More than 50% of the Icelandic population believes in elves and trolls“
Don´t get me started with this one! This is still something you see in advertisement on Iceland as a destination. Usually they quote some old surveys as proof, please ask the people you meet in Iceland and you can make your own survey that proofs otherwise.
Icelandic people love eating rotten shark and drinking Icelandic brennivín“
Probaply only half of my friends have even tried both of these things and I can literally count the people I know that eat rotten shark on my left hand. This is something that is almost only sold during the midwinter festival Þorrablót and to tourists that want to try it out of curiosity.
„It´s freezing in Iceland“: The name might state this very clearly but according to the legend, the country´s Viking settlers who fled Norway liked it so much they decided to call it Iceland to dissuade outsiders from turning up. There´s an old saying that goes „Greenland is ice, Iceland is green“. The best way to describe the weather in Iceland is to say that we have mild winters and rather cool summers but we have some good days in between.
„It´s extremely expensive“
Like any other first world country you can find really cheap stuff and really expensive stuff. The expensive stores and restaurants are all gathered around the center of the city so if you do your research you should be able to travel in Iceland on a budget. Stay in a hostel a little bit outside of the center or rent an apartment outside of the city on air bnb. Even from the suburbs it will only take you about 20 minutes to get to the city center by bus. Look for happy hours in bars, ask locals for pointers on offers in restaurants and cook your own meals some days for a change. The financial crisis in 2008 did make it a little bit more easier for tourists to visit Iceland so if not now when?
„Icelandic people are always naked“
This is something I often see on blogs and posts about Iceland. We do shower naked together (men and women separtely) before going into puplic pools but that is just for hygiene reasons. You might see some Icelanders and tourists taking of their clothes around geothermal pools all over the country but most of them have facilities now and even changing rooms after the tourist boom in recent years.
„It is rude to leave a tip at a restaurant“
We don´t have the tradition but we are not stupid. Ofcourse
we want extra cash.
