You've become such a great host Jewells! I love watching these videos. I didn't know about all the things you've mentioned, even though I was living in Iceland for a year before. Anyhow, keep up the good work. The waterfall looks stunning!
Actually, securely packaged vegetables don't spoil as fast --- Packaging also reduces dehydration, while enabling the use of UPC codes for accurate pricing. Also, if you forget about your produce in the refrigerator drawer (like I did with my English cucumber that I bought a couple weeks ago) the liquified vegetation doesn't get all over you and your appliances when you throw it out.... LOL
lol, this remind me of a visit we had from Brazil. it was in the winter, and the first thing we did was to warn her about the slippery ice. With her Brazilian temperament, she got angry at us for this, because "she was a grown up and we did not have to warn her about every thing.." The next day we had to drive her to a hospital with a broken leg.. And no, we did not say "what was it we said..".. there was no need to put salt in it.. lol
@@AllThingsIceland Its ok, she is tuff and took it well. And after all we also have free healthcare here in Scandinavia. 🙂 Not to say that we did not feel sorry for her until she was good again of course. Also, when we say something is dangerous and warn her about it, she listen now. 🙂
As an Icelander, I also hate the slippery sidewalks, what has saved me is putting spikes in nice pair of shoes (beware to only use them for walking in ice then), you can get them in outdoors-stores. I would never eat skata or anything else fermented 😅 I think its mostly older people that like it, it is actually illegal to cook Skata in apartments! But liqorice is my favourite.
Having lived in Iceland for many years, both in Reykjavík and Ísafjörður, I totally agree with your dislikes. I never even dared to try skata or hákarl. I do miss the freshly baked bread early in the morning though. ❤️🇮🇸
This is the first video of yours that's popped up on my feed in many months. Your list, oddly, almost perfectly echoes my problems of living in Labrador, Canada. The ice roads; the windy conditions; the plastic wrapped vegetables. Thankfully, they don't ferment fish nor embrace licorice flavour heavily. They do deal with iron ore dust [Labrador City] in EVERYTHING, which is a health care nightmare.
Same here with not getting your video for month I got 4 today! Love your videos..Love Iceland Planning to visit! I am Norwegian on my mother's. We have Lutefisk this time of year which I understand comes from Iceland. It is brined cod fish that is soaked in water to get the lye brine out. It use to be boiled which is very smelly, but I have learned to bake it.which makes it less smelly & the over all texture it better. We serve it with melted butter, salt & pepper along with boiled potatoes and peas & lefse with butter & brown sugar. This is our traditional Christmas Eve & Day & New Year's Eve & Day dinners.. Love it
I was only there for 10 days, but what really irritated me were the teeny tiny trash cans , so little counter soace around bathroom sink, and showers with no dividing wall so that the water ends up in the bathroom. Also just one towel usually and maybe a washcloth. Also, they don’t like giving you more than one of anything, so when I wanted an extra plastic cup to,share a beer, I got a strange look. Also, many mini-marts did not provide plastic cutlery, usually it was wooden, so I learned to,just keep a set in my purse. You mentioned the prices and we found that having dinner was easily $100 for two, so we often went to either mini marts or grocery stores for sandwiches. I was a bit disappointed to not find a lot of specialty foods like seafood which I expected since Iceland is surrounded by oceans. We also found out that there are very few places to pull over like rest stops, gas stations, food places, etc. I was aware of it, but didn’t expect the number of mikes you had to drive before finding a small town. Don’t get me wrong, we loved it there, but as a tourist youmhave to expect that things will be different and adjust. to it. I still highky recommend it to my friends and famikymbecause it is so beautiful and the onky place where I’ve seen such diversity of landscapes in such close proximity.
I've heard that they wrap individual fruit/veg in shrink plastic because overall, it's got a lower carbon footprint. Balancing the plastic with the amount of food waste that happens when things rot before they are eaten actually tilts things in favor of using tight plastic shrink-wrap to keep the veg fresh.
Our English cucumbers are wrapped in a similar way here in Canada but they’re usually imported from down south. I think it’s possibly to extend the shelf life so they don’t dehydrate. The local cucumbers in the summer are usually sold loose in bins.
As a child I HATED that I had to go to the local community building that day before Christmas because of the smell, I was always encouraged to just try the Skata a little bit and I'm sorry to say that it eventually grew on me and now I LOVE IT and I can't imagine Christmas without it. It really clears your sinuses! Though I do make sure I only eat it once a year, I don't think I've ever eaten it more than once in a year. It's a nice tradition though, at least in the town I come from its sort of an event, seen and be seen, catch up with old neighbours and acquaintances you normally don't continue interacting with as you mature and perhaps move away. I'm always a bit shocked at seeing people I remember as little kids show up as teenager, then as young adults and now even with kids of their own. Skata is forever. Skata brings people together. 😂
Great video as always! I completely agree about the smell of the fermented skate.. It's hard to escape. xD And the icy roads. Here in Sweden cucumbers are wrapped in plastic as well. It's done to keep the quality of the cucumber for several weeks and therefore prevents food waste. :)
Ice on the sidewalks and roads? High winds? Sounds like winter in Chicago - seriously, we had 100 kph wind gusts where I live just this week (that's 60 mph for my fellow Americans). We've had even higher than that, and that's not even counting tornadoes. Well, every place has its flaws as well as it's benefits. Keep making these videos, I enjoy them so much.
