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 new Dreamliner, Boeing 787, landed at Keflavík International Airport yesterday morning for test flights in side wind. According to the airport’s information officer Fridthór Eydal, the airplane will be in Iceland for test flights for about a week.
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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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American supermarket chain Whole Foods Market (WFM) has decided to stop marketing Icelandic products because of Iceland resuming commercial whaling.
Minister of Fisheries Einar K. Gudfinnsson told Fréttabladid that the supermarket’s decision is disappointing and said it is possible that other American companies will react the same way.
The minister received a letter from Kenneth J. Meyer CEO of WFM’s East Coast branch in November saying the company could not continue marketing Icelandic products as their clients were opposed to whaling.
WFM will continue to sell Icelandic products in stores but Meyer warned that if the Icelandic government would not change their attitude towards whaling and customers would start boycotting Icelandic products, WFM would have to get specialty products like lamb from elsewhere.
Gudfinnsson told Fréttabladid that he had expected a short-term negative effect of the government’s decision to resume commercial whaling, but he believes that with time people will come to understand Iceland’s reasons for sustainable whaling.
To read more about commercial whaling in Iceland, click here.
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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