Click on the picture to watch this audio slideshow about Icelandic domestic animals. Many people are familiar with the Icelandic horse, a special breed of small sturdy colorful horses, which have a unique gait called tölt. The Icelandic sheep is also well known, as are the Icelandic cows and the Icelandic sheep dog. However, fewer people have heard of the Settlement Goat and Settlement Hen.  more

Akureyri (“gravel bank field”) promises visitors a lively stay with its many art galleries and museums, outdoor recreation in summer and winter, an awakening of the taste buds at the town’s gourmet restaurants and breathtaking views of natural sites around the corner. Take a look at this special promotion about Iceland’s northern capital.  more

A long time ago, when Ringo Starr was a star, he came to Iceland. An eager television reporter asked him while he was still on the plane:

"How do you like Iceland?"

"Don't be daft woman! I'm not even here yet!!!" he replied.

We are a nation in crisis. We don’t know who we are or what we are, and we still have the mindset of a bigoted sheep farmer from one century ago.

Sheep farmers actually embarked on a long ride to Reykjavík in 1905, to protest that Iceland was getting an innovation, what we call telephone today.

We think we are a nation but we are just a one-horse town. A one-horse town that thinks we can stand outside the real world.

There are people who think the ISK, the króna, our currency, is worth something, and a solution in the long term.

There are people who think that we should not join EU, that we will lose our independence. Is Monaco, which is not in the EU, more independent than France, which is a founding member of the EU?

There are Icelanders who think we are something special. Unique.

I have visited close to one hundred nations and every one has its specialty, its unique flavor. Even Azerbaijan where I stayed last week.

Even there—where I stayed in a prison cell for a short while because I was taking pictures of trees—the first question I got from everyone was: "How do you like Azerbaijan?"

That is insecurity, like in the one-horse town Iceland is.

I like it here, therefore I live here. But I don’t like the notion that we are the special one.

The notion that we can stand outside the big, big world out there. We are part of it, not a single star shining above in the sky. Not even close to Ringo Starr, who maybe is a star, after all.

Páll Stefánsson – ps@icelandreview.com

P.S. I did not vote in the referendum. The referendum was a meaningless joke.

Icelandic Folk Legends – Tales of Apparitions, Outlaws and Things Unseen is a collection of 12 Icelandic folktales in an English translation. The small and handy book includes both stories that practically every Icelander knows by heart as well as lesser known stories. Although I would have preferred a broader context, this book is a good present for people interested in learning more about Iceland’s past.  more

There’s a new breed of traveler roaming the globe these days. Set on doing more than going to location x, snapping a few memorable photographs of the tourist traps therein, and returning home with some knick-knacks for their mantle, voluntourists are spending longer periods of time in their destinations of choice, giving back to their host communities and getting lifelong memories in return.  more

If you visit Reykjavík Art Museum – Hafnarhús this week you can disappear into the “Neverland” of Katrín Elvarsdóttir, an exhibition featuring the artist’s photographs of caravans, shrubs, trees, buildings, or lanes. The exhibition is part of Hafnarhúsid’s D series.  more