Each autumn for the past five year , CCP Gameshas hosted a fanfest to celebrate its massively multiplayer game , EVE Online . The caller is based in Iceland , so it host the issue in its place metropolis of Reykjavík , cap of the country and house for most of the country ’s population . I ’ve been to Fanfest twice — I chronicled the event last class in this very blog — and with each sojourn , I love Iceland more .
So this installment of the Game Room blog is less about EVE Online and its fanfest — developers showed off the game run bounty graphics and announce plans to fetch the game to retail shelves next March — and more about what I see and did on this twelvemonth ’s head trip to Reykjavík and beyond . If you ’re an EVE Online player , possibly this will inspire you to take the trip next autumn .
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Jaw-dropping vistas are par for course, only a few minutes outside of the city.
Getting to Iceland
Flying to Iceland is a simple affair — Icelandair is the interior airline , and it declare oneself direct flights from several North American city including my home city of Boston . It ’s a relatively short escape — a niggling less than five hours fly west to east , which is less metre than it would take me to get to Los Angeles . Recently Icelandair upgraded its atmosphere fleet with amend signature - screen in - flight amusement organisation in the seatbacks , so I did n’t need to rely on my iPod ’s cache of classical movies to get me through the flight . I was able to toy some games , watch over some episodes of the Simpsons and even burned through part of a James Bond picture before we landed .
flying land in Keflavík , which is about an hour ’s drive southwestern United States of Reykjavík . Keflavík offers a magnanimous , well-off and modern airport filled with responsibility loose shops and connecting flight that bring passengers between North America and much of northern Europe .
The kronur and the dollar
Right now Iceland is in the handgrip of the recession that ’s pip much of the world , and Iceland has been strike intemperately than most . The Icelandic government activity late had to nationalise Glitnir , the land ’s third largest bank , in an attempt to stabilize the economic system . Those proceeds are being keenly felt by the local populace , which is being hit hard . But the news , perversely , is good for tourist from countries with warm economies than Iceland’s — admit the United States .
Last year at this clock time , my American dollar bill was worth about 55 Icelandic krona . This class , my dollar was worth more than twice that , though inflation had n’t driven up monetary value that much . Last twelvemonth , everything from buying a eating house meal to getting a soda at a public toilet store was absurdly expensive ; this year , it ’s more reasonable , though still a tad pricey — not surprising , for an island nation that must import almost everything that it apply .
Jaw - dropping vista are par for course of study , only a few minute outside of the city . Reykjavík proper is dwelling house to more than 118,000 hoi polloi , but many more go in its straightaway vicinity — more than 200,000 , all evidence , the majority of the entire nation ’s population , in fact , exist within 50 km of the city . It ’s located on a peninsula that extends into Faxaflól Bay , on Iceland ’s southwest seashore . Iceland , and Reykjavík , in special , is n’t as cold-blooded as one might expect , thanks to the Gulf Stream , which winds its way up from warm Atlantic climes to the southward .
The sun sets in Iceland. Early, this time of year.
Reykjavík is a very oecumenical city with a solid European flavor , and lots of peachy restaurants and shops . I spent a lot of time last week on Laugevegur , one of the main drags of Reykjavík , where many locals go to see and be seen in the evening . It ’s also home to ( and a short stumble from ) many of Reykjavík ’s nightclubs .
Even before the recession hit , buying alcoholic beverage in restaurant and ball club was expensive in Iceland . A draft beer , for example , routinely costs more than 800 ISK — about $ 3.50 today , but $ 7 when I travel to last class ; motley drink and hard hard drink can be half again to twice that , depending on where they ’re being serve . So many Icelanders prefer to stay home on Fridays and Saturdays and toast there , up until 11 p.m. or midnight , when they last begin to come out for a pub creeping business district . And there they ’ll stay , often until the bars and clubs shut , at 6 a.m. The rest of the week , bars close at 1 a.m.
Reykjavík—Party capital of the North
The Sunday sets in Iceland . Early , this time of year . Located as Reykjavík is at the sixty-fourth Parallel , it ’s the world ’s most northern national capital . This is particularly apparent this meter of class , when the days grow short — the Dominicus did n’t rise until about 9:30 a.m. and never got more than about one - third of the path into the sky before it start set again . By 4:30 p.m. or so , it was dark . Conversely , during the high summer , it can be 2 ante meridiem , and it still depend like late afternoon or dusk , harmonise to some of my colleague who have experienced the effect .
Iceland maintain Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT ) , aligning its clocks with London , which is a several - hour - long sheet head trip to the due east . The area has been settled since 874 , when , according to legend , Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Anarson surveil two carved pillars he threw overboard from his sauceboat until they land . He call the position Reykjavík , which means Bay of Smoke — a reference to the full-bodied geothermal activity in the expanse .
