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Visiting the Faroe Islands
Like last year's trip to La Reunion, this year's trip was to a pleasant but somewhat obscure (for Americans, at least) destination: The Faroe Islands.
At this point, most people usually ask me one or both of these questions: 1. Where exactly are the Faroes? 2. Good God, Rich, why?! Hopefully my travelogue will give you some idea on the latter. First, a bit about the Faroe Islands: 1. The Faroes are a series of 18 islands in the North Atlantic, formed approximately 60 million years ago by the same volcanic plume that has since moved on and formed Iceland. So essentially, they are a smaller, much older version of Iceland. 2. The Faroes are part of the Danish Monarchy, but, like Greenland, are a semi-autonomous country. Just on our way traveling there, we found that just asking "What country owns the Faroes?" is a bit of a hot-button issue (in general, Danish people claim it's part of Denmark, while the Faroes claim they are their own independent country. The truth is someplace in between). 3. What do they speak there? Faroese. Like Danish and Icelandic, it derives from Old Norse, but over the centuries it's had it's own evolution. It's most similar to Icelandic (in fact, very similar in writing), but pronounced almost completely differently. 4. How big are the Faroes? 45,000 people living on 540 square miles. The fjord nature of the islands means the furthest you can get from the ocean is 3 miles. 5. What do people do there? Mostly it's fish and sheep, with much of the former being aquaculture. Sheep are a decreasing part of the economy, but an important cultural cornerstone: every single inch of the Faroes has been granted as grazing rights to someone (including the cliffs and mountaintops), and wool, lamb, and mutton are important subsistence products. Tourism still hasn't really caught on there. 6. How do you get there? Two ways: flying into Vagar airport from Reykjavik, Edinburgh, Bergen, or Copenhagen, or taking the ferry from Copenhagen. Unless you really like rough North Atlantic waves, I don't recommend the latter. I ended up doing the former, mostly since I enjoy Iceland and it made for a nice, direct route. So, why did I go there? 1. It's one of the least-visited Nordic areas, especially for English speakers, but I've been somewhat intrigued by it ever since Iceland, since it's much like Iceland but less touristy. 2. Faroese wool and knitting have been the rage for several years in the fiber arts community. 3. Hiking and scenery. As you'll see from my photos, the Faroes are a hiking wonderland of high cliffs, blue seas, and wonderful scenery as long as you aren't too attached to trees (You know how people say Iceland doesn't have trees (a fact which isn't true, btw)? That's much more true for the Faroes, which don't seem to have a single tree that's not in a town or in someone's garden) 4. Birds. The only thing that the Faroes has more than sheep is birds. Millions upon millions of them, especially Puffins and Oyster Catchers. 5. Culture. While it too has had its shifts, the Faroe Islands has done a generally good job of maintaining a good balance of modernism and traditional culture. In short, it's like a different take on the same ingredients as Iceland (subarctic island, Nordic culture, ...), but smaller and more intense, without any of the volcanic stuff (the only thing left from the Faroe's volcanic history is some very steep cliffs of basalt and some rather rich soil). |
Our travel to the Faroe Islands had us experiencing both a new airline (Atlantic Airways) and a new airport (Reykjavik Domestic).
The vast majority of air travel from "Reykjavik" is really from Keflavik International Airport (KEF, 45 miles away), and indeed, that's where we arrived. But our outgoing flight was from RKV, which is actually right in downtown Reykjavik (it's just south of the Tjörnin lake). It's an interesting airport, since: (a) You have to explain to everyone several times that yes, you do indeed mean RKV instead of KEF. (b) It's actually easy to walk to instead of public transportation (c) It oddly has two completely separate terminals (East and West) with no apparent way between them (d) It was actually surprisingly difficult to figure out where Atlantic Airways flew out of (I almost went to the other termina) (e) You wonder if you are in the wrong place, since unless the Atlantic Airways flight is actually parked on the tarmac, there's no evidence of them being there (f) It's a small airport. Really small. Like "smaller than LEB". (g) Fully half of the airport is Duty Free shopping for the flights to/from Greenland and the Faroes. (h) The runway is rather short (5100') which is one reason it's not used often, although to my surprise our flight was a A319, which is an awfully large airplane for a 5100' runway https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8357/2...bb73c896_z.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8451/2...301064ac_z.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8781/2...199bdaa2_z.jpg Somewhat to my surprise, despite the 5100' takeoff runway at RKV, and the 6000' landing runway at FOE, our flight was an A319 (only about half full; not sure they can do that flight on a full load): https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7664/2...8393cfbc_z.jpg And this photo doesn't do justice to the splendor, but the approach to Vagar Airport (FOE) is easily one of the most impressive and beautiful approaches I've ever done, with the plane descended between high cliffs as it flies down the fjord: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8851/2...74f03595_z.jpg |
When you arrive at FOE, you are on Vágar island, but the capital Torshavn (and most amenities) are over on Streymoy, the next island over.
