ByGD
Eldar
I started out with a list of back to back shows scattered throughout the festival, only to discover that venue-hopping has its drawbacks. The wind was picking up, which made the walks very cold, and gusts were strong enough to slow my progress. Despite careful triangulation, making it to every scattered show I wanted to see on Thursday wasn’t, um, possible. Read More
ByGD
Watching Asgeir Trausti
At first it was easy not to miss the kids during my trip to Airwaves because everything I was doing would have been sheer torture for them. Alone, a seven-hour flight felt much shorter than the five-hour flight I shared with the kids last summer. As I spent hours reading every last plaque in numerous museums, I thought to myself, “Thank god the kids aren’t here for this.” Sliding along the icy trail to Gullfoss Waterfall, I thought, “Good thing the kids are at home, I wouldn’t try this with them.” At Laugardalur Swimming Pool, I remembered one girl’s refusal to approach water without floaties and another’s refusal to approach water at all and felt relief that I could just relax without keeping an eye on kids or arguing with them about full participation in family adventures. Read More
ByGD
Oh my God, I’ve looked forward to this for so long it doesn’t seem real. October 31, 2012 – at last Iceland Airwaves is here!
I planned to follow official advice and take the first day easy, so I only put four shows on my schedule, with nothing until 6 pm. In the morning, I walked down to Prikið, which claims to be the oldest café in Reykjavík, hoping to find some waffles. I opened the door and almost knocked over the man standing just inside. The place was absolutely packed, and I was stuck blocking the door. Because none of my shows were there, I had not realized Prikið is an off venue. Icelandic singer-songwriter Myrra Rós was performing an acoustic set to a rapt audience. Read More
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Maritime Museum, Reykjavik
Tuesday was supposed to be a journo day, but I ended up with only one interview scheduled, and that at 8 pm. So it turned into Reykjavik museums day. I took it easy in the morning, walking along the harbor with a latte and taking as many pictures as my frozen fingers would allow. The wind picked up on Tuesday, and I had to drop my “It’s not that different from home,” refrain. Read More
ByGD
I watched sea turtles lay eggs at Ostional.
A few years back, I took a trip on a whim to Costa Rica with a girl I barely knew. It was about as good as travel gets; quixotic adventures, beautiful forests, picturesque beaches, interesting encounters, free tequila. We even got to watch endangered sea turtles lay eggs on a moonlit beach. We met a nice couple on that beach walk who were planning to drive their rented car to Liberia the next day, and invited us to join them. We had planned to take the bus to the Santa Elena cloud forest. There wasn’t really any reason we couldn’t ride to Liberia and take the bus from there to Santa Elena, but we decided to stick with the plan, and declined their offer. Read More