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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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The first Sunday of Advent is tomorrow, so today, the inhabitants of Akureyri will welcome the beginning of the Christmas season by lighting the Christmas tree on the town square. In Reykjavík, the Christmas tree will be lit tomorrow.
The Akureyrarkirkja church.
The tree is a gift from Randers in Denmark, which is Akureyri’s sister town, and the Danish Ambassador to Iceland Sören Haslund will formally present the tree to Akureyri inhabitants at the lighting ceremony.
The program begins at 2:45 pm when the Akureyri Big Band pays Christmas carols. Then the Children’s Choir of Akureyrarkirkja church will sing, and two “fairy maidens” from the Akureyri Theater Christmas play will perform.
Mayor of Akureyri Hermann Jón Tómasson will address the assembly, after which the lights of the tree will be turned on. The Icelandic Yule Lads will come to town in a horse carriage, sing to the children and treat them with mandarins.
The heart in Vadlaheidi.
Mulled wine and gingerbread cookies will also be available on the town square, while those keen on seeking shelter from the predicted frost can have hot chocolate and kleinur (twisted doughnuts) inside Kirkjubaer by the square.
The Yule Lads’ gruesome pet, the Christmas cat—an artwork by local artists—will observe the crowd with its watchful eyes, always looking out for misbehaving children.
At the same time that the Christmas tree is lighted, “the heart in Vadlaheidi will start beating again,” a press release describes. A heart of lights has been made in the mountain slope opposite the town.
Akureyri has a thing for hearts; even the town’s red traffic lights are heart-shaped.
The local ski resort also opens today.
For further information about the Akureyri “Advent Adventure” and other activities in Iceland’s northern “capital,” visit its official website, visitakureyri.is.
The 11th annual Night of Lights festival begins today in Reykjanesbaer municipality in southwest Iceland. Tomorrow and Saturday night, many of the country’s best bands will play in Reykjanesbaer and on Sunday local choirs will entertain guests.
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Iceland’s cabinet met at the presidential residence Bessastadir at noon today where new ministers were announced: Gudbjartur Hannesson of the Social Democrats will lead a new Welfare Ministry and Ögmundur Jónasson of the Left-Greens a new Ministry for Internal Affairs.
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The average temperature of the three summer months, June, July and August, in Reykjavík this year was 12.2°C (54°F), which makes this the warmest summer in the capital since temperatures were first recorded in 1871, according to meteorologist Trausti Jónsson.
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The comedy sketch show Spaugstofan, which has been shown more or less continuously for 21 years on the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, has now been relocated to the private television channel Stöd 2.
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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 2010 Eruptions 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
Dadi Gudbjörnsson's art with its smiley faces, Aladdin's lamps, gleaming hearts, blue mountains and psychedelic flora of unearthly origin reminds me of the cheesy R.E.M. song “Shiny Happy People”. The sugar-sweet naivety fails to amuse me but I must admit it infects my mood with delirious joy.
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Former President of Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir turned 80 on 15 April this year and Mayor Hanna Birna Kristjánsdóttir—in making her an Honorary Citizen of Reykjavík to mark the occasion—observed that Finnbogadóttir’s life was interwoven with that of Reykjavík. In June 1980 Finnbogadóttir made history when she became the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
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Today, August 30, and tomorrow is your last chance to visit the exhibition “Eau De Parfum” by Andrea Maack at the Spark Design Space in Reykjavík. In the exhibition space, Maack introduces three perfumes that are the result of her collaboration with French perfumery apf aromes & parfums.
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