It's that time of the year again!

Halloween?

Oh yes, that too. But I was talking about the super shiny, super crazy Iceland Airwaves Festival.

I think anyone who slightly likes Iceland has heard about that - and if you like indie and alternative music, you may have heard about it, too.

Iceland Airwaves is a huge (by Iceland standards) music festival that happens in Reykjavík every year around Halloween - October 30 to November 3 this year.

What makes Airwaves so special is the fact that there are a lot of in-venue shows but also countless off-venue shows. It seems like artists really want to play the most shows they can: so if you couldn't go see Mugison one night because you were at Harpa watching Björk (because yes, sometimes she performs at Airwaves too), chances are you'll catch an informal, unplanned gig the next day at some coffee shop. Or in a hostel. Or in the park. 

They say during Airwaves you don't sleep at all. This is pretty accurate: there is so much going on (shows, parties, art installations, dj sets inside the pools at Blue Lagoon) that they had to develop an iPhone app to plan your day. 

The tickets for this year's festival are sold out, but here's a pretty video (or rockumentary, as they call it) to make you really jealous:

And here's the link to the festival's website: Iceland Airwaves

Top 5 Icelandic music artists (except Sigur Rós and Björk because...well...you can't really top them, now, do you?)

1. Ólafur Arnalds: absolutely my favourite artist right now. He's a very young and very talented composer, who often performs at Harpa and around Europe. His approach to music is fresh and amazing, unlike many young composers nowadays. Seeing him live is an amazing experience. I can't really describe what his music is like: it is true music, you need to close your eyes and listen and nothing else. 
2. Sóley: you probably know her if you listen to Seabear (more about them below). Sóley is a young artist who uses synthesizers and her beautiful voice to create delicate songs which have complex yet enjoyable textures. Her talent live is undiscussed - I actually like her more live than on record. Look for Sóley live at KEXP and see for yourself! 
3. Amiina: again, you probably know them if you know Sigur Rós. They are the supporting band for the most famous icelandic band. They play a weird mix of instruments, from cellos to harps to synthesizers. I always listen to them on my flights to and from Reykjavik (provided there are no drunk danes on the plane - which happens) because you can really feel Iceland's nature in their compositions. 
4. Seabear: amazing music, amazing artwork, amazing people. Pop with a little bit of indie and synths and weird vocals. Love them.
5. Of monsters and men: I know they are now like, world famous or something. But to me, OMAM will always be that new band I listened to at 12 tónar on a rainy day. You may call their music "indie", but it's just so much more: amazing vocals, refrains and textures. Their album "My Head Is An Animal" is a feel good album. And there's so much more about OMAM than Little Talks! 

BONUS TIP: if you love music and are in Reykjavik, you need to pay a visit to 12tónar. I won't spoil anything about it - just go there and enjoy.

Gay rights and the coolest mayor ever

Meet Jón Gnarr, the mayor of Reykjavik.

You may have heard this name before: the mayor was on the spotlight recently because of his open letter (and open speech) to Vladimir Putin about how crazy it is to ban gay people from a Country and the Olympic Games.

Jón is an advocate of gay rights, one of the most prominent and vocal in Europe. 

After a priminent career in punk music in Iceland, he founded the Best Party as a joke in 2009. As it happens, though, the Best Party won the elections in Reykjavik and Jón became the mayor just as the kreppa (the big financial crisis) hit Iceland. 

What makes Jón a great mayor is the fact that he is one of the biggest promoters of the gay pride in Reaykjavik and, through his office, calls on not-so-widesighted politicians. 

Jón has been spotted wearing a Jedi costume and, during the 2011 gay pride, he appeared as a drag queen as you can see below:

Advocating LGBT rights in politics is pretty rare, yet Jón is more and more outspoken about it. His facebook profile is full of resources and articles about how hard it is for LGBT people to be recognized as people and citizens, and how hard it is to actually have rights. Gay marriage is legal in Iceland, but Jón reckons there's still a lot to do.