The problem in Iceland is that because the temperature is often around freezing point the ice get wet and therefore way more slippery. Very low temperatures are preferred in this case.
I love your channel :) I know it has an educational purpose, but I wish you can make a video talking about your experience of moving to Iceland, building new friendships and/or relationships as an adult, and so on...
Ok, it's becoming a hobby of mine research Iceland since I've started following your channel. Thanks to you an Icelandic vacation is first on my bucket list! 😊 For some reason though, I always imagined mead drinking being more common in Iceland. (Please don't laugh. I was huge fan of Old Norse mythology and Viking legends as a teenager 😆). Imagine my surprise that Iceland's (supposedly) one and only meadery opened in 2017. It's called Öldur and it's in Reykjavik. They make a few varieties, according to their website. Maybe its worth checking out for a future video? 😬
Yay for wanting to visit!! I totally understand you thinking that mead was more popular here but, as you mentioned, it’s not at the moment. Maybe that will change. Yea, it would be awesome to visit them and show all of you their process, as well as try some mead! 😊
Locally made mead probably never was a huge part of Icelandic culture just from the fact that the honeybee doesn't exactly thrive in Iceland's climate and the native species we do have aren't very productive compared to the other European honeybees. For a mead-culture to sustain itself it needs to produce it reliably in huge volumes too as the honey would have been much more valuable is a food source rather than the production of alcohol. I think the majority of alcohol in Iceland throughout its history has been imported and for most of its history it was probably mostly red wine for use in church service or other stronger spirits for medicinal uses. A huge reason is also the Danish trade-monopoly that lasted between 1602-1786 and trade was heavily regulated at that time.
My Biology teacher said in 1968 to a vinegar worm vinegar is sweet 😮 I took that to mean no matter how bad the situation was there would be someone who would be happy with it. I take comfort in thinking no matter how bad something is it could be worse perhaps much worse. My mother in law packed her suitcase in a larger suitcase and tucked bags in every other free place in our car on a holiday we took in Michigan….we had to buy an excargo for the top of the car to bring her purchases home they loved us at the border crossing we had all the forms filled in the receipts attached…..we were awarded the tourist of the year status and were shown off to the rest of the staff that night. Paid to be married to her son the accountant who forced all of us to prepare everything for the momentous occasion . Thank you for inspiring my walk down memory lane.
Oh also I've brought a literal hard framed dog bed (broken down) into Iceland for someone because it fit in the checked bag. Sneakers, makeup, baby items, American junk food, all kinds of things for friends/acquaintances in Iceland at their request due to the crazy fees.
Low wages, outrageously high taxes, shitty micro currency exclusively managed by the elites, Healthcare system worse than in Moldova and consumption heavily taxed. Yup that's iceland for ya. Fine to visit as a tourist for a short while but absolutely dreadful to live and work.
We have been enjoying your videos as we prepare for our first trip to Iceland. How did you end up staying and working in Iceland. Best smile on YT btw. 😁
Sounds like Iceland has its own version of African-American chitlins😂 my grandma used to make them and us kids would just hate going over there when they had a Chitlin weekend. At least it’s only once a year
Just got back from Iceland on Sunday. My family thoroughly enjoyed it. Beautiful country. Did the Golden Circle, Plane wreck, (wind was brutal in Vik) and Blue Lagoon. Thing I hated the most was the Sulphur smell everywhere.
In my home city Glasgow, Scotland, I can always tell when the Duty Free shop at Glasgow Airport is busy, there are many Icelandair Crew and passengers travelling back to Iceland. I would love to visit one day.
When it got snowy and icy b4 Christmas here in UK they use a lot of salt on roads so they mostly clear of ice, it’s the pavements that are very icy and slippery and I mostly walked on the roads if they were not busy and were minor roads than go on the footpath.
Let me address your points as someone who now just visits. Icy sidewalks: I can't tell you how many spills I've taken just walking near my family's homes in Mosfellsbær. ALL LICORICE IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Except the pepper licorice. I think it may have been invented as a joke. And they have it has an icecream topping! Wind: It's not that bad... compared to tornadoes in Nebraska. Fermented food is fine but the shark is gross. Skata smells AWFUL but the flavor is better than the smell. My American partner couldn't enter my aunt's house for days after they made it. The delivery fees are insane and one of the reasons I may never move back. I don't know why they do the plastic thing. Granted, I've never thought about it.
