DATELINE ICELAND

Welcome to the new Dateline Iceland. Welcome to an unabashedly and totally biased look at one of the most adventurous countries in Europe (yes, indeed, even though we’re between the U.S. and Europe, we’re still considered a part of Europe, but without all that funny new Euro money they’re using over there).

So rather than pack the kids up and fight the crowds at one of those mouse-themed amusement parks, or getting yourself in a traffic jams watching bears out west, take flight for a truly memorable vacation. Icelandair has a number of packages that take advantage of special savings during the
off-season.

>Christmas, Chanukah, or Kwanza
>Turkey and Icelandic Brennivin
>Christmas in Reykjavik 2004
>Enjoy an Early Christmas in Iceland
>Be On Top of the World This New Year's
>Spontaneous Traveler
>Now What's This About Those Icelandic Christmas Lads?
>Purity With Every Bite - Icelandic Lamb Now Available...
>Rolling Stone Digs Singapore Sling
>Laxness Museum Opens
>Don't Get Fleeced this Christmas
>Crossing Iceland for Charity
>Iceland Makes News - France: Eat Your Heart Out
>They Said It

Christmas, Chanukah, or Kwanza - no matter how you celebrate, one way to make this the most memorable holiday season of all is to spend it in Iceland. Besides the lights, the 13 Christmas Lads, and the beauty of the place, where else can you travel during the holidays while taking advantage of off-season rates? The holiday cheer you’ll find on our little island in the North Atlantic will be sure to warm you and your family during this special time of year.

Let’s start with some extraordinary packages from Icelandair:

Turkey and Icelandic Brennivin
Thanksgiving holidays tend to all run together in the memory. It’s a great holiday, but it’s the same thing every year. How about adding some more spice to the yearly feast by coming to Iceland? Icelandair and Hotel Loftleidir have put together an American Thanksgiving dinner with Icelandic specialties in a three-night package. Prices start at $599 per person. (As for the Brennivin, you’re on your own. It’s powerful stuff). More...

Christmas in Reykjavik 2004
Come to the Land of the 13 Christmas Lads and discover the warmth of an Icelandic Christmas. This is the time of beautiful candle and light displays, Nordic Christmas music and delicious holiday treats unique to Iceland. Whether you are going with kids or kids at heart this is a special way to try another country's holiday traditions. Our Christmas package includes a special "Preparing for Christmas" city tour of Reykjavik, a Christmas Eve dinner Nordica Hotel, and a Christmas Day Dinner - Hotel Saga. Prices start at $769 per person. Departure: December 23, 2004. More...

Enjoy an Early Christmas in Iceland
Are you interested in giving truly rare and unique gifts? Well how about some “adventure shopping” in Iceland? This is the greatest excuse you will ever have to avoid the terrors of the pre-Christmas shopping mall. Christmas in Iceland is replete with references to the country’s Viking heritage and the mystical creatures some say still lurk. Here is your chance for your family to experience the traditions of an Icelandic Christmas and still be home in time to celebrate your own. Prices start at $885 per person. Departures: December 2, 9. More...

Be On Top of the World This New Year's
Viking New Year’s roars into Reykjavik with fireworks, bonfires and dancing that goes on all night. Say goodbye to 2004 in grand style at the famed Pearl Restaurant, renowned for its gourmet fare and panoramic views. Over three nights’ stay you will have the opportunity to see the most famous sights in Iceland on the Golden Circle tour, familiarize yourself with one of the hottest capital cities in Europe with our Reykjavik City tour, and partake in all the Nordic New Year festivals you can handle. Prices start at $1,089 per person. Departures: December 28 and 29, 2004. More...

Spontaneous Traveler
If you feel stuck in a rut we have just the way for you to climb out, a Midweek Getaway to Iceland (departures on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday). A two-night trip to our closest European neighbor is just the thing to inject a little adventure into your life. The best part about this whole deal is the fact that it is our best value. Prices start at $359 per person. (Not available between Dec 15, 2004 and Jan 5, 2005). More...

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

For more details, call 800 779 2899 or log onto www.icelandairholidays.com

Now What's This About Those Icelandic Christmas Lads?
The 13 Christmas Elves a.k.a. the Christmas Lads have absolutely nothing to do with the international red-clothed Santa Claus, who is a version of St. Nicholas. The Christmas Lads are descended from trolls, and originally they were bogeymen who were used to scare children. During this century they have mellowed, and they sometimes wear their best, red, suits. But they still tend to pilfer and play tricks.

The number of Christmas Lads varied in olden times from one region of Iceland to another. The number 13 is first seen in a poem on Gryla (the Lads' mother) in the 18th century, and their names were published by Jon Arnason in his folklore collection in 1862. About 60 different names of Christmas Lads are known. They visit the National Museum on each of the 13 days before Christmas. They usually wear their old Icelandic costumes, and try to pilfer the goodies each likes best. Best of all, we love the names. Introducing: Sheepfold Stick, Gully Oaf, Pan-Scraper, Spoon-licker, Pot-licker, Bowl-licker, Door-slammer, Curd Glutton, Sausage Pilferer, Peeper, Sniffer, Meat Hook, and who can forget Candle Beggar. (What? No Sleepy and Grumpy?) Click here for more information about the Christmas Lads

Purity With Every Bite - Icelandic Lamb Now Available at Whole Foods Markets
Lamb is Iceland's favorite meat and no wonder: sheep are allowed to graze freely in mountain areas over the summer, feeding on the fresh grass and wild herbs of Icelandic highland pastures that give Icelandic lamb its distinctive flavor. It's purity you can taste with every bite.

