Back in 2011, a seemingly ordinary Greenlandic man by the name of Erik Olsen became something of an internet sensation. In an interview with Metropolis TV, Erik spoke about the struggles of being openly gay in the country’s capital city, Nuuk (population 17,000). “It’s difficult for me to find a boyfriend here,” he...
It’s the time of year when daylight is growing scarce in Scandinavia, but as one door closes another opens. In this case, a door in the sky which lets through a dazzling display of ethereal, elusive light that has enchanted the world for centuries. Every year the Aurora Borealis aka the Northern Lights draws thousands...
If travel books and Google are to be believed, the first thing any visitor to Helsinki should do is take a ferry to the historic fortress of Suomenlinna and then check out an underground rock church – and why not munch on blueberries and Carelian pies while doing it. Those sites are iconic for a reason, of course, and...
I first fell in love with Sweden when I came here in 1996 for the first time and in 2012 decided that I had one more move left in me before settling down. The one thing that I have learned in Sweden is that no matter how much you think you know about this country there is always some beautiful part waiting to be...
Nobody comes to Tromsø expecting a city, but it’s likely that few people are prepared for just how vast and varied the area of northern Norway is. With a population of 70,000, the capital of the Arctic is a shining jewel of a town that shimmers when the aurora borealis weaves its way through the skies in winter, and...
On the road in north Iceland
If you are visiting the north side of the country of Iceland and want to do some exploring then Eyjafjardardalur is a place you should definitely have a look at. Last weekend I visited Akureyri, which is located on the north side of the country, around 380 KM from the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, with my family. We...
In the brief few days before the summer tourist season officially begins, the port town of Hanko on Finland’s south coast, three hours by train from Helsinki, is just as quiet as it is in winter. A population of a little over nine thousand goes a long way to ensuring that all is sleepy and still; certainly, it is...
If you haven’t heard of Trapped, (or Ófærð in Icelandic) then don’t worry: it’s more than likely on its way to you already. The new Icelandic crime series has screened on the BBC, in France and distribution rights have now been sold to the US. Yep, it seems like our hunger for The Killing is far from...
You might know Van Badham as a writer from The Guardian, or maybe you’ve seen one of her numerous plays performed around the world. Failing that, you may also remember her as the woman responsible for that eye roll when she went head to head with a former politician who really doesn’t deserve to be named here. As for...
Sunshine in Bergen is not something to be taken lightly. As any Scandinavian knows, the winters have a stranglehold on the lives of those in the north, which is softened only in some parts by the beauty that is the aurora borealis (northern lights). And, as any Scandinavian knows, summer does not always mean a...
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