Anybody Spent any time in Reykjavik?

[Overpaid Slacker]

Thinking of going there for a few days. Don't know why, exactly, just think it'd be interesting.

So, any intel would be greatly appreciated.

Best,

JP

[Hugh R]

Not been, almost went once for a show. I've been told that tobacco and alcohol are incredibly highly taxed.

[Rikao4]

Party city, women are stunning,
Rika

[Overpaid Slacker]

.... well, those are two of the prime reasons I'm thinking of going.

Any experience there, recommendations, etc?

JP

[Rikao4]

Wish I could remember more, there is a photo of someone holding up the plane by it's nosegear,
but more than likely the nosegear was supporting me.
Folks are friendly, it's desolate..so let's party
Rika

[Rikao4]

JP,
You will NOT regret going.
Rika

[Andras Nagy]

JP,

I spent some time there in the 80's, and it is a magnificent place.

Rather than party every day, all day, get to see some of the unique items that are no where else in the world:
1. Geothermal pools and how they use it to heat the houses and greenhouses.
2. The Island and Volcano of Surtsi; it was born in the 80's, and still growing.
3. The bleak landscapes, where our astronaughts trained for the moon mission (looks just like the moon's surface. There are no trees on Iceland.
4. Check out the Icelandic ponies, tiny little guys with 24" long hair, and a gorgeous chesnut color. You could even buy their hides (when they died of old age, of course).
5. Check out their women - they are a mix of Scandanavian, German, Irish, you name it, and the melting pot has made them beautiful. And almost all of them speak English.
6. The US air base, since it is the first line of defense against the resurgent Russian Bear.

It's a special place, deserving in-depth touristing.

[HardDrive]

Bonk Bjork.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Bonk Bjork.

Not sure if they'll let me bring in a sufficient quantity of antibiotics to even consider that.

JP

[TerryBPP]

LOL, just last night I was looking at a map and wondering why I have never considered a trip to Iceland considering its so close to the eastern US. Looked at Reykjavik on the southern coast. Small world. Tell me how it is.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Rikao4

Party city, women are stunning,
Rika

Thats about the most important things there. Been there several times and loved it every time!

If you are going this time of year, get ready for about 3 hours of sunshine during the day. Really spooky, gets somewhat light about 10 am, brighter about noon, then about 2 pm starts going dark again.

Its an old Danish colony, so they drink and a lot! Nice people, and the only country in the world where 100% of the people can read and write.

Have a good time and ask them to try some of the aquivit. Then try it again, and again about 5-6 times. It will warm you up! There is some in my freezer right now but then I am part Danish.

Joe

[FOG]

Worked out of Kevlavik a number of times. It’s not as cold as say Norway or Greenland.

Not a lot of down time. Drinks were very expensive, beers starting 10-12 bucks on up so we’d pre-flight before going into Reykjavik. The deal was sealed when the young lady either danced with you or accepted a drink.

The Blue Lagoon for mud for hot mud baths were interesting. Very beautiful in an austere sort of way.

The Northern Lights are incredible, especially on the Northern coast. My limited camera skills and assets didn’t do them justice. The Northern lights are even more impressive at altitude on goggles.

S/F, FOG

[fingpilot]

In the 'old days', we used to use Reykjavik as a fuel stop when the equipment I was flying wouldn't make it non-stop to Euro from NYC.

There was an airport hotel right in town (The LoftLeider, as I remember) that was run by only women. As said before, stunning...... The noise eventually shut the town airport down, and we had to fly in and out of Keflavik (waaaay out of town). The rumor was that the shortage of men was because they were all out fishing or died young, or something, but there was a DEFINATE excess of women there.

Nuff said?

Oh yeah, lots of Volcanos and hot tubs.

Do not remember much more than that, haha.

[imcarthur]

There is a nice article in the current National Geo about Iceland. See Online Geo - Iceland

Ian

[89911]

Bring your camera and some Viagra I have heard repeately that the women are beautiful there:

Now, the real reason I was in Iceland. Babes. Tall, blond, curvy babes. And if you believe what you read, which you should if you are reading this, the rumors are true. There is very little subtlety in the motives of the average Icelandic woman when she is attracted to you. Especially at 1:00 AM on a Friday night on the street in front of my hotel.

The Icelanders party like screaming Canadian spring breakers in Cancun every goddamn weekend. Right about the time that people in most U.S. cites are usually being shooed home the Icelanders are just getting warmed up. If you show up at any night club in Reykjavik before 1:00 AM, you better be able to entertain yourself, because you will be sitting there alone with one bartender and a bored bouncer who is likely to curtly ask you, "Why are you here so early?" After 1:00 AM however, watch the hell out! Icelanders pile into the bars and clubs by the bus, taxi, and car-load, already ripped to the tits.

