Holiday stories | Irena & Þórsteinn
A winter adventure on a 30-year-old sled
Artist Þórsteinn Svanhildarson og architecture student Irena Sveinsdóttir are both born and bred in Reykjavík and have family roots in the North of Iceland as well. Their children are named Sól, who’s four years old, and Flóki, three years old. “We’re the average Icelandic family. Our everyday life all happens here in or around 101 Reykjavík, it’s a vibrant place and that’s exactly what inspires us,” the couple explains as they told us a bit about everything from their family life to Christmas traditions.
What’s your favorite Christmas tradition?
Irena: Since we’re a relatively new family, we don’t currently have a lot of traditions, but we’re kind of stocking up on them. I think it’s really important to find your own traditions. It doesn’t have to be making gingerbread cookies, it might as well be going to a concert or spending time with the family – but you find your own.
Þórsteinn: Yeah, we’re still creating our own traditions, but putting the Christmas lights out in the window and decorating the home a bit at the beginning of December are probably my favorite traditions so far.
Irena: When I was little, we had this tradition at home that the kids were allowed to open one present before dinner on Christmas Eve – and I loved that as a kid. (In Iceland, families generally exchange gifts and open them after dinner on Christmas Eve.) I think I’d like to follow that tradition with our kids, it reduces the stress and excitement.
What’s your favorite Christmas memory?
Irena: I’ve never been a real jólabarn (“Christmas child”, as Icelanders commonly call a person who cherishes the holiday), but ever since I started experiencing Christmas through the kids, the season has become very precious to me. I get excited about taking them to meet Santa somewhere, almost more excited than them – I’m kind of experiencing my inner jólabarn as well.
What’s an inseparable part of Christmas for you?
Irena: Spending time with family and friends. To me, being with my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is so important. I couldn’t celebrate Christmas without my family.
Þórsteinn: I’ve also enjoyed going to the Christmas dance at the preschool. The kids are so proud to show us everything there, and we all gather around the Christmas tree and sing. The last couple of years, we’ve gone for a family stroll downtown on the 23rd of December and that’s been great.
Irena: Yeah, I kind of feel like I’m able to relax and enjoy more after we had the kids.
What do you enjoy most about the Christmas season?
Irena: I like that the atmosphere is light, even though people are rushing around and trying to sort everything out – you have the Christmas lights downtown and people are in a good mood, generally speaking. Somehow everything becomes brighter.
Þórsteinn: Yeah, I would say the warmth and the brightness – and just how everyone is up for doing something fun. The city is full of cultural life.
What’s on your wish list for Christmas?
Irena: I don’t really wish for physical things anymore, even though it’s always fun to get something nice for our home, or an experience, a gift certificate for an airline ticket or something like that.
Þórsteinn: In terms of products from 66°North, we have long johns for the kids on the list. We use those long wollen underpants every day during fall and winter. And I wouldn’t mind owning pants like that myself on the coldest days.
Irena: Apart from that, the kids have a specific wish. When it started snowing in October, all of a sudden, we went down to the storage room and found a sled that I got when I was a child. We brought it to the preschool as we picked up the kids and it became a real winter adventure for them – riding on a 30-year-old sled. Unfortunately, the sled couldn‘t carry them both at the same time. So now they‘ve added new sleds to their wish list.
Irena and Þórsteinn’s 66°North wishlist
What creates the Christmas mood for you?
Irena: When it snows, especially if it happens right before Christmas. A white Christmas it the main thing that creates the Christmas mood for me, but also all the Christmas lights.
Þórsteinn: Laid-back Christmas shopping with the kids and just doing something that entertains them. Those are precious moments.
Read more about Icelandic holiday traditions
Holiday stories | Sonny & Sigrún
Holiday stories | Hans og Fríða Björk
Holiday stories | Ben and Eydís
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