My digs at the Grand Hotel Reykjavík . Very comfy and modern room in a recently - added 14 - tale increase . I stay at the Grand Hotel Reykjavík , site near the EVE Fanfest venue , a large indoor sports arena known as Laugardalshöll . While the hotel started lifespan as a modest Holiday Inn , it ’s now the biggest hotel in Reykjavík , with a 14 - account addition and rooms that look like they drop out of an Ikea catalog . Getting to business district Reykjavík need a five or ten - bit cab ride , calculate on location .
My digs at the Grand Hotel Reykjavík. Very comfy and modern room in a recently-added 14-story addition.
The city is getting better about filtering its geothermally heated water , so there ’s no longer a rotten - bollock smell when you launch the bathroom or the rain shower . I particularly appreciated the high-pitched toilets , obviously scaled for someone of Nordic stature — my shorter friends complained , repeatedly , about postulate footstools to reach them , but I base the thrones to be perfectly comfortable .
Nightlife in Reykjavík consort the gamut from glamourous , voguish and incredibly Eurocentric ( fill up with beautiful people wearing expensive orient clothes ) to homey American - style sports bar and English / Irish saloon . I spent most of my prison term in the latter , and grew quite fond of the local lager , called Viking .
I was also initiated into the worldly concern of Brennivín — one of Iceland ’s signature alcoholic drink . Translated as “ burning wine-coloured , ” Brennivín is schnaps , made from spud and season with caraway seeds . good served ice cold , Brennivín ’s cognomen is “ svarti dauthi ” ( “ Black Death ” ) because of its black recording label ( purportedly put there to warn people away from consuming it ) . Many Icelanders ( and saucy foreigners ) do not drink it ; alas , I can put no such claim to wisdom .
The view from behind the waterfall
Reykjavík fun numerous coffee shops and plentiful asynchronous transfer mode , lots of places to bite and people - watch , museum , theatre of operations and other distraction . And the language barrier was non - existent . Everyone with whom I spoke , even out in the country , speak English fluently .
More than once during my hitch , my booster and I found our way to Nonnabiti , a sandwich shop on nearby Hafnarstræti . get it on to its acolyte as “ Nonni ’s , ” it ’s something of a local fable ( “ best drunk solid food in Iceland ! ” predicate one cab number one wood proudly ) , and if you ever go , I ’d strongly commend try either the beef and high mallow or the lambabatur ( the lamb sub ) . Both are fantabulous and comparatively inexpensive . Service was favorable and efficient .
By the agency , tipping is a relatively recent and still infrequent phenomenon in the country . In most of the restaurants I inflict , there was no place on the check to compose a bakshis and no citation of it on the menu , and most waitstaff do n’t have a bun in the oven it . It is becoming more common especially in office frequented by tourer — I run across a telephone number of tip jolt in some of the bars I frequented while I was there .
This rock shows some graffiti dating back to the 18th century.
At least I think they were backsheesh jars . After a couple of slugs of Brennivín , well , I could n’t be certain of anything .
What did I just eat?
If you ’re a vegan , you might feel Iceland a bit knotty going ; the local diet depends on a lot of nitty-gritty and dairy products . And no part of the animate being goes wasted , it seems . A tour guide I sent the day with say me a story of leading a tour political party of vegetarians the week before and being asked to baby-sit elsewhere at dejeuner , as he was eat heart and soul from a fume sheep ’s head , cut flat from the bone .
Without question , though , the swell bon vivant escapade one can have in Iceland is to sample hákarl ( typically served on cubes with toothpicks , like an artisinal cheese ) . It ’s bask shark that ’s been cured and hung to dry for half a year , and it has a pungent , ammonia rich smell that I can only depict as somewhere between tuna casserole that ’s been left out in the August sun and dank New York City alleyway .
Eating hákarl require a very strong tum , which explains why its white plague is one of those ritual that Icelanders put poor foreigners through on their way to earn their stripes as honorary Vikings .
We stopped for a bit to marvel at this glacier, which is (quickly) melting into this pond below.
Many Icelanders do not eat hákarl , I ’ve discovered , though it ’s pronto usable in storehouse . Despite this anecdotical grounds to the opposite , I remain convinced that hákarl is simply a prank Icelanders play on foreigners to see who will put disgusting thing in their mouths .
I wo n’t abuse you with any graphics verbal description of some of the other Þorramatur ( Thorramatur , a winter banquet ) fragility , I ’ve hear , like súrsathir hrútspungar ( checkWikipediaif you really must roll in the hay ) .
