Bar owners in central Reykjavík were kept busy last week by some 6,000 very thirsty NATO personnel, Vísir reports. The military personnel were stationed in Reykjavík on their way to Trident Juncture 2018, a NATO exercise to take place mostly in Norway, and the organisation’s biggest in recent years.
When taps ran dry at Sæta svínið and the American Bar, located in the centre of Reykjavík, owners made an emergency call to Ölgerðin brewery, who transported 100 additional kegs downtown to keep up with the demand. “They were hard-working, the dear boys,” remarked a brewery employee when asked about the military invasion.
“Yes, it was tremendous. It was an unbelievable crowd,” said Nuno Alexandre Bentim Servo, one of the owners of gastropub Sæta svínið. He says the party raged from Wednesday through Sunday, day and evening, though the troops were under instructions to be back on board by midnight.
The group has since departed for Norway, where they will presumably have more chance to sample the local ale. Nuno says he feels for his Norwegian colleagues. “I understand that in the main exercises in Norway the personnel will probably be around 40,000,” he stated. “They’ll probably need to get beer from Finland or something.”
