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As a kid I thought airports were the most romantic places in the world. Now, while other airports destroy my jet-setting romanticism, Keflavík aptly revives it.
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Click on the picture to observe how to prepare a traditional Icelandic meal of roe and liver (hrogn og lifur). At this time of year, egg pouches are harvested from female fish, mainly cod and haddock, and sold in fish stores around the country along with the liver. The egg pouches may not look appetizing; just remember that caviar is fish eggs too.
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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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Iceland’s Foreign Minister Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir received a letter from Stewart Baker, Assistant Secretary for Policy for the US Ministry of Homeland Security, yesterday, saying he regretted the treatment of an Icelandic tourist earlier this month.
The letter states that the incident gives the US Ministry of Homeland Security a reason to review work procedures regarding how foreign tourists are being received in the US, Morgunbladid reports.
Erla Ósk Arnardóttir Lilliendahl was arrested at JFK airport in New York on December 9 for an earlier visa violation. After 24 for hours of interrogation and humiliating treatment, being locked up in a prison cell, barred from making phone calls and refused food and drink, Lilliendahl was deported.
Gísladóttir met with the US Ambassador in Iceland Carol van Voorst on December 13 and demanded an apology from US authorities. Following the meeting, van Voorst contacted the authorities at JFK airport as well as the US Ministry of Homeland Security.
“I believe this is a very successful conclusion of this case,” Gísladóttir told Morgunbladid. “I’m happy for Erla Ósk that the US Ministry of Homeland Security responded quickly to her case. I would also like to thank the US Ambassador in Iceland for her part in this.”
According to Morgunbladid, both Icelandic and American lawyers who have experience of the American justice system have contacted Lilliendahl and offered to represent her case in court. But Lilliendahl has not decided whether she is going to sue.
“I could not, in fact, have imagined a better outcome of this case, this is more than I had expected,” Lilliendahl said, referring to the US Ministry of Homeland Security’s decision to review its work procedures regarding how foreign tourists are being treated. “They are not admitting a mistake as such, but they regret the poor treatment I received.”
Gísladóttir said she is satisfied with Lilliendahl taking her story to the press and how Icelandic authorities reacted to it. “The fact that Iceland is a small country where all distances are short and every individual matters, results in Icelandic authorities taking such stories seriously, which may not have happened in other countries.”
“We must hope that this case will result in things like this never happening again in the future,” the minister concluded.
Click here to read more about this story.
Minister of Transport Kristján L. Möller decided yesterday to follow the advice of the committee supervising the finances of municipalities and appoint a three-person board to reorganize the finances of Álftanes, a neighboring community of Reykjavík, which has gone into insolvency.
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Norwegian lawyer Morten Furuholmen is preparing a lawsuit against Icelandic authorities for what he calls an unfounded arrest of Leif Ivar Kristiansen, the leader of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Norway, at Keflavík International Airport yesterday.
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The government of Iceland and the opposition in Iceland’s parliament reached an agreement yesterday on a discussion point to use in renegotiations with British and Dutch authorities on the Icesave obligations.
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Icelandair has submitted a request to the Ministries of Justice and Industry that operating casinos be legalized in Iceland. The company is interested in opening a casino at the Hilton Hotel Nordica on Sudurlandsbraut in Reykjavík.
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New subscribers to the quarterly Iceland Review magazine will receive the photography book Puffins, which contains a wealth of information about this colorful bird, as a gift. Additionally, all subscribers will enter a draw to win a trip to Iceland. Click here to subscribe to Iceland Review. The new issue will be out next week!
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REVIEWS
When I first heard of the photographic book Legend by Fiann Paul, portraying people dressed in Viking-style in Icelandic landscapes, I imagined it would depict scenes from Norse mythology. However, the idea with the book is to tell a story of how “The Seeker” finds “The Legend” and it feels like a wishy-washy self-help book.
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Fresh back from Brazil, where she was one of 28 international judges at the ‘Cup of Excellence’ awards, Kaffitár founder and owner Adalheidur Hédinsdóttir sat down with Atlantica’s Mica Allan in Kaffitár’s Bankastraeti cafe to talk about her passion and delight: coffee.
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“Lucy” is a video and music installation by Dodda Maggý (1981), the 15th artist to exhibit in Reykjavík Art Museum’s D-gallery project in the Hafnarhús exhibition hall. In “Lucy” the artist explores the idea of the “acousmetre,” a film character portrayed only by voice, never in body, omniscient and ubiquitous.
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