How the Icelandic Language Came to Be The history of the Icelandic language dates all the way back to the 9th century, when settlers, mostly from Norway, came to live in Iceland. What was spoken at that time was Old Norse and this eventually evolved into Old Icelandic. Like many cultures, the language was passed…

When does summer in Iceland start? While most Icelandic people agree that the weather is more “summery” in June, the beginning of summer in Iceland is officially celebrated on the first Thursday after April 18th. In Icelandic, this day is called Sumardagurinn Fyrsti and it is an official holiday. The ironic part is that, historically,…

Besides the Reykjavík area, the South Coast of Iceland is by far the most popular part of the country that is featured on social media, blogs and in one of Justin Bieber’s music videos. People from around the world are flocking there in droves. According to  the Icelandic Tourism Board’s statistics for 2017, during the…

For episode 10 of the All Things Iceland podcast,  I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Gunnar Örn Ingólfsson, a practicing psychologist in Iceland. We spoke about the state of mental health care in the country. Even though Iceland has consistently ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world, according to The…

I had the pleasure of chatting with Bjarney “Baddý” Hinriksdóttir, a yoga instructor and yoga studio owner in downtown Reykjavík about yoga in Iceland. Like many Western countries, Iceland has seen a significant rise in the number of people practicing yoga. With just a quick Google search you can easily find 4 or 5 studios…

This is the third and final part of my interview with Iceland’s youngest President of City Council, Dóra Björt Guðjónsdóttir. If you haven’t listened to part 1 and part 2 yet, I highly recommend that you do. Dóra shines a spotlight on the political scandals, deep seated beliefs and opportunities for positive change in Iceland…

My love of delicious beer and curiosity about Iceland blended together perfectly when I sat down to chat with Óli, the brewmaster at Ægisgarður brewery. While there are bigger and well known breweries in Iceland, I was drawn to Ægisgarður for a few reasons. The first is that I got married in that brewery in…

I had the pleasure of interviewing  Jón Gnarr, Iceland’s most famous and funniest Mayor. Jón became Mayor of Reykjavík not long after Iceland’s economic crash in 2008. His victory was just as shocking to him as it was to many others in the country and around the world.