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Click on the picture to watch an audio slideshow of a hike to Hraunsvatn lake in Öxnadalur valley in north Iceland, which lies at a height of 490 meters, interlocked between two steep mountains and a small glacier with a view of the majestic Hraundrangar peaks.
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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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It is expected that up to 18,000 people will attend the Thjódhátíd festival in the Westman Islands next weekend—the Merchants’ Weekend which is celebrated with outdoor festivals in Iceland—which is a new record and 4,000 more visitors than last year.
From the festival's website.
The first tents were erected at the local campsite in Herjólfsdalur valley yesterday and ferry tickets with the Westman Islands’ ferry Herjólfur are sold out until next week. The ferry will take 2,000 people to the islands today, visir.is reports.
A number of people have booked flights to the Westman Islands and charter flights will be offered from the Bakki airport near the new harbor, Landeyjahöfn in Bakkafjara.
The police are preparing for a busy weekend and a police drug dog will be used to sniff most festival goers when they arrive to the islands. The weather is warm and sunny and the forecast is good for next weekend.
The Merchants’ Weekend (Verslunarmannahelgi) is always held the first weekend in August with the first Monday in August being a national holiday, originally established as a holiday for merchants. The festival is celebrated with outdoor concerts and festivals throughout Iceland.
Thjódhátíd in the Westman Islands is the largest festival; other popular festival locations include Akureyri, Neskaupstadur and Siglufjördur, not to forget Ísafjördur, where an annual swamp soccer tournament takes place. This year there will also be a horse show festival in Skagafjördur.
Click here to read more about the origins of the Merchants’ Holiday, here to read a column about the festival weekend and here to read more about the new harbor in Bakkafjara.
Click here to read more about Thjódhátíd.
Jinky Young’s mother, Marilyn Young, is demanding a further examination of DNA samples from Chess Grand Master Bobby Fischer,
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The knife a pair of fifteen-year-old boys found in the Hafnarfjördur marina which could possibly be the weapon used to murder Hannes Thór Helgason is still under examination in Sweden.
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Mayor Jón Gnarr deeply regrets the controversy created as a result of comments he made during an interview with French news agency AFP regarding his watching of pornography.
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Thirty-nine swindlers have been exposed in the past two months, thanks to a special notification button on the Social Insurance Administration’s home page which allows people to alert authorities of suspected benefit fraud.
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The second issue of the print edition of Iceland Review 2010 has just been published. Entitled “Under the Volcano” the magazine dedicates 20 pages, words and pictures, to the volcanic eruption in Eyjafjallajökull glacier which made headlines all over the word. New subscribers will receive the book Puffins as a gift and all subscribers are part of a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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REVIEWS
Future of Hope is an aptly named documentary directed by Henry Bateman about what some people are doing to shape the future of Iceland, hoping that above all, the crisis will ultimately strengthen the country.
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There can’t be many novels that are heralded as being “a purification for body and soul” recommended to “those who enjoy experimental cookery” (review of November Rain in DV newspaper) and “as beautiful as a painting from the golden age” (review of The Offspring by Danish newspaper Politiken). However, Reykjavík based writer, Audur Ava Ólafsdóttir, has attracted such attention not to mention literary prizes.
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Have a laugh this week by visiting Hafnarborg, the Hafnarfjördur Centre of Culture and Fine Art, where the exhibition “Humor in Icelandic Art” is currently running. The exhibition consists of works by contemporary Icelandic artists from different generations which deal with humor and irony.
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