What Jón does may be seen as idealistic, but the people of Reaykjavik seem to follow really well. Just an example: recently, the famous anti-gay preacher Franklin Graham planned a conference in Reykjavik. The Church of Iceland released a statement saying that they were not associated with the initiative and strongly disagreed with Graham's views; moreover, an initiative came up on social networks that demanded Icelanders to buy the tickets to the event and not going, leaving the room empty. They did it. I bet mister Graham will not be seen around Iceland very soon.

As you can see, Iceland is not just about elves, crazy parties and the Midnight Sun. It is about respect and human rights. It is about being decent people and willing to make this world a better place. You can actually breathe this mind set in this Country.

Pretty fly for a wifi!

I'm not going to state the obvious by saying that we live in a technology based society. Except I just did. Like this statement, there is no way to advoid technology nowadays. It's fact. And by all means I'm happy about it. Technology stimulates me, and makes me think big. Things that were just barely imaginable when I was little do exist now (like the Nintendo Wii...who would have thought?). Technology adds a lot to our life: social network is useful as it is vain; tech equipment in hospitals are a huge accomplishment and communications as a whole benefit greatly from all kinds of technology.

Many people though refuse to see this. Unfortunately, people in governments often think that technology is something we must fear and that it must be regulated. That's why many Countries (including my own) try to limit internet connections (wifi) and on a greater level free speech, which is one of the greatest and most noble purposes of the internet.

As usual, Scandinavia and Iceland are way ahead. In Sweden, everyone owns a tablet and wifi is mostly free everywhere. In Finland it is a right to be able to connect to the internet. Online courses are normal routine in most universities and the things you can do through your connection are countless (such as: vote, read a book, ...).

Iceland makes no exception. When I was in Reykjavik, I had no problems connecting my smartphone to the internet wherever I was. I could send pictures in real time to my dad at the hospital; I could update my blog; I could send work emails and all that stuff. Thanks to some really clever apps, I could make my own schedule for Iceland Airwaves (telling me how many people there were in line outside a venue) or find the nearest happy hour bar. More importantly, I could download an app that connected to my gps and called Lögreglu (the icelandic police and rescue service) with a touch of my finger, should I be in danger.

Even in the middle of nowhere I was able to connect my smartphone and check emails.

Now, this is great.

You may want to be as one with nature and not think about your job or your problems at home, but more often than not you'll need the internet and in Iceland you'll have no problem managing such a need.

This is not a sociologic question, there is no debate about how much you should chat with your friends or how many pictures are considered as an acceptable daily amount on instagram. What I like about Iceland is that, whatever you want to do with your smartphone or computer, you're free to do it.

GUEST POST: Edward Hancox

Edward Hancox - Iceland, Defrosted

I'm Ed. I met Francesca when she read my book, Iceland, Defrosted and got in touch to say who much she enjoyed it. We certainly share a passion for Iceland, but it got me thinking about friendship, support and how I couldn't do this out with either of them.

I've long been bowled over by the sheer friendliness of Icelanders. It was recently revealed by World Economic Forum (WEF) that Iceland was found to be the friendliest nation in the world. I, for one, was not surprised. I've known it for years.

Icelanders, it seems, have friendliness as a national trait. Yes, the old stereotype of Icelanders being frosty and aloof can be true initially, but this can soon thaw to show a genuine friendliness, helpfulness and welcome that cannot be beaten across the world.

Add a hotpot, or a glass of beer, and that thaw can take place even more quickly.

Let me give you an example of this.

My book, Iceland, Defrosted, is based on the people, places and music of Iceland. It is self-published, which means I should have done all the work that a publisher would normally do myself. Except I didn't. Icelanders were there to help at every juncture. An Icelandic friend suggested the that I put pen to paper in the first place. That was six years ago. Since then, Icelanders have shown me the best of their country; from the obvious such as the Blue Lagoon to obscure underground hot pots, from vast glacial plains to the best places to spot the elusive Northern Lights. They have shown me the best, and worst Icelandic food. Icelanders passed me on to friends who might know about this, or a relative who knows that, but complete strangers also offered advice on the Icelandic language, and rhubarb jam making. Icelanders have invited me into their homes, their weddings and shown me the minutiae of their lives; seeing the duck a 9 year old girl was getting for her birthday on Grímsey for example.

