New Year’s Eve in Reykjavik — Ring in the New Year Like a Local
We Icelanders take New Year’s Eve seriously — and it’s wildly fun. Forget tame countdowns: on December 31st, the whole country glows with thousands of fireworks, roaring bonfires, and late-night celebrations that echo well into the early morning. Reykjavík, in particular, transforms into one of...
Crack the Icelandic Aurora Code: Meet Iceland at Night
It’s that time again—time to sit down with my good friend Sævar Helgi Bragason, Iceland’s stargazer-in-chief. He’s the person I always turn to when the spectacular Icelandic aurora is set to dance across the sky. Readers will remember Sævar from our previous conversations about stargazing...
Want to Celebrate Icelandic Christmas – Here is the Ultimate guide
Icelanders go big on Christmas. Not only is generous gift giving a core feature of Icelandic Christmas. The festival lasts 13 days. Like elsewhere in the western world, Christmas celebrations and preparations start obnoxiously early, but we Icelanders try to extend the ancient solstice festivities...
The Icelandic Christmas Cat: Iceland’s Most Terrifying Yuletide Monster
The horrible Icelandic Yule lads were a gruesome bunch of trolls that terrorized children and stole food from hungry peasants around Christmas. Their parents were the horrible ogre Grýla, who ate naughty children, and her bedridden, lazy, no-good husband Leppalúði. And there was their pet,...