07 March 2011
Beer and High Spirits
Intrepid Australian journalist Sam Vincent offers tips on how to make the most of a night out in Reykjavik. As he writes in the March 5th edition of The Sidney Morning Herald:
| When it comes to national holidays, some countries celebrate revolutions, others fete wars of independence. In Iceland, they celebrate the day beer was legalised. | |
| On May 10, 1988, seven decades of beer prohibition ended when the Icelandic parliament voted to scrap the last vestige of what had once been a complete ban on booze (although wine and some spirits were legalised in 1922). The New York Times reported at the time that ''a dozen beer-lovers flashed victory signs outside parliament after the results came in''. Not quite Tahrir Square but you get the picture. | |
| The beer finally flowed on March 1, 1989, and, ever since, Reykjavik has become something of a nightlife hot spot, famous for thumping concerts, wild dance-floor antics and philosophical conversations with strangers in bohemian bars, all fuelled by generous amounts of amber ale. It's called the ''runtur'' (round tour), the name of the city's infamous pub crawl, when locals stop worrying about their country's economic woes for a few hours and party. |
For the view from down under, click here .
