Archive for March, 2016
Golden plovers seen in Iceland! Posted by hulda on Mar 31, 2016
If ravens entering towns is a sign that winter is coming, sightings of a golden plover mean summer is on its way. The golden plover is a migratory bird that only spends the warm season in Iceland so it’s gained itself a reputation of a spring bringer, and each year people eagerly wait for its first…
Easter proverb time. Posted by hulda on Mar 28, 2016
What’s Easter without the Icelandic tradition of people giving each other gigantic chocolate eggs filled with more chocolate, candy and proverbs? Not a proper Easter says I! The eggs must absolutely be of the Icelandic variety too, nothing else will do unless… unless the eggs meet a certain criteria. The chocolate itself is delicious but while…
What’s Iceland without ice? Posted by hulda on Mar 17, 2016
Iceland, the name alone says something about the country. By now everyone’s probably seen that one meme that compares Iceland to Greenland making fun of the misleading names, but at least one has always been able to point out that at all times you can and will find ice in Iceland, just go visit a…
Iceland-compass. Posted by hulda on Mar 10, 2016
Compass, what a wonderful, helpful tool… or so you would think until you come to Iceland and realize that the Icelandic idea of what’s in which direction and what it should be called differ somewhat from the rest of the world’s idea of directions. For example, West Iceland. That would be from Westfjords to Reykjanes…
Fin whales safe for summer! Posted by hulda on Mar 3, 2016
Whales are in the news now that one of the biggest whalers of Iceland, Hvalur hf., has announced there won’t be whaling of fin whales this summer due to problems in whale meat exporting to Japan (link). The Icelandic market is so tiny and whale meat is no stable dish here that it simply isn’t…