Just Finished Reading: Iceland Defrosted by Edward Hancox (FP: 2013) [279pp] 

It was an obsession, freely admitted. Iceland, the landscape, the people, the food and especially the music fascinated him beyond anything else. Travelling to, and around, the country at every opportunity mostly alone, sometimes with local friends, sometimes with his wife and, more recently, with their new born the author made new friends, experienced the strangeness of the land (and more often than not the people too!), stayed in small hotels or bed & breakfast places – complete with interesting, often delicious, food – enjoyed concerts and other concert goers, and generally had a LOT of fun. 

Almost any way you look at it, Iceland is a pretty amazing place. The scenery alone, seen in various Lord of the Rings movies as well as more than a few others over the years, would make it a holiday destination for anyone jaded by the regular destinations we’ve all heard so much about (and often been too far too often). But it has SO much more going for it than awesome lava fields, active volcanoes (as the world, and especially western Europe has found out to its inconvenience more than once) and world class waterfalls. One thing I can definitely agree with is the music. I’ve been a BIG fan of Bjork for a long time and love her vocal style. After hearing her as a solo artist I starting picking up her earlier work with the Sugarcubes and even have a jazz album by her – in Icelandic! - which is probably the strangest CD I own (at the moment). As a sometimes music journalist, the author kindly lists some of his favourite bands/singers in the back and I’m working my way through them (on YouTube) to see if I like them. Throughout the book as he travels around the country, he also interviews many of the singers he’s long admired from a distance, which is pretty cool. 

As a veggie (coming up to 25 years now) I’ll have to take the authors word on the superb fish meals he had and wrote about with great gusto. One thing I was intrigued by though was Icelandic yoghurt – specifically Skyr yoghurt. He enthused over it more than once and lamented (while in New York of all places whilst enjoying a pot there) that it was a great pity that it wasn’t on sale in the UK. Now this book was published in 2013 so, I thought, I wonder if things had changed. I’m delighted to say that it has and picked up a BIG tub of Skyr strawberry yoghurt from my local big supermarket. It’s YUMMY and deserves the praise the author heaped on it. It is fast becoming a staple part of my weekly diet. 

Needless to say, I really enjoyed this book. Not only is it simply a fun read in itself but the authors love of that island shines through in the prose. Iceland is a fascinating (if rather expensive!) place with a seriously unique history and culture – and I don’t just mean the yoghurt. If you’re thinking of trying it out as a potential holiday destination you could do a lot worse than reading this excellent travelogue first. Recommended.