To live well in Iceland
Travels / / December 19, 2019
Eugene Melnyk
Composes music, poetry, prose. He reads a lot and writes about art, football, rock and nu-jazz. Mad About Dada, Iceland and mamleevskoy prose.
Iceland - one of the most mysterious places on earth. This is the place where the elves right legitimized by the constitution, and the postmen and police play football better than the guys that can squander 250,000 euros on champagne in one night.
Maybe now you want to know more about the Land of Ice and Fire, and may even begin to delay their salaries to ever go on this mysterious island. A lot will have to set aside, as the prices in the country of sheep and puffins are among the highest in Europe.
Products and prices
Iceland is known for its high food prices. A liter of milk is worth a little less than the euro, a kilogram of potatoes - 1 euro, bread - 2 euros. In this case, the price of meat fantastic. For example, one kilogram of pork sold for 14 euros, chicken - for 17 euros. But this is not the worst.
If you want to shikanut with some blonde lady in a restaurant, you should take the credit, because for a dinner of three dishes can be easily put over a hundred euros! But there is an alternative - to go to a local fast food and eat for "some" 15-20 euros.
But souls tortured fitter, better stay home. Icelanders are known for their ability to get drunk. At the same time in the morning they are like nothing had happened go to work. But the head could start to ache after you've become familiar with the value of "fire water" in Iceland.
For a bottle of ordinary wine will have to pay about 15-18 euros, beer - 2-4 euros. The stronger the drink, the more expensive it is. Tangle-legs so that the bottle can cost more than a bottle of quite good, but the light of French wine.
When simplicity is better theft
Vegetables in Iceland is also very expensive, since they are grown in greenhouses. Vegetable stalls are on the streets, but they do not sellers. Written on tablets prices, and there are a number scales and boxes for money. Yes, people come, weighed, put in a box of money, take delivery, and move on. In this hard to believe, so it's best to go to Iceland and see for himself.
The doors to the homes here are not locked up, but that's not the most unusual. It is interesting that a complete stranger can go to a lonely, lost in the mountains house, and he was immediately give to drink, feed and sleep was packed. In this case, if you are a prominent man, and in the house of one defenseless woman, the alignment and attitude did not change - tested on their own experience.
freedom of opinion
On freedom of opinion on certain topics taboo in Iceland is legendary.
For example, it is well known that one of the Prime Minister of Iceland Johanna Sigurdardottir pass for the first person, tilt the Government in the status of an open bisexual. This free relation to the orientation is not surprising because it is imbibed with mother's milk.
How? There are many geothermal sources, which come not only tourists but also locals. Take a shower before their visit is necessary.
Showers in Iceland, it is true they are located in public places, with the majority of them have no doors and walls. And the fact that Icelanders decided to ask the peer's name only after sex, and even then not always, you know, probably many.
nation mnogostanochnikov
In Russia, the concept of "mnogostanochnik" is usually associated with the tortured life of a man who turns on a few work for sustenance of the family. Oddly enough, but the Icelanders also have something similar.
Here, people do not order themselves designers and make repairs only themselves. Every second Icelander considers himself a great artist, a creative person. For this reason, many of the things that sometimes include tailoring, selection of furniture, home improvement, they do exclusively with their own hands.
But this is not all. In Iceland, the musician-comedian can become a prominent politician, the son of a barber - president and CEO of the bank - a fisherman. Famous throughout the world commentator Gudmundur Benediktsson not even a professional commentator, so as the main place of work was a football club "Reykjavik", where he served as assistant coach.
A son of a barber, Oulavyur President Grimsson, is at his post for 20 years. At the end of the fourth term, he wanted to resign, but he was not allowed citizens.
Iceland and its music
Music in Iceland is not just self-sufficient, but also influential in the context of world culture.
In 1997, there emerged a cult now collective Sigur Ros. Their music is called "magic", "Paradise", "divine." They play a mix of ambient, post-rock and minimalism. Jónsi Birgisson group leader known for his ethereal falsetto, and that is an open homosexual and plays electric bow. At the same time of all participants he alone has the appropriate education.
Icelandic compositions are often used as soundtracks. If you say something the names of the films "Vanilla Sky", "The Immortals: War of the Worlds," "Penelope," "Slumdog Millionaire", then it's time to listen to Hoppipolla track.
Iceland - a country of amazing proportions
Gary Lineker (legendary English footballer) admired the fact that volcanoes in Iceland longer than professional football players.
Volcanoes are actually more - 126 against 120. There is really a lot of things "more than people", it is not surprising that people learn a lot of different professions. For example, sheep more than homo sapiens, - 420,000 against 332,500.
But even more fascinating birds in Iceland impasse that as many as 4 million!
On the other hand, the island is absolutely no ants, with the scientists do not know why.
conservativeness
If you look the part, Iceland may appear very liberal country. The doors to the houses are not closed. As the long-awaited guest take any man in the street. Army there is no police almost the same. Products are without any outside vendors. Nude man in a public place - a usual phenomenon, and sexual orientation does not have a conservative social labels. But in fact, Iceland is one of the most conservative countries in the world.
Get a residence permit here is extremely difficult. Moreover, the Icelanders are so meticulous that they even have a special linguistic commission. For what? If the language is being introduced foreign word, the Commission is committed to creating local equivalent for it. For this reason, Icelandic perhaps the only one that has almost no archaic forms of words with meaning emasculated and other relict phenomena.
What language skalds Elder Edda wrote 1000 years ago, at the same read it now. Iceland is very jealous of all national, here literally everything is shrouded in tradition. Each encyclopedia says that the local parliament (Althingi) is considered the oldest in Europe - he was 1000 years. And even Icelanders want to join the EU, but changed their minds.
In general, if you decide to splash in the geysers, but Northern Lights - nabivate bags ISK and forth on a journey! It is true that in this country it is better to use credit cards as cash to pay here is not accepted.
Wondering how to live the waiters and other staff without tipping? Yes great live! Leave a tip in Iceland is considered an insult.