From now through the Holiday season, fresh, pure and natural Icelandic lamb is available in over 100 Whole Foods stores nationwide. The meat is an outstanding natural product that comes from small sustainable farms throughout Iceland. The lamb are bred, born and grazed untouched by human hands, neither fed nor doctored in any way. This completely free range tender meat comes to you without antibiotics, hormones, herbicides or pesticides. What's more, Icelandic lamb contains OMEGA-3 Fatty Acid for better heart health. Click for the location of your nearest Whole Foods Market

Rolling Stone Digs Singapore Sling
Icelandic rockers Singapore Sling have made it onto Rolling Stone's
Hot List of five best songs this month with "Guiding Light,” a song from
their new album "Life is Killing My Rock and Roll." The album is currently in eighth place on the University Play List in the U.S., according to Rolling Stone. Singapore Sling was a featured act at this year's Iceland Airwaves festival and is touring the U.S. in support of their new album. Learn more...

Laxness Museum Opens
Prime Minister David Oddsson joined Audur Laxness, widow of Iceland's only Nobel Laureate, for the opening of the Halldor Laxness Museum in Mosfellsbaer, just outside Reykjavik. The museum is built in Laxness’ home called Gljufrasteinn (which means canyon stone) and was the workplace of Halldór Laxness and his family for more than half a century. The Icelandic government purchased the building along with all of the house's artwork two years ago.

Laxness' family donated the house's original furniture. Guests can view Laxness' study and workspaces in perfect order, and learn about the career of this prolific author - in his long career Laxness completed more than 60 books. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1955.

Personally, our favorite is Laxness' prized 1968 Jaguar 340, which is parked in front of the house. More...

Don't Get Fleeced this Christmas
Once sheep are rounded up in Iceland each year, the lucky ones just get a little haircut. Much of the wool winds up at Alafoss, the world-renowned Icelandic wool company located just outside Reykjavik in Mosfellsbaer. The Alafoss factory shop is housed in a 100-year-old wool mill and offers the country’s greatest variety of quality woolen garments, blankets and yarn. There you can find a huge selection of woolen sweaters ranging from traditional styles to high fashion, along with accessories such as gloves, mittens, caps and scarves, and other textile items such as blankets. Prices are considerably lower than those charged elsewhere. More...

Crossing Iceland for Charity
Got a favorite charity? Well here’s an idea: raise money for a worthy cause during your next visit. That’s exactly what one U.K. mother of seven plans next summer. Rita Hakner, 56, will travel 60 miles across hot springs, the active volcano Mount Hekla, and a canyon surrounded by ice caps on her trip of a lifetime.

The expedition, which will take place over nine days next July, will aid the Macmillan Cancer Relief, a charity close to Rita's heart because she recently lost a friend to the disease. Click here for more information on the Macmillan Iceland Hiking Challenge. www.macmillan.org.uk/Iceland

ICELAND MAKES NEWS
France: Eat Your Heart Out
If suddenly it seems as if Iceland is everywhere in the media, you may be right. For a remote country like Iceland, we’ve managed to capture some impressive publicity, exposure that would make some of our fellow tourist board directors a bit jealous. People are talking about Iceland. It’s time for you to visit to find out why. In August and September alone, you likely saw Iceland in:

CBS TV Sunday Morning - 15 min. report

PBS TV - major story on Reagan - Gorbachev Summit in Reykjavik.

Travel and Leisure (August) features Iceland in their "Ultimate Travel Guide"

New Yorker Magazine (Aug. 23) runs a 12-page feature story on Björk.

Nickelodeon launches "Lazy Town," a daily program for children produced from Iceland.

New York Daily News sends reporter to North Iceland to cover horseback riding.

Wall Street Journal feature story (Sept. 1) on the puffins of the Westmann islands.

Los Angeles Times feature story (see below).

They Said It
“Iceland certainly looks as though it could be Elf, Troll and Fairy Central.
Sveinki and I were surrounded by large pillows of spongy moss that draped grotesque outcroppings of lava. A surreal shade of neon-green grass grew everywhere in exuberant tufts, even on the rooftops of rustic mountain huts. Damp caves provided entrances to tunnels that once ran red with liquefied lava. In some places the ground smoked or sputtered up geysers. Rivers reeked of sulfur. Every year, volcanoes punch holes through the country's icecaps in eruptions of ice and fire, and hundreds of earthquakes rattle Icelandic bones. With all that, the possibility of imps with pointy ears and mischievous intent seems plausible.” - Margo Pfeiff, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 12, 2004.

“Most of Iceland’s 287,000 residents, the bulk of whom live in party-happy Reykjavik, speak English, so getting the information you want and getting around is easy. During our visit we found the Tourist Office, located smack in the heart of the city center, to be extremely helpful. Even though we knew we wouldn’t have time this trip, we picked up loads of brochures outlining excursion to nearby waterfalls, glaciers, pony farms, and hot springs, along with a full-featured guide for ‘doing Iceland on your own.’ Reykjavik Excursions has the corner on the market for Reykjavik side-trips, offering every urban and nature-inspired day trip imaginable, from guided city tours ($40) to glacier adventures by boat ($502, including airfare).” -- Adrien Glover, Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel. Click here to read the entire story.

“Other first ladies may champion a sole cause, such as health care or literacy. (First Lady) Moussaieff, however, has taken on all of Iceland, traveling around the world to promote the country’s art, film, interior design, fashion and cuisine … Dorrit Moussaieff makes it a point to ensure that Iceland is on everyone’s map.” - Natasha Singer, W Magazine, October 2004