Crowd-funding the book proved successful due to Icelandic support. Icelanders got me included in daily newspaper morgunblaðið. Icelandic musicians have provided a soundtrack to these adventures, and some of them (Sóley, Ólafur Arnalds, Laylow and others) have shared a coffee with me and tried to explain what makes Icelandic music so special.

But the hand of friendliness keeps reaches out, not just from Icelanders, but all over the world. Its been overwhelming. Iceland seems to bring out the very best in people. People like Francesca, previously complete strangers, are lending their support. A librarian from Switzerland, asking her library to stock my little book? It doesn't get any better than that. They write the loveliest emails, telling me how much my book has meant to them, how much they can relate to my experiences of Iceland and now I get blamed by people buying airline tickets to Iceland. It's been a wonderful experience, but I couldn't have done it alone. Like I say, Iceland seems to bring out the best in people.

For more details, please see: Icelanddefrosted.com

(Many thanks to Edward for writing this post and agreeing to a blog swap - Francesca)

I'm a librarian so I should talk about books every now and then, right?

I'll probably talk about the most famous Icelandic writers one day. For today, I want to talk to you about a really cute book by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, The Greenhouse (original title: Afleggjarinn ).

A patron returned this book earlier this summer, and she told me it was really good. Being by an icelandic author, I had to read it.

It took me 2 days. 

The story is about a young man who becomes a father without planning it. Being very young and confused, he decides to leave Iceland to go to a monastery in Europe to tend to a once famous garden. As it goes, though, he can not escape his life  and his little girl.

Being by an icelandic author, the book contains a surprising dose of humor. And I mean really funny humor. This is a thing I seldom - if not never - found in any icelandic book. As you probably know, Icelanders aren't famous for their sense of humor. 

Anyway.

This book is also very delicate; the plot flows from page to page, and it is as weightless as a feather. I smiled more than once, and almost cried because of the sweetness. Yes, if I had to describe this book with one word I'd choose sweet. 

It's nothing trascendental and maybe not a masterpiece, but it's calming and relaxing and it can make you smile and feel comfortable. 

That's what I like about books: the feeling of coziness they can give.

Fun fact: after seeing a picture of the author on wikipedia, I had the weird feeling that I already saw her somewhere. I later found out that she's the director of the art museum of the University of Iceland. As it happens, I have been there and there was a vernissage, and she was probably there. If only I brought my book with me! 

Being a (occasionally raw) vegan in Iceland

When I left Copenhagen for the first time to go to Iceland, I packed a lot of vegan snacks and food.

On tourist guides, you read the most awful things about Icelandic food. I don't know if those rumors are true, but I wish I didn't know about it.

Being a vegan, I was aghast. I thought I would seriously resort to eating wild berries and probably die of food poisoning (side note: this didn't stop me at all from being over excited when I boarded the plane).

Upon my arrival in Reykjavík, I was surprised overjoyed to find a raw vegan restaurant on Laugavegur. I couldn't ask for anything better, really. The food was amazing and the place is cozy and awesome. I suspect Jónsi from Sigur Rós has something to do with it, but I can't know for sure.

Here's a pic of my magnificent lunch:

My meal: raw sesame burger with bulgur and chutney, and banana cake. Yummieessss

Other than that, though, I was afraid not to find anything edible (well, for my herbivore habits) anywhere else, especially during tours in the wild.

I was wrong once more.

At Gullfoss I was treated with an amazing vegan tomato soup, while Bonus (the unmistakable supermarket with a pig as a logo) has a surprisingly wide range of vegan products. There's also a vegan/bio grocery store on Laugavegur and a vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurant next door to the shop.

I mean. What more could I ask for, really?