I mentioned in a previous post, berries – especially blueberries and crowberries – grow wild in Niceland and reach their ultimate ripeness in late August to early September. That’s when Nicelanders head out to the fields with their buckets and Tupperware containers to scoop up these oh-so yummy yields of the earth. I think [...]

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MY ICELAND: Drangey

August 21, 2008

Few places I have been to in Iceland have impressed me as much as the island of Drangey, which we visited this past summer. Drangey is the manifestation of several things quintessentially Icelandic: awe-inspiring nature, mysticism and a multitude of stories. Earlier this summer I blogged about the outlaw Grettir Ásmundarson who is said to [...]

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