It’s the first demo podcast for Iceland News. Jim talks with Icelanders Heidur and Marta about McDonald’s leaving Iceland. Recorded 30-10-2009.

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Your weekly roundup of the best blog posts and news articles about Iceland from across the globe.

Flickr Image of the week: “McDonald’s is leaving Iceland” by Visit Iceland.

Reykjavik Grapevine
***STAR READ*** Blame Canada?
“Onlookers shouted and boo-ed as city council progressed toward approving the 32.32% sale of Iceland’s HS Orka to the Canadian-cum-Swedish firm Magma Energy Corp.”
BBC News Online
No more Happy Meals for Iceland
“Iceland is to lose its three McDonalds outlets after the country’s financial crisis made operating there too expensive. The restaurants import almost all of their ingredients, but the collapse …

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For two British ex-pats, living in Iceland is a place of extremes whatever the time of year.
The summer nights are long where light continues to stream in through the windows at midnight. Then, in winter, it’s the complete opposite.
“You get to midday and you’ve still not woken up because there is no sunlight,” says 22-year-old Sam Webb. “It’s bizarre.”
Webb and his fiancée, Rhiannon Brown, 19, have been living in Gunnarsholt, Iceland, since October 2008. They arrived in the country after Webb was …

Edit: The awesome members over at Iceland’s Reddit point out that the original tweet might be a bit tongue-in-cheek. However, it did spark some insightful comments about the airline. Thanks again for the help!

aldakalda Googlie of the day on blog: “ice land air go bust”. You ser ri ous? Ho ly shit.
It’s a tweet that came across TwitHive earlier today. I immediately got on Google looking for confirmation. No stories. Perhaps the news hadn’t broken in English yet. So I posted it to Reddit to find out if it’d …

Another weekly roundup of blog posts and news articles that were of highlight this week about Iceland.

Flickr Image of the week: Auster-Skaftafellssysla by Beachwood Photography.

Web Site: Statistics Iceland
Sale of sound recordings 1991-2008
“Sale of sound recordings declined by 31 per cent between the years 2008 and 2007 as counted in numbers of sold copies. In last year roughly 446,000 copies of domestic and foreign sound recordings were sold at a distributor level, or 200,000 fewer copies than in the previous year.”
Blog: Iceland Review
Children in Iceland Feel Better After Crisis Hit
“Kids spend …

Thanks to “CH” (whoever you might be!) for the comment this morning on where else to find information on Icelandic food:
“Also – check out the http://www.icelandgourmetguide.com for traditional recipes and restaurant guides for all of Iceland – plus a who’s who of top chefs!”
So I went on over to Gourmet Iceland which led me on a link chasing adventure. Next came chef Volundur Volundarson’s web site.
Here’s a video of him doing a segment for the Today Program at the Blue Lagoon (by someone standing nearby).

var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) …

Heading off to an Icelandic gathering soon? Well, I hope to be. So I put a message out on the Iceland Weather Report forum. What do Icelanders bring to such events? Here’s what forum member, Elin, wrote:
Here is the English language website (and blog) for Icelandic cuisine: – maybe something will catch your eye.
Also, there is a very good cookbook by Nanna Rögnvaldardóttir called Icelandic Food & Cookery, should you want a great book for your own collection.
Some of the things I’ve seen at gatherings like this are kleinur, …

Rhiannon has put a great new post about what’s it like living in Iceland right now as a British citizen.

In truth, it doesn´t effect us too much in our everyday lives. Food is more expensive here than in England but it just means you have to learn to cook better and make things last longer. Petrol here, although still expensive, is cheaper than in England. The English media would lead you to believe that people are moaning about the ´crisis´ all the time but they are not. Everyone is just …