Michael Chapman
Certified travel blogger
Michael Chapman is a travel writer from England who now lives in Reykjavík, Iceland. He is the author of ‘Hidden Iceland’ (2020).
My blogs
My blogs
EVENT: "Strell Ytzia Blossom: A Utopian Drag Show" | June 7th 2018, Gaukurinn
Iceland is famed for its entrepreneurship, tolerance and creativity, a trinity that have come to a head with the recent IndieGoGo campaign for estranged magazine, founded by long-term residents and editors, Kaspars Bekeris and Matthias Boyer. These efforts will reach a shuddering climax on June 7th with the show "Strell Ytzia Blossom: A Utopian Drag Show". Read on for more. Read on: The Drag Scene in Iceland. Header Credit: estranged magazine Over recent years, the drag scene in Iceland has exploded with a host of new acts, new shows, new approaches to the art form. From the outset, it wa
Iceland Proposes Circumcision Ban | Opinion
Icelandic MPs have made international headlines this year with a bill proposing to ban male circumcision. The bill has been met with condemnation from religious leaders, yet has the majority backing of Iceland's domestic population and major political parties. If the bill succeeds, Iceland will be the first country in Europe to ban male circumcision. Oh, how the debate rages... should, or should we not circumcise our children? There does seem to be plenty of justification, doesn’t there? Shall we list them together like a prenatal Christmas list? Well, the ethereal usefulness of religious
Swimming Pool Etiquette in Iceland
First and foremost, if you expect to soothe yourself in one of Iceland’s swimming pools, be warned—you will be expected to shower first, buck-naked, scrubbing your dangly bits in front of a watchful sanitation warden. Read on to find out more. Having been raised in the commonwealth, I am accustomed to bathing and, in fact, luxuriating in waters likely to be befouled by human filth, be it excrement or something even more unsavoury. The Icelanders, unbeholden to civilised accustom, have chosen a cultural keepsake that defies logic; the need to cleanse themselves before entering the ethereal w
A Day's Ice Caving with Katla Track
With winter coming to an end, Guide To Iceland decided to spend some time with Katla Track, an adventure tour and sightseeing operator based in Vík í Mýrdal, to gain a closer look at their popular Fast Track Ice Caving tour, the only one of its kind available during the summer. Read on for more information. Blinking into consciousness, I was, for a moment, confused to find myself lying in a bed that was not own, and even felt a slight jolt of the excitement at the thought that, perhaps, I’d had something of a lucky night. As waking life took hold, it dawned on me slowly that I was at Midgar
Discovering Thorsmork with Midgard Adventure
Guide to Iceland went to check out Midgard Adventure in Hvolsvöllur, South Iceland, to see what this adventure tour operator can offer its guests. Read on to find out all about Guide to Iceland's trip to Þórsmörk with Midgard Adventure. Despite my best intentions, I’m often prone to negative thinking, easily able to scapegoat, justify and question the world around me without, I might add, real passion or elegance, but rather, a morbid waiting-room ambience that settles itself in the brain and begins, almost subconsciously, to speak for me. I am a man who needs a rattle every so often, or I
How To Avoid Cycling In Iceland
Everyone loves a cyclist—that is until they’re driving alongside one, at which point, they become a dangerous nuisance, likely to record every moment of your frustration on their readily equip helmet-camera. Before you know it, your unrelenting anger is showcased to the world through YouTube; within a week, you’ll find yourself before a tribunal, attempting to justify your reaction to a jury of cyclists. Then, your license is banned. You’re facing a five-year jail term for road rage. Thank you, bikie. From: 2-Day Biking Tour | Snaefellsjokull Glacier From All Sides. When not engaged in r
Naming Names | The Mystery of the Icelandic Naming Committee & Other Cases.
Icelandic naming tradition uses a patronymic or, more rarely, matronymic system, meaning the suffix -son ('son') or -dóttir ('daughter') is added to the genitive form of the father's name, ie. Ólafur Jónsson is the son of Jón Einarsson. Names in Iceland must also be pre-approved by law—but who holds the authority to accept what names are and are not acceptable? Read on to find out more about the mysterious minds of the Icelandic Naming Committee. Names are funny, aren’t they? If your answer is ‘not particularly’, I would resoundingly agree with you, save for two obvious exceptions; cel
Reykjavik Folk Festival 2018
Iceland’s long tradition of folk music was celebrated in full force this weekend (1-3 March 2018), as the first night of Reykjavik’s annual Folk Festival got underway. Once again, I was to sit there appreciating each performance, sipping away at cold Einstök as the musicians rolled out one by one to delight with their eclectic range of talents. See Also: Music in Iceland. Concert Photos taken by Kaspars Bekeris Held on the first floor of Kex Bar and Hostel, in a wide, red-lit hall, the festival enters its eighth year, drawing an ever-increasing fanbase to its rich tapestry of community, l
Reykjavik Folk Festival 2017
Given my longstanding soft-spot for unruly hairstyles, corduroy trousers and acoustic instruments, I was understandably excited to attend the final evening of 2017’s Reykjavik Folk Festival. Photograph above: RuGl performing Reykjavik Folk Festival 2017. Photo by Owen Fiene (2017) Privately, I hoped that I might, for one reason or another, be adopted into this ragtag group of musicians, artists and performers; my mind was filled with images of on-the-bar jigging, dusty worn fedoras, thin french cigarettes, ashed carelessly inside. What I found instead was a very dignified, self-confide
Flights of Fancy: Norðurflug's Reykjavik Summit Tour
It was with a mild, yet very real apprehension that I learnt my brother (and fellow GTI writer) Richard and I were being sent to cover a helicopter tour, midway through a rather routine day at work. Our dalliances with the whirlybird had, until now, largely been restricted to a solitary experience in childhood, flying prepubescent and barefaced over Floridian marshland. That was in the early 90s. Since then, our only connection had been watching Apache crashes on YouTube. Neither experience had done much in the way of convincing us to go near a helicopter, let alone fly in one, but it was W
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