Ah, fall. One of our favorite times of the year. While the leaves may be changing where you are, we don’t have any leaves. In fact, we hardly have any trees so our thoughts are already turning to the holidays. Of course, being so close to the North Pole gives us an edge on celebrating Christmas. After all, as everyone knows, we’re Santa's first stop on Christmas eve.

It’s not too soon to make plans to celebrate the holidays in Iceland. As they say, if you wait another year, you’ll just be one year older when you finally visit.

INTIMATE LUXURY CRUISE SHIP SAILS FOR ICELAND

Tired of those mega-cruises on floating cities? Here’s an idea for experiencing Iceland on a more intimate ship: an eight-day voyage aboard the all-new Le Boreal , a sleek 264-person yacht slated to launch next May. The 466-foot Le Boreal , available through Tauck World Discovery, is a ship small enough to provide a truly intimate cruise experience yet large enough to provide amenities usually found only on large cruise ships. There are six decks, and each of the ship’s suites and staterooms will be outward facing. What’s more, 95 percent of all accommodations will have private balconies.

Departures are scheduled for July 22nd and 29th, 2010, and the cruise, which circles half the country, begins and ends in Reykjavik.

Guests will experience ancient frozen glaciers and active fiery volcanoes, and view wildlife on the island of Grimsey and barren sulfur fields at Namaskard. They’ll also journey north of the Arctic Circle, south to Reykjavik, and sample the warm thermal waters of the Blue Lagoon. Finally, they’ll visit the site in 930 AD of the world’s first democratic parliament (Thingvellir National Park; a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and they’ll see the youngest island in the world, Surtsey Island, which was formed by volcanic action in the 1960s.

Included in the price of the new Iceland cruise are all shore excursions, meals, gratuities, wine with dinners, nightly cocktail hours and much more. From $5,790 per person, plus air. For more info. call 800 788 7885 or click here.

Tags: boat, food, glacier, tours, volcanoe

THE BEST OF REYKJAVIK

Recently the folks at the English-language Reykjavik Grapevine devoted an entire issue to the best of everything in the capital. The newspaper worked hard compiling a list for readers to read, verify, distrust, totally disagree with, argue over, send in angry rants about and generally enjoy. It’s totally unscientific and heavily contestable and should be read as such: for entertainment purposes only. We still hope it serves as some sort of guideline to enjoying the fair city.

The list includes the Best burger, where to go for ice cream, eat Indian or Thai food, where to take a date, eat French fries or enjoy the best seafood (now there’s one to argue about). It even includes advice on the best bar for a wild night out on the town.

Before you leave, log on here: http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/Feature-Best-of-Reykjavik

Tags:Airwaves, food, restaurant

ICELANDIC FILM RETROSPECTIVE COMES TO NEW YORK

Foreign film buffs and Icelandophiles alike can enjoy an exciting Icelandic film festival which takes place in New York from now until December 12. The retrospective presents a selection of the best feature-length and short films produced in Iceland over the past 30 years.

New York’s Scandinavia House (58 Park Avenue between 37th and 38th Streets) is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Icelandic Film Fund, now the Icelandic Film Centre, with a comprehensive 10 film retrospective paired with a selection of Icelandic short films. Spanning many styles and genres, these movies reflect the excellence and diversity of Icelandic films which have been presented at major film festivals around the world for years, regularly garnering high praise and winning top international prizes.

