Feb4

* kemst po haegt fari.

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                                        in iceland, drawing a map on your mail works just as well as an address

iceland is a magical place, where peace reigns and elves dictate where roads can be built and a mcDonald’s burger can end up in the country’s national museum. it’s also the kind of place where if you don’t know the address where you want your mail to go, you can just draw a map, as condé nast traveler reports.

a tourist looking to mail an envelope to a farm in the village of búðardalur in western iceland didn’t know the proper postal address, so instead, the visitor just drew a sketch of the location. the outside of the letter included pertinent details like the town name, descriptions like “a horse farm with an icelandic/danish couple and 3 kids and a lot of sheep” and the fact that “the danish woman works in a supermarket in búðardalur.” the envelope mapped out local highway routes and bodies of water in relation to the farm. it also included a hefty “takk fyrir!,” icelandic for “thank you.” the letter departed from reykjavik, and by the grace of very patient icelandic postal workers, did end up at its intended destination, the hólar farm and petting zoo. it must be quite the place to earn such dedication from its visitors.
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* kemst þó hægt fari.
translation: you will reach your destination even though you travel slowly.
english equivalent: we rode slow, but we ride sure.

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source: Íslands, Landsbókasafn (1980). Árbók. Bókasafnið

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credits: mentalfloss.com-shaunacy ferro, conde-nast magazine, steina matt (image)

 

45 responses »

  4. Isn’t that an excellent story. I do remember when I was young, I lived for a time on a small island called Alderney, which still had a telephone exchange. I remember someone calling the exchange and asking to be put through to Sandra Walters, and the woman in the exchange saying, “I don’t think she’s at home. I think she’s up having her hair done. I’ll try there first for you.” Lovely times in a lovely place and thank you for reminding me of them.

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