Until 2002, that involved driving to the north side of Vágar and taking a ferry to Vestmanna, and backtracking up the fjord and across the high peaks of Streymoy on Oyggjarvegur (the "Island Road"), but a second wave of civil engineering investment in the Faroes now have turned most of that route into tunnels (one long undersea tunnel to Streymoy, and two short tunnels connecting the fjords). Leaving the airport, you are immediately in typical Faroe Island scenery: deep blue water (here it's actually freshwater, the large Leitisvatn lake) and deep green hillsides with steep cliffs. https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8786/2...03dee8a2_z.jpg Typical Faroese landscape: a mix of soft rolling grass-covered hills with no trees, and some relatively high peaks and the occasional steep cliff. This is similar to the Eastern Fjords of Iceland, although the Faroes are about 60m years older: https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7700/2...edb64a7c_z.jpg Looking over Leitisvatn: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8702/2...778e49dd_z.jpg Sandavagur, one of the three villages on Vagar island. This is the first real settlement you come to, and actually fairly large by Faroese standards: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8828/2...dcdb27a6_z.jpg A good overall image of some of the notable parts of the Faroes: 1. The two islands Koltur (no longer inhabited) and Hestur (sparsely inhabited) with steep cliffs (1000' cliffs are 'normal' in the Faroes, with steep ones almost half a mile high not uncommon). 2. Aquaculture rings: the round rings in the foreground are aquaculture pens. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7683/2...fc5d66f7_z.jpg |
Once you get to the top ridge of Vagar, looking north towards Streymoy, the view is quite good. While I had done a lot of prep and seen a lot of other people's photos, in the end, I had kind of picked the Faroes pretty blindly off a map, and you never know if a place is as beautiful as the pictures make you think. This view, combined with the phenomenal scenery coming in at the airport, where what finally made me realize I had picked a great place for a vacation:
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8614/2...acf06cb5_z.jpg Common scenes of Faroese Driving: A tunnel. https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8630/2...026e3e7f_z.jpg Historically, much of the settlement in the Faroe Islands was linked by boat. But with two stretches of intensive civil engineering (1970s-80s, and '90s-'00), much of that has been replaced by road tunnels. In this case, the impressive Vágatunnilin completed in 2002, which connects Vágar and Streymoy in a tunnel that's not only 5 km long, but drops 0.5 km from its entrance to the bottom since it goes underneath the deep sound separating the islands You see a lot of this (this tunnel, and all the newer ones, are two-lane, many of the older ones are single lane with periodic passing chambers): https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8817/2...63ec57ec_z.jpg About a km after you emerge from the first tunnel, you then plunge back into Leynartunnilin, the tunnel between Leynar and the valley Kollfjarðardalur: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8740/2...28750c1d_z.jpg And then a bit later you enter Kollfjarðartunnilin between Kollafjørður and Kaldbaksbotnur! https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8037/2...5709b923_z.jpg |
Sheep outnumber Faroese people almost 2:1, and are mostly free-ranging. This means that having sheep on the road is common enough that you have to remain vigilant, especially since they often fall asleep on the road.
This guy at least woke up and moved aside before I could get a picture of him napping. https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8343/2...fa3f6322_z.jpg Looking up at Kopsenni, the highest point on Streymoy. Like a few other steep islands I've been on (like Reunion) the high peaks tend to make their own cloud patterns (hot moist air traveling up the slopes hits cool upper air and condenses): https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8417/2...81234dea_z.jpg Arriving at 10pm in Torshavn, we got a surprisingly nice view of the city from our hotel. But had to rush to find dinner before everything closed for the night (despite the lack of proper "nighttime" during the summer, most things in the Faroes close fairly early): https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8536/2...2e47b7c3_z.jpg The Faroe Islands are still a relatively obscure tourism destination (picking up a bit after 10,000 people showed up to see last year's solar eclipse, overwhelming the local economy), so there's not that much in hotel accomodations, and much of those are expensive (like the nearby Hotel Foroyer luxury hotel). So we split our time between the Hostel Kerjalon and an Airbnb. I'll have to say, for a hostel, this was pretty nice, and had a really nice view, although the other hostel clients had a tendency to stay up late and wake up early: https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8437/2...10a69b48_z.jpg |
The timing of our flight from Reykjavik to Vagar was pretty lousy: by the time we got our luggage, got our rental car, and drove the tunnels and fjords to get to Torshavn, it was 9:55 pm, and pretty much all the dining options in Torsshavn on a Monday night were closed. Except for the restaurant in the adjacent 4 star hotel, Gras, which was nice enough to let two slightly disheveled travelers eat at the dinner buffet that had technically closed at 9:30.
