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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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Prime Minister and leader of the Independence Party (Sjálfstaedisflokkurinn) Geir H. Haarde and the new Foreign Minister and leader of the Social Democratic Alliance (Samfylkingin) Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir introduced the arrangement of Iceland’s new governmental administration last night.
Haarde met with his party members at Valhöll, the Independence Party’s headquarters in Reykjavík, and introduced his agreement with Gísladóttir on a joint policy for the new administration and on the appointment of ministers.
The council of the Independence Party formally agreed to the organization of the new administration with applause, Morgunbladid reports.
Gísladóttir met with her party members at Saga Hotel in Reykjavík where the new arrangement of the administration was also formally accepted.
Today the Prime Minister will introduce the new administration to the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson.
Haarde and Gísladóttir will then introduce their policy declaration at a press conference in Thingvellir national park outside Reykjavík, where Althingi, Iceland’s parliament, was founded in 930.
The two party leaders had held several meetings at Thingvellir while discussing the arrangement of the new administration, which has been nicknamed the Thingvellir administration, or “Thingvallastjórnin.”
A formal change of administration will take place tomorrow.
The cabinet of the new government has 12 ministries; some ministries were merged while others were divided. The Ministry for Trade and Commerce is now two separate ministries, while the Ministry of Fisheries and the Ministry of Agriculture were merged.
Other changes include local authorities being moved from the Ministry of Social Affairs to the Ministry of Transport and social security pension funds moved to the Ministry of Social Affairs from of the Ministry of Health.
The new ministers from the rows of the Independence Party are:
Prime Minister: Geir H. Haarde
Minister of Education: Thorgerdur K. Gunnarsdóttir
Minister of Finance: Árni M. Mathiesen
Minister of Justice: Björn Bjarnason
Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture: Einar K. Gudfinnsson
Minister of Health: Gudlaugur Th. Thórdarson
There is only one woman among the ministers of the Independence Party, Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir, and according to Morgunbladid, female party members are dissatisfied with these results.
Gudlaugur Thór Thórdarsson is new to the cabinet and he faces a challenge as the new Minister of Health. Recent reports have revealed long waiting lists for patients and lack of staff at the National Hospital. The new administration will look at ways to operate the health system in Iceland.
Sturla Bödvarsson, who served as minister of Transport, has left the cabinet but will serve as the President of Althingi.
According to Morgunbladid, Björn Bjarnason may step down as Minister of Justice after two years with Bjarni Benediktsson as a possible successor.
Independence Party voters demonstrated their dissatisfaction with Bjarnason by crossing his name out of the party’s candidate list in the elections, causing him to drop down one seat in parliament.
The new ministers from the rows of the Social Democratic Alliance are:
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Ingibjörg S. Gísladóttir
Minister of Industry: Össur Skarphédinsson
Minister of Social Welfare (previously Social Affairs): Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir
Minister of Trade: Björgvin G. Sigurdsson
Minister of Transport: Kristján L. Möller
Minister of the Environment: Thórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir
According to Bladid, former Minister of Trade and Commerce Jón Sigurdsson will discontinue as leader of the Progressive Party (Framsóknarflokkurinn) in the middle of June and former Minister of Agriculture Gudni Ágústsson will probably take his place.
Photos courtesy of althingi.is.
The average temperature of the three summer months, June, July and August, in Reykjavík this year was 12.2°C (54°F), which makes this the warmest summer in the capital since temperatures were first recorded in 1871, according to meteorologist Trausti Jónsson.
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The comedy sketch show Spaugstofan, which has been shown more or less continuously for 21 years on the Icelandic national broadcaster RÚV, has now been relocated to the private television channel Stöd 2.
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The crew of the sailboat Santa Maria from Hamburg, Germany, called for assistance when they ran out of fuel 140 nautical miles west of Reykjavík last week. The guard post of the Icelandic Maritime Administration contacted ships that were nearby and as it turned out the whaling ship Hvalur 9 was located closest to Santa Maria.
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The theater festival Lókal begins in Reykjavík today and will run until September 5. The program includes the show “The Great Group of Eight” held by the Kviss búmm bang trio where spectators have the opportunity to be national leaders for three to four hours.
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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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REVIEWS
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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