Alcohol is taxed like Boston tea in most of Scandinavia and in Iceland the drinks get more expensive as the night wears on, hence a couple rounds of drinks after 1:00 AM could almost make your car payment. Accordingly, there are two main approaches to a night on the town in Iceland. Either you buy one ridiculously over-priced drink and slowly milk it for the entire evening or you can employ the more popular practice of getting royally stewed at home, which is only slightly less fantastically expensive, before heading out and staggering around all night on the fumes from that bender. I had learned these drinking tips during my first stay in Iceland, so I came prepared with two bottles of duty-free vodka which I dipped into at about 11:00. A few cocktails later, I sauntered out the front door of my hotel, with yet another drink in my hand and was almost immediately knocked down by two women. After a couple slurred words, they hooked my arms and lead me to the their favorite club. At this point I was mentally reviewing the rumors about the Icelandic women and I was unsure of what to expect, but my curiosity quickly wilted away after we sat down at our table. The blonder of the two immediately grabbed my hand and with a beautiful ****-eating grin on her face placed it firmly in her crotch and then crossed her legs for good measure. The night just got more depraved from there. If you'd like to hear about it, buy the book.

The basic Icelandic night-out schedule goes as follows:

9:30PM: Get ready.
10:00PM: Begin consuming anywhere from three to 12 cocktails.
12:30AM: Get on the bus.
1:00AM: Arrive at the club.
1:05AM Find the recipient of your affection.
1:06AM - 3:00AM Dance like idiots in between performing minor, public sex acts over in the corner.
3:02AM Take a whiz. If you're feeling generous, buy a couple $15 cocktails for you and your partner.
4:30AM Start thinking about leaving.
5:17AM: Find your jacket.
5:30AM: Go to the hotdog wagon in the main square and stand in line behind 1,342 other drunks to get your requisite post-club hotdog with the works.
6:15AM: Find a taxi. Decide where you're going to spend the night.
6:45AM: #### (Sorry this part has been edited down for content, length and because my parents are probably going to read it.)

If you rouse from your drunken slumber early enough the next morning you will see Reykjavik's main drag in a rare state of complete filth. Cigarette butts, food, clothes and the stunning spot where it appears several dozen contestants competed in the World Glass Breaking Championships. Otherwise life in Reykjavik has returned to normal for six more days until they kick out the jams all over again.

The isolation of Iceland has given the populace a special bond, like they are all part of a huge, but exclusive club. They have their own language, their own unlimited power source, their own government (the oldest in all of Europe) and they have a weird, quiet, pride as a result. Too quiet. In fact sometimes you have to pull teeth just to get them to cough up a complete answer about anything. The Icelanders working in the service industry are not prone to volunteering information or even good vibes for that matter. This makes for very stunted customer service skills that you should be prepared for. If you walk up to the desk guy at your hotel and greet him with a smile and a friendly "hello," you are likely to only receive a blank stare and silence in response. He's not being rude, he just doesn't feel compelled to return the sentiment and apparently this is perfectly normal behavior. Information is given out dutifully, if sparingly.

I learned the hard way that you need to ask about every, little detail when you are questioning an Icelander or you will end up muttering to yourself like I did on a surprise 45 minute bus ride in the opposite direction of where I needed to go. After waiting an eternity in the pouring rain, I was so thrilled to see the bus that I became momentarily lax in my usual interrogation of Icelanders when seeking information. When I asked the bus driver, if he was going downtown, he quietly replied that he was. Relieved, I slogged onto the bus and blissfully collapsed into a seat. The bliss cloud quickly evaporated however when instead of turning toward the city, the bus driver swung around to head out to locations unknown. After a brief wait to give him the benefit of the doubt, hoping that he was simply taking a bizarre shortcut, I clamored to the front and said, "I thought you said you were going downtown?" to which he replied, "I am going downtown." I was more than a little beside myself as I made my way back to my seat while he pulled onto a busy thoroughfare heading even further out of town. It finally occurred to me that I had forgotten to ask him when he was going to go downtown. Of course he was going downtown! But since I failed to ask when he was going downtown, he didn't feel obliged to add the part "... after I take you on a lengthy tour of the southern suburbs." So, technically it was my fault for not asking a complete question.

These gripes aside, I really enjoy Iceland. It's lively, unique, unspoiled and a friendly country (customer service industry people excluded, of course). And if you time your visit for the height of the summer solstice, you will get the added bizarre sensation of nearly 24 hours of sunlight every day, which will scramble your body-clock into a giddy, discombobulated mess. Combine all of its offerings and you could conceivably spend a three day weekend in Iceland without a minute of sleep and never have an idle moment.