.... go wild ...


http://www.pbase.com/samminn/reykjavik_2003

very nice! thanks!

reykavik looks like a quite and cosy town, what is the pop?

nice :okay: ,very clean.

Beautiful photos of a beautiful city. I love those dramatic views as seen from the city centre. The town hall is very interesting as it's right beside the pond. That pond is always full of ducks. :D

Wow.... looks so small and clean.... like a fantasy non-existing world....
I bet the crime rates are one of the lowest in the world

Super nice, Sammin -- thank you! :)

Looking at these photos I feel a bit like Latvian GG: sort of transported into another world ... set back in time.

Super nice, Sammin -- thank you! :)

Looking at these photos I feel a bit like Latvian GG: sort of transported into another world ... set back in time.


Well ... Reykjavik isn't really as still and relaxed as it appears on these photo's. Most of them are taken on a Sunday ;)

It's actually quite stressed, even more stressed than Copenhagen. People are very impatient and rude in traffic for example. Maybe I should focus on that aspect in my next session ...

As for the pop. the conurbation is roughly 190.000 people

Pardon my lack of knowledge of Iceland but to my knowledge there arent many trees from pictures I have seen. I notice however in Reykjavik there are some trees. Are these trees planted and native to Iceland and also what kind of trees are these? Im facinated about Iceland.

Pardon my lack of knowledge of Iceland but to my knowledge there arent many trees from pictures I have seen. I notice however in Reykjavik there are some trees. Are these trees planted and native to Iceland and also what kind of trees are these? Im facinated about Iceland.

Good question there.

Its quite true that trees are not a major resource in Iceland. Natural forests are usually lowgrown birchforests and even not that common.

Other forests are those that have been planted for some time, and the largest one in East Iceland, a very beautiful place that reminds one of Norway or Switzerland, thus attracting a lot of local tourists:

http://www.skogur.is/myndir/1000236

But as I say to tourists, if you want to find an Icelandic forest, you have to look it up on a map and drive to it ;) ... and yes, most town are quite green, caused by people planting trees in their gardens, like most other Scandinavian towns.

how would you say the quality of life is in iceland?

one thing i find odd that my boyfriend told me was that you guys have the same taxes as in denmark which are rediculously high, yet u still have to pay to go to the doctor, ect, you dont get that free!?

and one other thing i dont get, why do people there work like hell? my boyfriend told me he worked an average of 19 hours a day for 6 days, likeit is considered normal to work that much. it just seems bizarre, it isnt healthy to stay up that late and work that long, it's insane. but he asid people work a lot there. any reason for this?

Thanks for showing us Scandinavia's "hidden" capital!
I think it looks like a small Swedish town despite it is far away from Sweden.


I was surprise about this pic:
http://www.pbase.com/samminn/image/347656398
On that pic it looks like Reykjavik has a good skyline for being in Scandinavia and for its size. What are all these highrises u/c?

PS I saw you have been in Malmö, that's my town... :happy:

how would you say the quality of life is in iceland?

one thing i find odd that my boyfriend told me was that you guys have the same taxes as in denmark which are rediculously high, yet u still have to pay to go to the doctor, ect, you dont get that free!?

and one other thing i dont get, why do people there work like hell? my boyfriend told me he worked an average of 19 hours a day for 6 days, likeit is considered normal to work that much. it just seems bizarre, it isnt healthy to stay up that late and work that long, it's insane. but he asid people work a lot there. any reason for this?

Quality of life is of course dependent on what you perceive as quality, but I would say that quality of life is just as good here as anywhere in Scandinavia, maybe even better in some ways.

Taxes are definately not as high as in Denmark or Sweden. Income tax is around 38%.

I don't know what the average work week is here, but I know of no one that works 19 hours a day. My contract states an average work week of 38 hours a week and I believe that is quite nominal in Iceland. Perhaps some people choose to exceed the minimum working week to get an extra buck, since taxes don't eat the gain up as it does in Denmark, but none of who I know works that much.

Health care and education is paid by the government, but a fair and minimal charge is always and understandibly demanded when you go to the doctor's.

Iceland is generally not as socialist as Denmark and Sweden, but the difference is not that big.

As for you Nightsky, congratulations for Malmö. It was a real surprise when I visited it last May. It is very nice indeed, vibrant and beautiful city centre with old victorian buildings with newer modern buildings in between. And of course Scandinavia's tallest building. No wonder a lot of Danes move over the Öresund to live there and escape the prices and lack of new housing in Copenhagen.

There has been a construction boom in Reykjavik the last 10 years or so. According to Norstat Reykjavik is currently the fastest growing region in Northern Europe. The waterfront buildings that are u/c are these: www.101skuggi.is

I'm glad you liked Malmö. Actually it is almost as hard to get an apartment here as in Copenhagen, but the rent is lower and the standard is much bette.
Is it hard to get an apartment in Iceland?

Btw, I recently changed the status from proposed to u/c for the Skuggahverfi Apartments at the SSP diagram.

I don't know. It looks depressing. Not nearly as lovely as other small European cities. On a sidenote: it must be really expensive to buy a car you wish, since the Icelandic market is way too small.

I'm glad you liked Malmö. Actually it is almost as hard to get an apartment here as in Copenhagen, but the rent is lower and the standard is much bette.
Is it hard to get an apartment in Iceland?

Btw, I recently changed the status from proposed to u/c for the Skuggahverfi Apartments at the SSP diagram.

Thanks Nightsky, the first phase of Skuggahverfi is very close to completion, and what is more exiting is that phases 2 and 3 are currently being design at the firm that I work for. It's even possible that I will participate myself in the design of the towers, depends on available manpower here.

And well no, its not hard to get an apartment, but maybe a bit difficult to get the very apartment that meet's your personal criteria perfectly. There is f.x a big demand for apartments in the centre, but the market only provides old and sometimes rather run-down apartments, or luxurious condo's like those in the new Skuggahverfi towers...

As a danish citizen, don't I have special rights in Iceland as Icelanders have rights here? What rights am I entitled to? In fact they (Icelanders) receive more rights here in Denmark than any other European country.

My question is, if I move there how hard would it be to get a job? People tell me it would be easy, but I don't really want to be a toilet cleaner or dishwasher, would it be hard to be a waiter or something? What could I do?

Oh yes and how are the universities there? Are they considered very good? I was thinking about attending the business program at RU possible, since the courses are taught in English. My boyfriend is Icelandic, and I plan on maybe moving there

It looks very nice. I haven't been there myself, but my father have last year. To bad I couldn't go with him

I really like Reykjavik, quite isolated, however very tidy, beautiful and urban as well. The city looks really clean, I was looking for dirt in some pics and I just coulnd't find any signs of it!

Congrats for you icelanders :)

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOl