Annie Rhiannon

Monday, July 03, 2006

Barinn vs 22

Am I the only person in the whole of Iceland who thinks the newly refurbished Barinn is actually an improvement on 22?

Excuse me for being totally uncool, but I always hated 22. Sitting downstairs made me feel like I should be ordering a coffee and a sandwich. Sitting upstairs made me feel like I should be tapping for a vein. And the music. Christ. Trying to dance to a mix of 80s synth and 90s grunge was bad enough. But being put through that working-as-a-waitress-in-a-cocktail-bar song three times in one night is enough to make me go back downstairs and order that sandwich.

Oh, I have fond memories of the place too, don't get me wrong. Getting off under the stairs with my best friend's ex by mistake is one. Letting my visitor get touched up in the toilets by a demanding Icelandic lesbian is another. And vomiting all over some tourist's feet just before trying to kiss him was also fun. But hey, it's time to let go and move on.

So yeah, Barinn, a great improvement. This week's challenge is to find out who the hot new exotic-looking guy behind the downstairs bar is. Go!

13 comments:

  1. Ah, the folly of youth.

    One day you too will come to appreciate the value of sleazy, seedy semi-gay bars that play nostalgic music and still sell beer at an almost reasonable price after all the other places have closed.

    You're right about that damn cocktail-bar song though. *shudder*

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  2. Well, if Sirkus and Kaffibarinn get taken over I'll probably get quite upset and move to Krakow. Not that I can get into Sirkus anymore, having gone off to England and lost my street-cred. I queued for an hour on Saturday!

    22 was the worst bar in RVK, if you don't count all the ones down the bottom, Rex etcetera.

    Oh god. Maybe that means it was actually the BEST bar in Reykjavik.

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  3. Exactly. Imagine it's 5:30am.

    Discount all the bars that are closed or impossible to get into... and all that's left is 22.

    BEST BAR IN TOWN!

    Or was anyway.

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  4. I haven't stayed out til 5.30 in MONTHS!

    I'm too "mature".

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  5. So how has this bar improved with its new name? What music is played now?

    Can you still snog folk under the stairs? Will you take me there when I visit?

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  6. I think they might have been playing Hot Chip, just like everywhere else.

    Not sure about the stairs. I was there with Connie and Brian from Dolwyddelan so I wasn't doing much snogging, to be honest.

    YES I will definitely take you there when you come over! Then you can see for yourself. When are you coming? Next week?

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  7. No can't do next week unfortunately. Can you advise me how much moolah I will need for flight, accommodation and spends?

    And am I right in thinking the Icelandish dark period occurs during the British winter and so on?

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  8. Roughly a million pounds.

    No, I guess a flight would cost you around £200 and then you'd need spending money for drink etc, say another £200. And I will provide you with accommodation and food etc of course.

    Yeah, the darker period is the same as the UK winter. But the darkest bit is quite brief. You don't fancy 24 hour daylight then?

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  9. Christian: COME IN THE SUMMERTIME
    June is good

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  10. I mentioned winter as that is the period I'd prefer to avoid. It's unlikely that I will have saved £400 by the end of summer so it might have to be in a year's time.

    June perhaps, as advised by Krilli?

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  11. Truculent Horse4.7.06

    Annie, ANNIE, ANNIE! You know how I feel about 22, it's like the mothership. It's bad enough it's gone (is it really gone then?)without you slagging it off in public! I was going to 22 when you were still in Wales pretending to be boy called Tom. It was much better in the old days, when you could smuggle in a litre of vodka, chat with an infamous murderer and get off with someone that your best friend would then get off with 10 years later in exactly the same spot.

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  12. Oh no Eavan, I should have known this would upset you. Yes, the place is gone. But its replacement really isn't as bad as everybody says it is. It still has a bit of a grubby feel about it. You could probably still smuggle in the vodka and find the infamous murderer. Not sure about the time-travel snogging though.

    Christian, I'm with Krilli on this one. Save your money and come in June when it's always sunny. Well, always light, at least.

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  13. Truculent Horse6.7.06

    :(

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