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As a kid I thought airports were the most romantic places in the world. Now, while other airports destroy my jet-setting romanticism, Keflavík aptly revives it.
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Click on the picture to observe how to prepare a traditional Icelandic meal of roe and liver (hrogn og lifur). At this time of year, egg pouches are harvested from female fish, mainly cod and haddock, and sold in fish stores around the country along with the liver. The egg pouches may not look appetizing; just remember that caviar is fish eggs too.
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Fjallabyggd (“Mountain Settlement”) is a skier’s dream. Its slopes are perfect for slaloming and there are also tracks for telemark skiing. Winter sporting enthusiasts can also go ice skating or rent snowmobiles. In summer, Fjallabyggd turns into a paradise for hikers. Read this special promotion about one of Iceland’s best hidden gems.
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Prostitution became legal in Iceland after a new provision in the Penal Code was accepted by parliament on March 17. It is both legal to solicit sex and to buy sexual services, but it is illegal for a third party to profit from prostitution.
According to the 206th article of the Icelandic Penal Code (almenn hegningarlög), soliciting sex in Iceland was illegal until the new law was accepted, as RÚV reports.
The 206th article stated: "Anyone engaging in prostitution for own upkeep shall be subject to imprisonment for up to 2 years." That paragraph has now been deleted.
The government argues most people who solicit sex do so because they have no other choice or because they are forced into prostitution by others.
By making soliciting sex legal, the government believes individuals who have been forced into prostitution would rather come forward and lead police to those responsible.
Buying sexual services was legal in Iceland before the adoption of the new law provision, and that remains unchanged.
Dorit Otzen, director of Reden, a women’s shelter in Copenhagen for prostitutes, some of whom have a foreign background, told RÚV she approves of legalizing prostitution, but only soliciting sex, not buying sexual services.
Otzen predicted Iceland would now become a destination for “sex tourism” and that human trafficking to Iceland would increase.
With the new provision punishment has become stricter for those who profit from the prostitution of others, force or encourage others to solicit sex.
The official English translation of the 206th article of the Icelandic Penal Code states: “Anyone having his/her employment or upkeep from the unchasteness of others shall be subject to imprisonment for up to 4 years.”
It continues: “Anyone supporting by means of alluring, encouraging or intimidation that others have carnal intercourse or other sexual intimacy against payment or making unchasteness a source of earnings, such as by the leasing of accommodation or other means, shall be subject to imprisonment for up to 4 years, but fines or [imprisonment for up to 1 year] in case of mitigating circumstances.”
A new clause has been added to this paragraph making it illegal for a third party to organize sexual relations between others for money, even though he or she does not profit from it.
With the new law provision it has also become illegal to advertise prostitution.
The 206th article states (unofficial translation): “Anyone who offers, mediates or requests sex with another person for money in a public advertisement is to be published with fines or imprisonment for up to six months.”
According to an article accompanying the law provision is an explanation that the goal of making advertising prostitution illegal is to make prostitution less visible.
The government of Iceland and the opposition in Iceland’s parliament reached an agreement yesterday on a discussion point to use in renegotiations with British and Dutch authorities on the Icesave obligations.
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Icelandair has submitted a request to the Ministries of Justice and Industry that operating casinos be legalized in Iceland. The company is interested in opening a casino at the Hilton Hotel Nordica on Sudurlandsbraut in Reykjavík.
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Icelandic stamp collector Magni R. Magnússon recently found a rare stamp sheet from Liberia portraying President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson in a collector’s store in Belgium. Liberian post authorities issued stamps with almost 200 world leaders in 2000.
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The Icelandic pavilion which was designed for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai was presented to the representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the committee preparing Iceland’s participation at the Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús on Friday.
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New subscribers to the quarterly Iceland Review magazine will receive the photography book Puffins, which contains a wealth of information about this colorful bird, as a gift. Additionally, all subscribers will enter a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to Iceland Review. The new issue will be out next week!
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REVIEWS
When I first heard of the photographic book Legend by Fiann Paul, portraying people dressed in Viking-style in Icelandic landscapes, I imagined it would depict scenes from Norse mythology. However, the idea with the book is to tell a story of how “The Seeker” finds “The Legend” and it feels like a wishy-washy self-help book.
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Fresh back from Brazil, where she was one of 28 international judges at the ‘Cup of Excellence’ awards, Kaffitár founder and owner Adalheidur Hédinsdóttir sat down with Atlantica’s Mica Allan in Kaffitár’s Bankastraeti cafe to talk about her passion and delight: coffee.
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“Lucy” is a video and music installation by Dodda Maggý (1981), the 15th artist to exhibit in Reykjavík Art Museum’s D-gallery project in the Hafnarhús exhibition hall. In “Lucy” the artist explores the idea of the “acousmetre,” a film character portrayed only by voice, never in body, omniscient and ubiquitous.
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