Archive for September, 2010

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TRAVEL DEALS OF THE MONTH

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010


Iceland Airwaves Package Deal

Every October, Reykjavik rocks hard. From October 13 – 17, see over 50 artists from Iceland, North America and Europe anywhere you choose with the included festival pass voucher. The intimate venues are all in the downtown area, so you can hop from one performance to the next.

This great package at a reduced price includes the voucher, airfare, two nights hotel stay and breakfast daily. Add additional nights stay, tours, excursions, anything you want by booking through Icelandair Holidays.

From $579 per person based on double occupancy. Click here for more info.

Reykjavik for $499

Reykjavik is a city that is small in size but big on energy. With award winning restaurants, a fabulous range of invigorating outdoor, clean and safe streets lined with fun shops and thumping nightlife, and spas to soothe mind and body, Iceland’s capital is a premier European city. Includes:

Round-trip air transportation in Economy Class from New York - JFK, Boston, and Seattle

Two nights at either Icelandair Hotel Loftleidir or Hilton Reykjavik Nordica in a standard room

Scandinavian buffet breakfast daily except arrival day

From $499 per person based on double occupancy. Departures Sept. 1 – Nov. 25.

Click here for more info.

Northern Lights City Break

The aurora borealis puts on a beautiful display from September to March in Iceland, where sightings are frequent due to its close proximity to the Arctic Circle. The good news is that Icelandair has announced the Northern Lights City Break. This Northern Lights tour, operated by Reykjavik Excursions, takes place the following evening of your arrival. Passengers are picked up at their hotel and driven to an area outside of Reykjavik to search for one of natures’ greatest phenomena. You can expect every tour to be different, as the location varies according to viewing conditions. The tour generally lasts three hours and makes for an exciting evening exploring the rugged Icelandic wilderness.

Click here for more information.

*Prices quoted are exclusive of applicable taxes and official charges by destination of approximately $100-$270, per person including the Sept. 11th Security Fee.

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THEY SAID IT

Monday, September 20th, 2010

“… the eruption has added a compelling new lure – not that you could tell from talking with the residents of the island, all 317,000 of whom appear to be rather unfazed by the whole thing. But while tourism may help Iceland dig itself out of financial ruin, the aftermath of the collapse means that hotels, restaurants, and guide services are ramped up and ready to go, with prices a relative bargain.”

- Robert Earle Howells, Men’s Journal September 2010

“From the outside this museum in Husavik is dainty and old-fashioned, but inside is a world beyond belief, with over 150 penises and penile parts of all sizes mounted, stuck and glued to the walls, hanging from the ceiling, and illuminated in glaring light. Be careful: some of these could have your eye out. Needless to say, no touching is allowed.”

- Huffington Post’s review of the world’s only Phallogical Museum located in yup, you guessed it, Iceland. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/12/9-weirdest-museums-in-the_n_680159.html#s125829)

“I hear Iceland is nice.”

- Blue Bunny Ice Cream TV commercial

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FAN MAIL

Friday, September 17th, 2010

If movie stars can get fan mail, so can countries, right? That’s why we wanted to share with you this note from Jeffrey Mermelstein, a clinical psychologist from Vestal, N.Y. His trip was booked by Sawtelle Travel (www.sawtelletravel.com):

“Iceland exceeded our expectations in all ways: beauty, lack of people, healthy food, lots of hiking, clean air, delicious water, and friendly people. We had not realized the extent to which the entire land is covered with volcanoes and glaciers – and that they would be so accessible – and that the number of tourists would be so few. We both love Europe – and Iceland turned out to be a wonderful way of getting to a less populated part of Europe,” he said.

“The hotel and guest houses were terrific in all ways – the views were fabulous; the food excellent; the staff helpful. My daughter Liza (in photo) is vegetarian and very health conscious – and all of the lodgings – indeed the entire country is very fish/health oriented.”

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ICELANDIC BROTHERS ON JAY LENO ASK: “WOODEN YOU LIKE TO LEARN A NEW TRICK?”

