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I’m minding my own business in my Reykjavík café of choice as I see three girls hurling down Frakkastígur Street on skateboards. They look to be about 10 years old and I’m about to find out their names: Íris, Eva and Hildur. When I was their age skateboards were for boys, which may have been why this posse of girls caught my interest. I was determined to figure out who these cool girls were. From a bit of sleuthing I managed to meet up with the girls and ask about their “penny boards”, life philosophy and much more. When we met they’d just come from Hljómskólagarður park and were enjoying their last days of summer before school commences again. Skateboards are their main mode of transportation and they’ve come to know all the streets downtown. We went on to discuss the downtown area of Reykjavík, transport, old people on Facebook and the lack of public swimming pools downtown.

Hildur: It doesn’t take that much time to learn how to use a penny board.
Íris: Before we just cycled everywhere.
Eva: Sometimes we take the bus to Vesturbærinn, but we never go by car.
Hildur: We’re not doing any tricks on the skateboard, we just use them to get places.
Íris: Well speak for yourself, I’ve actually been experimenting going in small circles.
Eva: The boards have very strong tires, if someone drives over them, nothing happens. That’s why they are so expensive.
Íris: It’s so funny, when we bought these penny boards three or four others also bought one. We kind of started the trend. Or maybe not, I’m not sure.
Hildur: The three of us bought one this summer at the same time. It was just a coincidence.
Eva: We were all thinking the same thing.
Íris: Yes, I had asked my dad again and again at the same time they bought one.
Hildur: None of us got the same color though, thank god.

Írís: Then there are some people who buy a penny board but never use it.
Hildur: They buy it just so they can post a picture of it on Instagram.
Eva: I haven’t posted a picture of mine.

Íris: Selfies and ice cream are like the only thing people post on Instagram these days

Íris: Selfies and ice cream are like the only thing people post on Instagram these days.
Hildur: I mostly post pictures of Icelandic nature.
Íris: Selfies are overused.
Hildur: I heard about this girl who has posted 28 pictures on Instagram and 27 of them were selfies.
Íris: I sometimes think people just want to hear or read a comment: “you're so pretty” and something like that.
Hildur: Then no one tells you that in person, you meet someone and they are super shy but on Instagram, they say: “you're beautiful”.

Íris: I’m getting kind of hot in this coat, but I can’t tie it around my waist because my phone is in my pocket.
Hildur: This august month really is saving the summer, it’s so hot.
Eva: It’ll be fun riding to school on the boards on Monday, if the weather is good.
Hildur: The boys still don’t know we ride them but they definitely will soon.
Eva: None of the boys own one.
Íris: I don’t know. I’m not excited about starting school again, not this time. This next semester we have one more class every day!
Hildur: Yeah, you always get excited at the end of summer to start school but then it starts and you have to wake up early and study. Great.
Íris: If it were up to me then the summer break would be from June till new years then school from new years till June.
Eva: I think I would get bored in your vacation.
Hildur: Yes I like it just the way it is.
Íris: It was just an idea.

Íris: One day we’ll have to work on summer breaks and get no time off.
Hildur: Well I’ll be doing a job I love, taking care of horses, so I don’t mind.
Íris: You know you don’t get paid for that.
Hildur: I don’t care, at least it’s a job.
Eva: Summer breaks are just so much fun, sometimes we meet up at eleven in the morning and we’re out until ten in the evening.
Hildur: Asking the girls to come out and play, jump on the trampoline and go swimming.
Íris: Then we totally crash in the evening, having skateboarded all over town. We still need more swimming pools downtown. There is just Sundhöllin.
Eva: Yeah it sucks.
Hildur: There are so many things missing here.
Eva: Like what?
Hildur: Oh you know, you see these things but then you forget about them.

Íris: It could be a lot cleaner downtown. Like over the weekends after people have been partying in the clubs they leave cans all over the place

Íris: It could be a lot cleaner downtown. Like over the weekends after people have been partying in the clubs they leave cans all over the place.
Hildur: And cigarettes.
Eva: There also could be a lot more bicycle paths. But the new ones are kind of nice.
Hildur: We need more places like this one right here, where you can just sit and relax.
Íris: There are these playgrounds for the small kids, but nothing for us!

Íris: I love Reykjavík but I want to move abroad at some point and maybe study something.
Hildur: My favorite place in Reykjavík is Krambúðin Store in Skólavörðustígur. Tiny store and very rare.
Eva: I also wouldn’t mind moving abroad.
Hildur: My brother lives abroad with his girlfriend and baby. I’m the only one of us girls who has a Facebook, but that’s just so I can follow them.
Íris: Yes. Only old people use Facebook.
Eva: Everybody just uses Snapchat and maybe Instagram.
Íris: Older kids just use Facebook for the chat.
Hildur: I’m still not that much into Snapchat. I check it out once in a while but I’m interesting in things beside it.
Eva: Yeah, me too. I don’t use it that much.