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 11th annual Night of Lights festival begins today in Reykjanesbaer municipality in southwest Iceland. Tomorrow and Saturday night, many of the country’s best bands will play in Reykjanesbaer and on Sunday local choirs will entertain guests.
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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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The Icelandic parliament, Althingi, will at noon today vote on whether Iceland should apply for membership to the European Union and subsequently launch membership talks. The vote will take place after leaders of the five parliamentary parties have presented their views on the matter.
Inside Althingi. Copyright: Icelandic Photo Agency.
First, MPs will vote on a proposal from the Independence Party for a double referendum—whether a referendum should be held on whether membership talks should be launched in the first place, Fréttabladid reports.
Not only Independence Party MPs support that proposal. Gudfrídur Lilja Grétarsdóttir of the Left-Green Movement, which along with the Social Democratic Alliance comprises the coalition government, has openly declared her support for a double referendum. Other Left-Green MPs, as well as MPs from the Progressive Party and Civic Movement, are also likely to vote in favor.
However, if the government’s parliamentary resolution on EU membership is rejected and the Left-Greens act against their partner in the coalition, the Social Democrats and the coalition government will suffer such a severe setback that the government could automatically collapse as a result, according to Fréttabladid.
Ruv.is reports that the voting today could go either way. While it originally looked as if the majority of MPs supported the government’s parliamentary resolution, three out of four MPs for the Civic Movement, who previously were in favor of EU membership, announced yesterday that they are determined to reject the resolution and vote for the the Independence Party’s proposal.
Thór Saari, one of the Civic Movement’s MPs, explained that he, Margrét Tryggvadóttir and Birgitta Jónsdóttir want the Icesave debate to be postponed until next fall. If it is not, they will not support the government’s resolution on the EU. Saari, Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir and Finance Minister Steingrímur J. Sigfússon attempted to arrive at a compromise last night, but in vain.
RÚV will broadcast live from the voting at Althingi today, starting at 12 noon.
Click here to read more about Iceland and the EU.
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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