Thanks for the point by point feedback. I hope none of your spills in Mosó resulted in any serious injuries. LOL, it would be hilarious to know if pepper liquorice was created as a joke. I know so many Icelanders that love it! Yea, Nebraska tornadoes sound brutal. I think being plant-based has really saved me from a lot of foods that don't smell appetizing. I feel like Iceland will have to do something about the delivery fees in the future but only time will tell. I assume most people never think about it. I remember it sticking out to me when I first came. I also realize there are things in NYC or the US that I would not think twice about but someone new might notice right away.
@@AllThingsIceland Nothing too bad, fall wise. I love taking that walk on the path facing the ocean. Through the woods. So beautiful. I don't mind falling. It's like my favorite winter walk.
Hm.. I think I've seen you come into my restaurant awhile back. As a fellow american, I must agree with your assessment of licorice being everywhere. I missed my chance to try skate last year, so I'm hoping I get to fully embrace it this year :).
Packed cucumbers in many countries showed that are came from outside country. They are fresh but not like local could be. Sometimes its a price to live in quite remote places. Unfortunately its not super ecofriendly type, and in foil can grow some bacterias so always double check them. Without that foil it will be very hard to have nice looking untouched cucumber for longer period of time. Nice channel. keep goin
with the wind problem we have red yellow and orange viðvörun Red:dont go outside orange:only go outside if needed but you can only drive yellow:Just be careful
I'm with you on licorice and plastic on cukes. We have that here on the English cucumbers in Tacoma. I don't get it at all. And the wind in Iceland is no joke.
Hey Jules Thanks for sharing this video I'm currently living in the Faroe Islands - hello neighbour! It's interesting because these are also things I dislike about Faroe Islands ---- especially the fermented foods that they have. They have fermented lamb and fermented fish. It's honestly the most disgusting odor I have smelled in my life. Everytime my in-laws make it I stay away!
@@AllThingsIceland Licorice Allsorts are popular in England. Not my favourite but some folks love it. Does skata smell as bad as durian fruit? Now that's nasty (lol).
I recently visited your awesome country and loved almost everything that I experienced. The two things I didn’t like were the midges and egg scented showers.
Visited in 2019 - loved Iceland so much but we arrived on the 23rd of December. We went to a restaurant for lunch and the hostess was actually apologising for the smell...
It's just the tip of the iceberg of the scam being run on a societal level on inhabitants here. Most foreigners don't see iceland's true nature until they move here, have to work and pay taxes and get absolutely nothing in return but more taxes and more fees. Ordinary citizens are essentially just sheep or lifestock to generate tax income for the elites.
Wrapping plastic individual perishable items for bulk transport and hygiene; enabling stick labels, price, info, health stat, machine auto counters, etc. PLUS you don't need a BAG "wink"
It has been getting noticeably windier here in New England, too, so you may be experiencing even more dramatic winds than you would have 20-30 years ago there. I live on top of a mountain, and it's always annoyingly windy when the weather systems are changing. Not necessarily dangerous, but enough that you have to think about law and furniture blowing over and things like that more often than we used to, it seems. And the sound of it is unsettling to me, especially at night. Climate change, of course, along with wetter storms, as they told us would be the case....
Your second reason to hate it is one of my loves. I'm pretty sure I made myself sick last time I got some because I ate it so much. Good times. I am from Iceland though, so there's that. I know no one asked, I just wanted to share.
How do you take care of your locs in Iceland? When I lived in Asia it took me awhile to find a different routine instead of just spending a lot to have things sent over from the states.
The ice 😬 Every winter is different but a few years back (maybe 2015 and 2016) there were 2 winters in a row with this thick ice everywhere for like 3 months. Terrible. Better be careful.
Icy slippery or heavily snow-piled sidewalks are a thing in Russia too, sometimes it can feel like you went hiking or something... some elder people put the microspikes on, but these things look ugly so most people prefer to train their balancing skills/try their luck. lol
Even parts of downtown have icy sidewalks! Put some freaking YakTrax on! people are insane. I tell everyone to bring them. Do not care if I look like a tourist, at least I am not breaking or spraining something.
You are adorable! Living in Iceland you and all your friends and family should be taking vitamin D3, K2 supplements. The tryptophan in your diet needs vitamin D3 in order to become serotonin, otherwise it just makes you drowsy and groggy. If you supplement, the additional serotonin will make you alert and chatty. Icelanders seem to really love salt. You'd all do well to swap the salt for a potassium-balanced salt substitute. Be well...
We just got back from a week in Iceland. Loved it, but the not so subtle racism was really eye-opening. I'm white, my husband is Middle Eastern and people would always look at me while talking or strike up a conversation with me, but not him.