In Thor’s Forest
While last year ’s Fanfest afforded me trivial opportunity to sightsee , this year was n’t the same . I was able to get outside Reykjavík and tour a scrap of the countryside , end up in Þórsmörk — Thorsmork , or Thor ’s Forest , a vale about two hour ’ drive aside from Reykjavík that ’s named after Thor , the Norse god of thunder . To get there , you follow Route 1 — a ring route that run around the circumference of Iceland . Our guide , Luli , secern me that to do it properly you needed at least a week , though you could easily duplicate that by diverting off to side roadstead and coastal route .
Iceland is an incredibly geologically active environment , as it sits atop the Mid - Atlantic Ridge , where the continents of North and South America are pulling away from the Eurasiatic and African continents minute by bit . Republic of Iceland is at the forefront of rein geothermal vigor — Reykjavík was lately vote the fleeceable urban center on Earth , despite having a less - than - adequate public transport system and a dependency on privately - owned cars . More than once on our trip-up , we were subject to the side effect of such unusual geological activity in wafting , invisible clouds of sulfur - distort steam , toilsome with the reek of rotten ballock .
We go on through Iceland ’s farm region and past the town of Hverageroi , known for its glasshouse vegetable . Hverageroi is also known for its hot natural spring , and has for year been a spot where masses go to bath in naturally strong , mineral - rich leap . We also passed within site of Hekla , Iceland ’s most active volcano . The vent stands almost 1,500 meters high and is due for another eruption any day now , fit in to our tour guidebook .
The scene from behind the waterfallOne of the first sites you see when you extend to the valley of Thorsmork is Seljalandsfoss , one of Iceland ’s most famous and beautiful waterfalls . If you ’re a fan of the television receiver show The Amazing Race , you may recognize this — it was seen in Season Six . The falls comes from the river Seljalandsá , which empties about 60 beat above the pool below . A track lead behind the falls , and when you get mid - way , you ’re overwhelmed by the deep bass sonorousness made by the water as it plunges into the pool below . One of my tour better half likened it to nature ’s translation of a rave .
Thorsmork is a vast valley bisect by the river Krossa , and our guide — driving full - sized Nissan Patrol 4x4s with outsized tire and , in some cases , snorkels for air consumption , navigated it with simpleness . You could also tell they were having a great minute of fun — they’d often ford mysterious glacial stream , finding unique path , then double back and see if their colleague could do good . Having said that , there was a approximative track cut through the river valley , though it was nothing navigable by any fomite with anything less than full - prison term four - roulette wheel drive .
Thorsmork is wall on two sides by glaciers — Tindfjallajökull and Eyjafjallajökull , and the river cut between sight . As a result , the conditions in Thorsmork can be very balmy even when there are vicious winds lash around elsewhere — it ’s a very gentle valley with some of the better farming in the state , accord to Luli .
After we ’d bump and shove our way over Krossá , which was largely dried up this clip of twelvemonth as its piddle are trap back in the glacier that feed it , we got out and walk a trail to the river Markarfljot . That trail took us up a pair of relatively steep slope — a few of us had to stop and catch up with our breath . Mountain streams and brooks frequently bisected the trail , but there were mickle of wooden footbridges to help us fall ( a few of them had suffered a bit of harm and wear , however ) .
This rock shows some graffito date back to the eighteenth 100 . As we deign down a exorbitant wooden stairway weave down the side of the lead , we stopped to look up to some graffiti carve into the soft rock . Some of it dated back to the eighteenth one C , if the sculpture is to be trust .
Once we descended into Markarfljot Valley , we caught up with our term of enlistment template , who had labialize the lowlands in their vehicle . And waiting for us on the sideboard of one of the Nissan vehicle was some impudently cool down Brennivín , which never tasted better .
Driving back from Thorsmork , Luli noted that Iceland is suffering the effects of spheric thaw , and its glaciers are receding at an alarming rate . Iceland ’s glaciers are very active , and often pull back and grow independent of short - condition climate changes , however . That can create some challenging terrain on which to hike and navigate vehicles .
We stopped for a chip to wonder at this glacier , which is ( quickly ) melting into this pool below . Luli explained that Iceland itself has dramatically dissimilar geological part . Much of the landscape we saw was unbroken unvarnished , not unalike to the American Midwest , though much surface-active agent . It ’s no curiosity , then , that that ’s where much of the land ’s dairy cattle and sheep are raised , and where texture is spring up . It does n’t take long to find hot springs , glaciers , mountains , active volcano , and waterfalls , however .
Iceland is a land of rude beauty and wonderment , with a Das Kapital rollick some of the liveliest night life in all of Europe . My advice is to book a trip-up if you get a chance .
