# Ask the Icelandic dude **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 8, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629 "2008-09-08T16:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/241 "2008-09-14T19:16:37Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Is it possible to visit an active volcano in Iceland? Is there a volcano observatory like in Hawai’i? Quick answer, no. Slightly longer answer - they’re all in inhospitable places that are hard to get to, some are even under Glaciers. No-one I know has ever thought of walking up the rim of a volcano, I really don’t know if I’d want to myself if the oppurtunity presented itself. They are however, observed, in some way. But I’m afraid I don’t know much about that field (I’m a business major). ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/242 "2008-09-15T02:37:45Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Blondes with blue eyes are always welcome 😉 > > (and if you can fly like Casper - you’re definitely welcome :D) Well, shit, **Worm** –if I could fly, I’d be there NOW. 😃 I’d be famous, too… ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/243 "2008-09-15T12:23:59Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Well, shit, **Worm** –if I could fly, I’d be there NOW. 😃 I’d be famous, too… Well, doh… :smack: Of course you would 🙂 Even without the flying-abilities I think we might able to accommodate you 😉 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/244 "2008-09-15T21:02:54Z")
\ Hey, what’s the currency over there? Kroner or what? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/245 "2008-09-15T21:17:46Z")
ISK - Icelandic kronor. (At first, I thought they used euros…) **WormTheRed** , is Iceland part of the Schengen zone? It so happens that [KEF '09](http://kef.saluton.dk/) is taking place in Denmark next July, and it also happens that Icelandair flies to Copenhagen as well as Toronto. \ \ ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/246 "2008-09-17T01:21:07Z")
> [@WormTheRed](#): > > Ok, you were there that long ago 😉 I guess things might have changed a bit since then. > > A fun consequence of having the base there was that people who lived within it’t TV-range could watch American TV. This at a time (as previously mentioned) Icelandic TV was limited to one station and nothing on Thursdays and in July. This made the Keflavik-area quite popular to visit, to pop in at a friends for coffee and US TV 🙂 > > Would you know anything of the “black market” which was bound to be there - considering the “duty-free”-zone on the base? Grandpa used to work there as an electrician in the 50-60.s and he’s sometimes reminiscing of how they smuggled all sorts of (mostly booze and smokes, though) goods out 🙂 When I was there, AFRTS, the military television service, went from broadcast to cable. The natives weren’t happy. In fact, the day it was supposed to go live was delayed because somebody had pushed a pin through the co-ax cable, shorting the center conductor to the outer jacket. Yeah, smokes and booze were the big items when I was there. I dunno about the ciggies but even when you resided on base, you were limited to four bottles (fifths) of distilled goods per month, to cut down on the smuggling. If you drank more than that (ha!) you had to buy it one glass at a time at the club. Every few months they’d run a story about someone caught at the gate and spending some time in an Icelandic jail. ---
**Author:** ![Claptree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Claptree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claptree)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/247 "2008-09-17T08:14:28Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > **WormTheRed** , is Iceland part of the Schengen zone? According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement#Norway_and_Iceland), it is. Since they’re not in the EU, however, the rules regarding what you can bring are a bit stricter. Bastards fined me 80USD for trying to bring snus (dipping tobacco) into the country. I always knew Iceland was a bit behind the civilized world, but I didn’t expect it to be that bad. ---
**Author:** ![WormTheRed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bbe5ce/32.png) [@WormTheRed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WormTheRed)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/248 "2008-09-17T08:40:21Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Yeah, smokes and booze were the big items when I was there. I dunno about the ciggies but even when you resided on base, you were limited to four bottles (fifths) of distilled goods per month, to cut down on the smuggling. If you drank more than that (ha!) you had to buy it one glass at a time at the club. Every few months they’d run a story about someone caught at the gate and spending some time in an Icelandic jail. Cool! I need to casually drop bits of this into my next conversation with grandpa to impress him 🙂 > [@claptree](#): > > According to Wikipedia, it is. Since they’re not in the EU, however, the rules regarding what you can bring are a bit stricter. You’re allowed to bring 1 liter of strong alcohol, 6 liters of beer and two bottles of regular wine without paying import duties. And they’re pretty strict on checking. But as an Icelander, you can pretty much always buy from a fisherman-friend, since they smuggle anything they can get their hands on. Smirnoff Black (1 l) is for example sold for $ 60 in the liquor store, but they usually sell it for half that. As for the EU and Schengen. We are members of the EEC and of the [Nordic Union](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Passport_Union). This makes us members of Schengen. > [@claptree](#): > > Bastards fined me 80USD for trying to bring snus (dipping tobacco) into the country. I always knew Iceland was a bit behind the civilized world, but I didn’t expect it to be that bad. Snus was legal up until a few years ago, but you could only purchase it in the state-owned [liquor stores](http://www.atvr.is). And boy does it suck now, I say as a long-time user. It’s the only thing I take pride in smuggling 🙂 And yup, we use the [Icelandic Króna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_krona), with fishies on them. ---
**Author:** ![bossy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/58f4c7/32.png) [@bossy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bossy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/249 "2011-09-07T22:15:29Z")
Hello, I will be in Iceland in a few weeks and planning a trip to Akureyri. Will it be possible to hike to Sulur and Kerling at this time ? How deep will the snow be along the way and at the top ? thanks ! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/250 "2011-09-07T22:30:19Z")
Alas, this thread is three years old now, and I don’t think **WormTheRed** is on these boards any more. Pity. It’s one of the better threads I’ve read here. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/251 "2011-09-07T23:36:18Z")
How much kinship is felt with the English speaking world, with English being a Germanic language and all, and with later Viking influence on the language and people, through the Danelaw area of the British Isles? How does the naming system mesh with other countries? Do you have Icelanders born abroad who were forced to take the “wrong” patronymic because the country of their birth requires kids to have the same last name as dad come to Iceland and file for a legal name change so that John, child of Eric Peterson, can be known as John Ericson instead of the John Peterson that the birth certificate authorities insisted on? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/252 "2011-09-08T00:06:26Z")
\*\*Robert\_columbia’s \*\*next thought is A: Damn B: **WormTheRed** is an ass C: I used to think zombie post were annoying but… ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/253 "2011-09-08T00:12:25Z")
Do Icelandic zombies bump shoulders? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/254 "2011-09-08T00:17:50Z")
> [@bossy](#): > > Hello, > > I will be in Iceland in a few weeks and planning a trip to Akureyri. I can’t answer your questions (sorry) but I did just spend a week in Reykjavik in late August. I just wanted to highly highly highly recommend [this tour company](http://www.goecco.com/). It’s a little pricey for a single day or night of travel but it was the absolute best day of travel that I’ve ever experienced. I took the Glacial Lagoon Tour, which was 18 hours from one coast to the other and back, seeing amazing things the entire way. [Here](http://www.flickr.com/photos/53157520@N07/sets/72157627472295379/) are the pics I took that day. It was two weeks ago and I’m still reeling about how amazing it was. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629/255 "2011-09-08T00:53:22Z")
**Worm the Red** hasn’t been around in a while, and I doubt he’ll be back to answer questions, so I’m closing this thread. If you’d like more information about Iceland, **robert\_columbia** , I suggest you open a thread in General Questions, where someone may be able to help you. And welcome to the Straight Dope! Ellen Cherry Moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-icelandic-dude/462629.md?page=12)