When I lived in Reykjavik in 1966-67, it was a very isolated place that looked and felt like a North Atlantic fishing village on the edge of the world (that's actually kinda what it was, I guess). When I visited in 1999, it had gotten a lot more cosmopolitan; the food was much better, and more people spoke English, but it still looked and felt like a North Atlantic fishing village (one of my favorite cities in the world).
-- (April 22, 2003) on Iceland