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

At the expense of making you think we need to get a life here at Dateline HQ, check out this link to a classic wooden spoon trick that aired on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show. The video was created for the winter Thorrablot festival in Iceland as a sketch to entertain guests during the country’s dark cold nights. Today it’s an Internet hit with over 600,000 views. It’s in Icelandic, but some things never need translating.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXPQY_VRP6M

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LEAVE ROOM IN YOUR LUGGAGE

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Grab your angel wings: Victoria’s Secret products are now being sold in Keflavik International Airport’s duty free store – a wide range of Victoria’s Secret fragrances, glosses, mascaras and eyeliners along with several travel packages and travel sets.

Keflavik is one of only few European airports that offer duty free products to both arriving and departing passengers. The duty free shopping area hosts two restaurants, three cafes, a bar, a bank and 18 retail stores selling both well-known products and unique Icelandic designs. Confectionary items, liquor, cosmetics and tobacco are also widely available.

In addition, the products in Keflavik’s duty free stores are very competitive in price to other European airports, and prices are up to 50 percent lower than in Reykjavik retail stores. So even if you’re not staying with us for a night or two, your Atlantic stopover can save you money when shopping at the airport. Or, consider various massages and spa treatments at the Blue Lagoon store. A seafood and health bar recently opened, offering passengers incredible fresh Icelandic fish before their flight. (For more information: www.kefairport.is/English)

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GREENS ON WHEELS

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Iceland is such a culinary paradise, sometimes its fun to go where the locals eat. In this case, the Ring Road town of Selfoss, the largest in south Iceland, where a non-descript vegetarian food truck run by Gudmuldur Erlendsson offers a tasty meal of lasagna, bread and hummus for about $11. You can then enjoy your meal on picnic tables in back. You won’t find them in any guidebook, but that’s why you read Dateline, right?

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VOLCANO? WHAT VOLCANO?

Monday, September 13th, 2010

After a particularly warm summer, the air over Iceland cooled down quickly late last month as a northerly breeze took control. This allowed the temperature atop the country’s highest mountains to drop below freezing for the first time since the spring. In fact, the top of Eyjafjallajokull is now white again with fresh snow. See for yourself at the hugely popular volcano webcams at www.mila.is (click “English” in the upper right corner).

Visitation to Mila’s web cams have reached four million since the first camera was placed at Hvolsvöllur last spring, making this the largest-viewed website in Iceland. Visitors have logged on from almost every country in the world except North Korea and Somalia, which we suspect have their own problems to contend with.

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ICELAND’S 100 YEARS OF MUSIC

Friday, September 10th, 2010

The end of August marked 100 years since the release of the first Icelandic-language musical recording. The record, Dalvisur, sung by Petur A. Jonsson, is only known to have three copies remaining in existence. One of the records is carefully kept at Recording House, the home of Icelandic public radio and TV station RUV, and is still playable.

Look how far we’ve come: In other Icelandic music news, British groups Rolo Tomassi, Neon Indian and Everything Everything have been added to this year’s Iceland Airwaves music festival, Oct. 13-17. Rolling Stone calls it the “hippest long weekend on the annual music festival calendar.”

For more info, click here and here.

www.icelandairwaves.is

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ICELANDIC AUTHOR KEEPS US GUESSING

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

And we’re not the only ones. Yrsa Sigurdardottir has been nominated by The Private Eye Writers of America, an association for writers of detective fiction involving professional private investigators, for a 2010 Shamus Award for best hardcover. Her book My Soul To Take: A Novel Of Iceland is her second crime novel to feature attorney Thóra Gudmundsdóttir, and involves a spa being built on haunted farmland. The mystery will continue until October 14-17, when the winners will be announced at the PEWA convention in San Francisco.

For more info click here.

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SOLAR NIGHTLIGHTS

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

It should be a stunning few months as the aurora borealis over Iceland ramps up activity heading into the fall. The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks has predicted a great season for the famed Northern Lights. Auroras are actually particles from the Sun interacting with the Earth’s natural magnetism, called the magnetosphere.

When the Sun’s particles, known as solar wind, hit the magnetosphere, they cause some of the gas in the atmosphere to light up, just like a fluorescent light bulb. It’s a fairly common sight in Iceland, but it gets even better when the long summer days begin to turn to long winter nights. Scroll down for a great Northern Lights deal from Icelandair.

http://www.enewswire.co.uk/2010/08/17/northern-lights-forecast-expects-increased-visibility-iceland/

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