Here’s your chance to see them without even leaving the U.S. (although eventually we hope you’ll come up and see us). View the films Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., and Saturdays at 3:00 p.m., now through Dec. 12 (except October 14 to 24). The Icelandic Film Retrospective is supported in part by Iceland Naturally. (For a complete schedule see: http://www.icelandnaturally.com/events/icelandic-film-retrospective/

Tags: festival, film, Iceland Naturally, New York

IcelandNaturally.com just got a lot better. The newly revamped Web site features sections on Culture & Lifestyle, Nature & Environment, insight into the country and people of Iceland, as well as information on Icelandic products and services. The site features an Icelandic Company of the Month (Icelandic Glacial water, currently), and news about events happening stateside, such as appearances by Icelandic bands playing in the U.S. There are also links to IN’s Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages for breaking news as it happens. Log on to see the latest Iceland has to offer. (For more information: www.icelandnaturally.com)

Tags: Iceland Naturally

Tour guides are often asked about the building with the dome roof that sits on top of Öskjuhlíd hill overlooking Reykjavík Airport. It’s a must-see during any visit to the capital city. It’s called Perlan in the mother tongue, or the Pearl, and was built in 1991 as a monument to Iceland's ever-flowing geothermal waters. Indoors and outdoors, there are art exhibits, musical performances, and fountains that spurt water like geysers. Above six vast water tanks, a viewing platform offers telescopes and multilingual-recorded commentaries, plus a coffee bar and an ice-cream parlor.

The crowning glory is a revolving restaurant under the glass dome where a famous Christmas buffet is served from November 19 through December 30. It’s all you can eat – free range lamb, the freshest cod you ever tasted, delicious reindeer pate, all kinds of amazing, richly decadent desserts (bring your elastic waistband pants), the works – for about $63 per person (less midweek; lower children rates available). The restaurant rotates slowly, providing every seat with a view of the entire capital city.

On the Pearl’s fourth floor, within the Gourmet Shop, lies the Christmas Shop. There you can find all kinds of Christmas related items: statues of the Icelandic Yule Lads based on Brian Pilkington’s drawings, Christmas tree decorations, handcrafted Icelandic Christmas artwork and lots more. For the child in us all. (Take a 360 degree tour right from your desktop at: www.perlan.is)

Tags: Christmas, food, Reykjavik

HO HO GO! – MAKE YOUR HOLIDAY PLANS NOW

A favorite Christmas tradition in Iceland is the annual lighting of the Oslo Christmas tree. For more than half a century, the City of Oslo, Norway, has presented Reykjavik City with a beautiful Christmas tree placed in Austurvollur Square in the city center. Families gather with music along with the celebrated Icelandic Yule Lads to celebrate the event on Nov. 29. Busy that day? Don’t worry – we’ll leave the lights on for you well until the New Year.

Speaking of which, New Year’s Eve in Iceland is one spectacular celebration. Listen how our friends at Exploritas, the new program name for Elderhostel, Inc., explain it, “As the hands of the clock draw nearer to midnight, the black curtain of the night sky is lifted by explosions of color. One here, a few more there. They become more frequent, until from horizon to horizon, as far as the eye can see, the dark firmament has become a bursting, popping crescendo of fireworks. It is like no place else on Earth. It is New Year’s Eve in Iceland.” Five night packages are about $1,900 per person plus airfare (For more information: www.exploritas.org)

Tags:Christmas

IN PRAISE OF BRENNIVIN

Having a national beverage seems to be de rigueur for small countries who want to maintain their cultural identity. Iceland is no exception, especially with the holidays almost upon us. The local tipple – its signature alcoholic beverage – is called “Brennivín,” an ancient Icelandic word that translates as “we see a really bad headache in your future.” It’s made from fermented potato pulp and flavored with caraway seeds.

At times it is consumed as a "chaser" after sampling "hákarl", which consists of putrified shark meat, to mask the meat's taste. One taste and you might think it must also be used to strip paint. In fact, while Icelanders don’t regularly drink Brennavin, they seem to delight in buying visitors a round just to see their faces after downing a shot or two.

It’s sold all over the country, even in cute little Icelandic sweaters at the airport. People like to pretend you have to be some kind of reality TV show contestant to drink Brennivín. It’s really not that bad. Just keep it as close to 32 degrees F., and you’ll be fine. Drunk yes, but otherwise fine.

Tags:Brennivin, shark