One of my favorite good and relaxing places for coffee and bookreading in Reykjavik Hemmi og Valdi.
Downtown in the middle of the high street: Laugavegur.
Even tough I absolutely loved the previous inhabitants of Laugavegur 21: Kaffi Hljómalind a non-profit co-operative which aimed to be a positive influence on society with all profits donated to charity. Hljómalind previously was a record store and was always run by Kiddi who also doubled as Sigur Rós' manager who then turned it in to a song called Hljómalind. The 'Kaffi' subsequently moved up on the Laugavegur to the 23 and now has unfortunately already left Reykjavik some time ago. Which is really how it goes, new places pop up and not so new places die young. A good thing is that some of the atmosphere is still in the air forever. And Hemmi og Valdi does indeed remind me of the old place.
In 2005 Grapevine published the most complete laugavegur store review ever and last year they published a good overview of bars in Reykjavik with some thought to those who are not there anymore as well.
The Grapevine in my opinion is the best write-up in Iceland, consistently good and strong content and can be read as a PDF online as well for those unfortunate times where you are unable to pick up a copy in 101 yourself.
Hemmi og Valdi
Grapevine
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