I absolutely want to buy crampons for icy road walks during my next visit. Whoe size is an issue alas. But liquorish candy is my favourite as well as Icelandic weather. I also saw a childs being flown away in Myvatn together wih my brother, that was on the parents’ responsbility.
Thanks for sharing. What I don’t get is why the cucumbers and other foods from outside of the country are not wrapped in plastic too if it is about keeping them fresh.
I made a similar video a few years ago but wasn't brave enough to upload it to my channel, but it sounds like our lists are pretty alike! However back then I hadn't yet encountered skata...last year I was asked to cover a shift at work in the staff canteen on the day that they were serving it 🤢 traumatized for life! The plastic wrapped veg really irritates me too! I hate those cucumber smokkar 😂
Hey baby gurl! You ain't lyin' about that expensive azz price tag that comes with gettin' things delivered either to, or from Iceland! I ordered some of their yummy, snappy "hot dogs", some condiments and fermented cod snacks the other year, and hunnnnty it was about half as much as the products themselves! Was it delicious though (?) You bet it deffo was! ☺️
@@AllThingsIceland Lolol Thanx luvz, I'd really like to see you do some food reviews on the local "hot dog" and other things (seafood, drinks, etc.) whenever you get a chance plz! 💛
all i know about expenses in iceland is that a small pringles thing costs like 10 something (in my currency), i wanna be an immigrant but this is gonna take years to adapt to.
Trust me you do NOT want to live in Iceland if you're gonna stay longer than from May till September Or don't have passive income you can live on because if working in Iceland for a year you'll start hating life which turns into disbelief that people actually put up with the horrid living conditions there. Visiting as a tourist during the summer months is somewhat okay but LIVING and WORKING there, that's when you'll start understanding icelandic society's true colors.
Licorice is an absolutely divisive taste. People either love it or hate it. I'm part Norwegian and my son and I both love licorice, even the salty kind. My husband hates it. Maybe it's in the genes!
I do enjoy the All-Things-Iceland fingers! The ice thing in Chicago can be terrible. I got walking sticks so i don’t break my head open in a fall. I look like a giant praying mantis.
Nope, you pay 25% VAT on gifts exceeding $100 in value. If you refuse to pay they'll keep your package as hostage and won't resend to sender unless you pay for that shipping too, which is about $50 for a small box under 1kg to the USA
Other than the licorice, & the shark situation; This sounds like my complaints of Idaho. Ice. Wind. 4 seasons in 10 minutes. Still no where near what you deal with. But I can definitely sympathize. I will counter the fermented shark smell, with the smell of the sugar beet factory my Idahoan town of Twin Falls. 🤣
Is salt licorice memorable? I have geezer status, yet I vividly remember the day long ago in first grade when the sadistic teacher offered us bits of the vile stuff. 😖
@@AllThingsIceland Supposed to slow down dehydration and spoilage of the cucumber and reduce food waste. But doesn't always feel like a great trade-off. I think all UK cucumbers in supermarkets are sold this way.
If the value of the goods you're importing is over $500 you'd have to pay 24% VAT on everything exceeding that value. That is if you declare it at customs upon arrival which from my experience NO ONE does.
Hi Jewells! Is it just me, or do I detect an Icelandic lilt in your voice? Thanks for airing your complaints in this video. It presents the view that living in Iceland is no more idyllic than living anywhere else. Nonetheless, there are things about life in the European far north that speak to me.
Hi!! Lol it’s possible that my voice is changing. 😅 Yes, agreed. Iceland is lovely but it is not a utopia. The pros far outweigh the cons, in my opinion. 😊
@@AllThingsIcelandWhat Pros? Free cold drinking water from the sink? That's about the only thing I can think of compared to just about any average sized city in Europe or the USA as Iceland is essentially just a citystate.
We have individualized cucumbers wrapped here, even in the Health F ood Stores. - ALL THIS PLASTIC IS A BOON TO THE PETROLEUM, FOSSIL INDUSTRY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Could you clarify that many Icelanders do not like fermented shark or Skate or any of the old þorramat. Not everything you say is accurate, still some things could be better. Look into prices in other Nordic countries. Compare prices with products in the us? Why. People in Iceland have better wages than in the United States…and so on
I never said that the majority of Icelanders like þorramat but that it’s something that is consumed on occasions. This video is about what I don’t find appealing. Even with wages considered, the prices of electronics here are very expensive.
@@AllThingsIceland Thank you! And thanks for all the videos, they are very helpful in our trip here to Iceland 🇮🇸. My wife is half Iceland and we're already planning on moving here at some point. Unfortunately, we have to go back to the states for now...ugh.
sooooooooooooooooooo MUCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH plastic - really lots since the pandemic since nothing can touch anything else??????????????????????????????
