Stupid Criminals

One of the good things about living in Iceland is the low levels of crime, at least in terms of what you see in everyday life. Whilst levels are on the increase, they are nowhere near those of other countries and in many cases Icelanders don't really seem to have got the hang of being dishonest. Perhaps it's because the chances are one of your cousins or school friends will probably be around to witness the crime so it's hard to get away with.

In the last few months, there have actually been 3 or 4 cases of "armed robbery". Whilst of course serious, the complete incompetency of those carrying out the crime does have its funny side.

Last week, 2 people robbed the Glitnir bank on Lækjargata with an axe and escaped with about 1 million krona. However, where as you would think most people might have had an escape plan, these two decided it would be a good idea to walk across the road, get a taxi and head of to get a fake tan in Garðabær. Needless to say they were caught the same day and the loot recovered from the hostel where one of them was staying. Apparently Byko, where they had bought the axe, had also phoned the police because they thought they were suspicious and handed over their CCTV footage.

A shop on the Hellisheiði road between Reykjavík and Hveragerði was also robbed recently. The owner of the shop in this case managed to defend himself with a shovel and the would be robbers decided it would be a good idea to head onto a non-asphalt road in a small car with summer tires on. Needless to say they didn't get very far and were shortly after picked up by the police stuck in the snow.

A few years ago, another person who had just robbed a shop was caught waiting at the bus stop just outside the shop because his "getaway" bus was late.

Finally, the corner shop at the end of our street was robbed just before Christmas by 4 teenagers. They had got as far as arranging a get away car and route. Unfortunately they picked one of their parent's cars so they weren't too difficult to trace. The also parents took them to the shop the next day to apologise to the owners.

I guess it's good to know that it's only the stupid people that are doing these things...

Holy Grail in Iceland ? What the Da Vinci Code forgot to mention.

Just after New Year, it was revealed that the Holy Grail is actually hidden, of all places, in Iceland. The "scientists" Þórarinn Þórarinsson, who is an architect and therefore obviously a historical artifact expert, and Italian cryptographer, Giancarlo Gianazza, have come up with the theory that it's hidden in Skipholtskrókar near the Kjölur mountain pass in the centre of Iceland.

Assuming that the elves haven't got to it first, he's trying to persuade the local authority to let him dig there. Apparently the clue is in Da Vinci's last supper which clearly shows a map of the region in it. Da Vinci would of course have used Google Earth to get a detailed aerial shot to use as a template.



Of course there are no other areas in the world that have a geographical feature shaped like a 'V' or for that matter paintings that can also be linked with Skipholtskrókar. You couldn't after all take the first picture you find on the web, spend 5mins drawing a line over a map in Paint, and combine the two could you?





Is it also a coincidence that the 3 circles in Mickey Mouse's face form a 'V'? And what about Mickey Mouse having the initials MM, the same as Mary Magdeline. It must mean that Walt Disney was actually a member of the Knights' Templar. Or maybe I made it up.

Gianazza also claims that Dante's poems have secret codes in them that give the latitude of the Arctic Circle and Iceland. This is particularly impressive given he wrote the poem around 200 years before we had a way of measuring it.

Of course if they end up pulling the Grail out of the ground next month I stand corrected.

Gleðileg ár og takk fyrir það gamla

Happy New Year!

A snowy Christmas and wet and windy New Year are officially over as of last night and so it's back to work for a rest. No more parties, hangikjöt, reindeer, ptarmigan or fireworks for another year...



It's been a while since I've written anything here but now the Icelandic Facebook bubble seems to have burst and the days are starting to get a bit longer, I'm going to concentrate on blogging a bit more in the new year.

Red Shirt for Burma

Only 136 Days to go...

Last Monday was a public holiday - this time for Merchants' Weekend. This is the weekend where (mainly average) Icelandic bands play at the many music festivals around the country to which teenagers flock to get drunk. The rest of the population go to great lengths to avoid going anywhere near but many still travel out to the countryside.

As a result, downtown seems a lot quieter than normal and the tourists seem to outnumber the locals even more than usual.

The weekend also marks the last holiday until Christmas and is somehow a reminder that the journey along the long road to the winter months is beginning. It's also started to get dark over the last couple of weeks (admittedly not until 22.30) but it's very noticeable after all the brightness and sun we've had this summer.

Snæfellsnes

Here are a few pictures from a recent trip around the Snæfellnes peninsula to the north of Reykjavík. We were lucky enough to be there on yet another sunny day so had great views of the coast and glacier.

Snæfellsjökull from the coast near Arnarstapi


Looking along the coast near Dritvík


Dritvík


Snæfellsjökull


Snæfellsjökull


Malarrif Lighthouse

Hospital Visit

I'm finally getting around to posting again. I've had a couple of busy weeks at work after a holiday in Denmark so I haven't had much time to post recently.

I paid my first visit to an Icelandic Hospital Accident and Emergency department last night after getting a cricket ball bottom edged into my face just below my mouth when wicket keeping.

It seemed to be a busy night for them because I ended up having to wait there for just over 3 hours before finally seeing the doctor at around 1am. Having said that, the treatment I received was good and 25 minutes, 3500 Krona and 5 stitches later I was on my way back home.

I also woke up this morning with quite a swollen lip but all in all it could have been a lot worse (a little higher and it would have been my teeth).