The Ground Of Intense Cold Under The Pole Star

Landsbanki Research has published a new long-term currency forecast. Once again things have darkened a little bit since their last report.
In the short run the ISK will continue to fluctuate near its current level. The deeper than expected and more persistent nature of the global credit crunch will delay any substantial ISK appreciation. Positive long-term prospects should boost the currency in 2009. This situation limits the flow of foreign currency into the country. Although the ISK has been in a weakening phase, they expect any further depreciation to be short-lived. The ISK will continue to be volatile until early next year.

Here’s what you can read in the wikipedia page of Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur.

Bæjarins beztu pylsur (English: The best hot dogs in town) often shortened to simply Bæjarins beztu, is a popular hot dog stand in central Reykjavík, Iceland. In August 2006, the British newspaper The Guardian[1] selected Bæjarins beztu as the best hot dog stand in Europe.

The majority of Icelanders have eaten at Bæjarins beztu. It’s downtown near the harbor and has been open since 1937. Foreign visitors are often brought to the stand to introduce them to the hot dogs there, which are often called “the Icelandic national food.” Among famous people who have eaten at Bæjarins beztu are Bill Clinton, former president of the United States, and James Hetfield, vocalist of the popular heavy metal band Metallica.

A hot dog and a soda cost 380 krónur (£2.35) (as of March 2008). The sodas available are from the Coca-Colaremolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish. Hot dogs are often ordered with “the works,” i.e., all condiments, or in Icelandic “eina með öllu” or “one with everything. and condiments include ketchup, sweet mustard, fried onion, raw onion and  and remolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish. Hot dogs are often ordered with “the works,” i.e., all condiments, or in Icelandic “eina með öllu” or “one with everything”

Someone has to explain me where the hell does that come from? I’ve never understood why there was a huge queue in front of the small stand. People have declared this place as the best hot dogs provider in a town full of them. Yet, I can assure you they use the same bread, the same horrible sausage and the same crappy Krónan mustard and ketchup. So it remains a total mystery for me. I’ve put it in the “Icelanders-that-have-stated-this-to-be-the-best-in-Iceland” long list.

I upgraded WP to 2.6 yesterday and had to correct few bugs on old posts. Some characters were inserted here and there. I realized that my old post back in 2006 were dealing a lot more with Reykjavik’s streets and its nightlife. As things have dramatically changed during all that time I decided to write about what you could expect from a weekend downtown. Before getting into the tick of things, I’d like to point out that the right term would be more accurate if I would say how I see it rather than what’s expectable. But you know that already.

Let’s start walking up to Bankastræti, Austurstræti and Pósturstræti to end up in the world famous Laugavegur.
Thorvaldsen is the first café you’ll meet down there. I believe they probably serve the best latte’s in town. At night it turns into a club where people under their 40-something would feel young and erm… alone.

From the other side you’ll see Rex… …always empty. You’ll find people with fancy clothes but more in a bankish-kind-of-style. I met Björk there once though, she was drunk and wearing a dead wolf and her shoulders. Go figure…

EnskiBarinn, the english pub is always a nice place to hang out. People are quite mixed so you could basically see different type of people, from the executive to the redneck. You don’t have so much drunkards, well it’s still Reykjavik so don’t expect too much. And they have the funny spinning wheel to turn ;). 1500,- for a chance to win a meter of beer but more likely… …loosing your money. The music is however almost non-existent.

Café Paris, I have never been there at night, it  closes at 1am anyway.

Apótek is always a crowded place, I spent an hour there last weekend, and let me tell you how much that place sucks. The best way to describe it is by closing your eyes and picture it as the Sólon (see below) of the 30-something. People are animals there, music is inaudible and a Gin tonic will cost you 1100,-.

Hressingarskálinn (Hressó) is a place I like but after 11pm it turns into a zoo. For some reason it’s the place for crude people. It is usally quite packed and the music turn into an horrible mixture as soon as the two guitarists leave. From 10 to 12pm (I don’t know really), there is usuallly a band playing. It’s all right if it doesn’t bother you to hear the same songs every weekend.

Now, we reach Laugavegur. B5 on the left. I tried it only once, there is nothing worth mentioning there. The design is sweet. I don’t recall how is the music like. One point really draw my attention though. They have the best hand dryer in Iceland. The most high-tech and perfectionate you can find. It dries your hand in no time!

Prikið is the place for hip-hop lovers. But don’t get it wrong, not some sort of gettho hip-hop or something. It’s more open in style but that’s one of the few place we’re you could listen to Arrested Development for example. However the design layout is a bit tricky: 25 people will pack the whole floor and make it unbreathable.

Næsti Bar, never done.

Cultura is an odd place. Totally unpredictable but worth trying. One day it’s packed and the music is awesome, and the other day it’s empty with a guy adding file on Winamp. It’s also where generally you would see the most mixed crowd in terms of culture.

Sólon is a rather big bar on the corner of the first street down Laugavegur. The music is very bad. It’s not unusual to hear two time the same tune within the same hour. People says it’s the douchebags area, hmm why not.

Tómasar Frænda: been there once, I don’t remember. it’s very small anyway.

Hverfisbarinn: Been there twice. It’s horrible, that’s where all the rednecks gather up. Bar fight are usually very common.

Bar 11 is a rock bar. It’s pretty descent if you like that kind of music.

Kaffibarinn: The most over-rated bar in Reykjavik. Always packed, and always full of people/tourist trying to enter. The bouncers are outrageously impolite. Posh people inside and an age average of 17 for the girls. The only good point of this place, is the music. I have to admit, they play some really good tunes.

Vegamót: The second place where you can listen to some hip-hop. Only difference is, Djs are really good. The place is famous for having a very good menu for lunch and dinner but hold also some high standard for partying.  Usually a very big queue can be expected, but bouncer are nice and pro ;)

Ölstofan is right next to Vegamót. There is no music in there which make the whole concept a bit different than elsewhere. People aren’t very young. Some people find the place charming, some other depressing. Maybe… I’m not a huge fan.

Oliver: I’m not sure what to say for that one. I’ve been there a couple of times. The clientèle is usually around their 30s. Music is ecclectic and the place is rather big. One would say that people in Oliver tend to spend more money than anywhere else.

6 9 13, is a club (not really a bar) that opened his doors last winter. I guess it’s a matter of weeks before they close. Horrible place, with a bad design, bad music and empty all days. It’s really different from what you could expect from Reykjavik. There is nothing picturesque about it. It’s just a room with an Ikea-rapidly-done design.

22, previously called Barinn, previously called 22, is a sort of compromise between all the bar. It’s not so frequently packed. It has 3 floor (The last floor is a smoky aquarium). The music is generally good.

I guess I certainly omitted few bars. It’s probably because I have never been there or just because there are too many bars in Reykjavik :) It’s important to mention that all the bars and cafés listed are totally different, and I mean it, during the day. Those tendencies are really applicable on Friday and Saturday nights only.