Maybe it would be best for both Jón Bjarnason and the whole country if he were to move to Grímsey, an uninhabited island in the West Fjords.
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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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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 hiking path across the Fimmvörduháls mountain ridge is now open and hikers have begun crossing the new lava created by the eruption on Fimmvörduháls and the ash emitted during the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull.
Fimmvörduháls during the eruption. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
“It was strange to wake up in sunshine and calm weather in the green Thórsmörk (a highland valley) and then hike up there to see these obscure circumstances; steam is rising up from every hillock and you could even look straight into the red magma at one place,” described Snorri Gudjónsson to Morgunbladid, who made the trek with his friends and family on Sunday.
“We walked on brand-new lava and on top of it was ash from another volcanic eruption—it was unbelievable,” Gudjónsson said.
There was heavy rainfall during the hike up to Fimmvörduháls but the rainwater turned into steam as soon as it hit the ground which is still warm because of the volcanic activity underneath. The steam created a special atmosphere, the hikers said.
“When we came down again into a green grove and sunshine, it was like a dream in our memories, it was so absurd to be in this black environment with rain and fog and then enter this green world again,” Gudjónsson added.
The eruption in Eyjafjallajökull has yet to be declared officially over but the volcano has been quiet lately.
Click here to read other news related to the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull.
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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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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