Iceland Noir's After Party

 

Jeff–Saturday

 

Last Saturday, I wrote about the wisdom of Iceland Noir’s curated approach to matching panelists to their moderators, and I named some of the legends of the international mystery community honored by the festival.  All of that took place in the heart of Reykjavik, divided between two magnificent facilities separated by no more than a five-minute walk.

 

 

 

 

 

This week it’s all about the festival’s legendary “after party.” No, not the Saturday night disco get together in a private club overlooking the city, where Barbara and I got the crowd rocking and rolling–plus yours truly into a bit of limping.
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What I’m talking about is the now traditional Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday trip by festival panelists and their partners to parts of Iceland hand-picked for their mysterious beauty and camaraderie-inducing magic by the festival’s organizers, Ragnar, Yrsa, Oskar, and Eva (right to left). 

 

Those three days create new friendships and reaffirm the “family affair” nature of the festival.  This year nearly forty of us caravanned along the south coast to our base of operations at the Hotel Ranga—after a delightful Sunday brunch hosted by Iceland’s First Lady at the official residence of the nation’s President.

 

 

 

Under pain of mysterious consequences, I’m sworn not to reveal the substance of the many confidences shared over those days, nor am I able to remember the names of the places we visited. BUT I do have photographs.  They will reveal some of our fellow travelers and the sort of venues we visited.  All I can say is this: There is nothing like Iceland Noir.

HOTEL RANGA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE NOTORIOUS BLACK SAND BEACH

 

But now we’re home.