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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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British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling told the Politics Show on the BBC yesterday, after the results from the referendum in Iceland were clear, that the British government has tried to be fair towards Iceland during the Icesave dispute.
From London. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
According to visir.is, Darling explained it will take many years before the Icesave debt has been fully repaid.
“You don’t just go to a small country like Iceland with a population of a similar size as Wolverhampton and say: ‘Hey, you have to pay the whole amount right away.’ Therefore we have tried to be fair; the main issue is that we do get our money back,” he said.
Darling also said that the British government is prepared to be flexible when it comes to loan terms and conditions for a new agreement, even to cut the interest rate by half.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Finnish Finance Ministry, Ilkka Kajaste, said in an interview with YLE, the Finnish state television, yesterday that the Finnish government would not disburse any loans to Iceland until the Icesave dispute has been resolved, visir.is reports.
Finland is participating in the International Monetary Fund bailout package for Iceland, a EUR 1.8 billion (USD 2.5 billion) loan for restoring the economy in consistency with the IMF’s economic stabilization program for Iceland. Part of the loan has been disbursed but the second payment has been stalled.
Kajaste said it is impossible to know when the Icesave dispute will conclude and when the loan can be disbursed. The other Nordic countries are speaking along the same lines.
Prime Minister of Iceland Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir will give an oral report on the changed situation of Icesave after Saturday’s referendum when parliament convenes today. It is uncertain when negotiations with the UK and the Netherlands can resume.
According to visir.is, Sigurdardóttir and Finance Minister Steingrímur J. Sigfússon are eager to continue with negotiations where they ended last week but the opposition is against it. The Icelandic negotiating committee returned to Iceland from London on Friday.
Reuters published an analysis today about three possible solutions to the Icesave dispute: a new agreement in the coming days or weeks, a new agreement after a few months’ delay or no agreement at all.
Click here to read more about Reuter’s analysis and here to read our last story about Icesave.
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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