It was actually a really great meal. Here's some roasted lamb with vegetables (a fairly standard "modern" Faroese meal): https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7584/2...b3027db0_z.jpg With one of the mainstays of modern Faroese cuisine: fresh farmed salmon https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8655/2...1e9357e3_z.jpg A little buried under the garnish, but these were some awesome langoustines (almost as good as the ones in Hofn, Iceland): https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8726/2...46b93e37_z.jpg Some nice minute steaks (there was a Danish name for these that I don't remember): https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8754/2...24e80ec7_z.jpg I got to try Okkara Rinku-Steinur, from Okkara, the younger of the Islands' two breweries: https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8805/2...52386186_z.jpg |
After dinner, due to the ever-present twilight, we went on an 11 pm walk along the hills above Torshavn. Here's a nice view of Torshavn and Nólsoy Island off in the distance:
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8846/2...d1d8bae3_z.jpg Looking back at the Hostel, and the nearby Hotel Foroyer where we had dinner: https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8089/2...7e888a69_z.jpg The rare picture of both myself and Carol: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8649/2...366833ac_z.jpg Zooming in on central Torshavn, with the fairly prominent Vesturkirkjan with its angular patinated copper roof. https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8606/2...451d2cac_z.jpg |
The next morning we got up pretty early (well, it never really got dark... I never did get past waking up at 5am, seeing the bright sun, and thinking "I must have overslept!"), and went down to explore Torshavn and work out some SIM cards[1].
One of the reasons that Torshavn is the major city is that, in a set of islands with steep fjords and cliffs, it's one of the few places where they could make a modern harbor. It's quite nice, especially since there were more boats than normal due to a regatta. https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8573/2...db14b1b4_z.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8773/2...b068a419_z.jpg https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8083/2...b3622a35_z.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7578/2...2eb43e1b_z.jpg https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8794/2...809dcbe1_z.jpg [1] Vodafone.fo has possibly the best SIM package on the planet, BTW. Our SIM cards cost us $9 each. Each had 5GB of excellent 4G coverage everywhere in the Islands, including the tunnels and the remote villages. Plus, the SIM had 4GB of roaming coverage in Europe, the UK, and Island. So yeah, pretty much all the internet both of us could consume for $18. |
After procuring the magical SIMs, our next stop was Skansin, a natural hill that overlooks the harbor of Torshavn. This little overlook has been strategic for a long time, and has has been the site of several important historical locations:
1. An 18th century fort built to protect against the Barbary Pirates 2. A WWII gun emplacement to protect Torshavn's harbor 3. A modern lighthouse https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8674/2...d288dc73_z.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8637/2...61a9853f_z.jpg Back in the 1700s, these cannons were installed to defend Torshavn from the Barbary Pirates, who had ransacked the Orkneys and even nearby Sandoy island: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8878/2...a5771d74_z.jpg In WWII, the British controlled the Islands, and there are still some remnants of that (friendly) occupation, like these 5.5 cm guns: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8855/2...f3a81a10_z.jpg |
The next stop was a little park that commemorates the first monarch to actually visit the Faroes, King Christian IX who visited in the late 19th century with much fanfare:
https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8734/2...5566d4df_z.jpg It's probably one of the best places to really get a nice view of the colorful buildings of Torshavn: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8057/2...2fe399c3_z.jpg |
The next little stop in Torshvan was Tinganes.
The Faroes easily win an award for "smallest and cutest government center in the world", since this is the center of the government[1]. This is pretty much the entire executive government of the Islands. [1] Not the Parliament, which meets up the hill. https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8370/2...1d62052d_z.jpg https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8593/2...668f2713_z.jpg https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8680/2...b9bcb8fe_z.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8617/2...d6aa71a6_z.jpg And hey, it's not every day that you can yell at a kid to get off the Prime Minister's roof. Since yes, that's the Prime Minister's residence: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8643/2...ec44ce7c_z.jpg |
Overall, Tinganes was pretty neat:
https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8804/2...de29f1aa_z.jpg And there's something I just like about the relatively simple Faroese flag (as you'll see in some historical places, Danish and Norwegian flags are common as well): https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8718/2...44f9fdaa_z.jpg But there's a hidden detail at Tinganes: if you look carefully at the rocks in front of it, you can see that they've been using that peninsula for a long time: there's actually a Viking-era sundial carved in the rocks: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8620/2...e722dbf9_z.jpg |
And nestled into the hill right between Tinganes and the harbor is this surprisingly small church:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8565/2...610a6342_z.jpg https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8779/2...5029b2bb_z.jpg About the size of a typical Congregational Church in small town New England, this little church is actually the Torshavn Cathedral, and the head church of the Faroese Church. It's size belies how ornate it is inside: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8780/2...d9de2f38_z.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8421/2...3e00f76b_z.jpg And I'll admit, there's something I just love about the look of a good church organ: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8773/2...851eb7ab_z.jpg |
But the thing I liked about the Cathedral, and most of the little town churches around the Faroes, is that most of them have Votive Ships, little ship models given to the church by ships' crews:
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8875/2...0eefa579_z.jpg https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8588/2...8d787d51_z.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8797/2...13dfa5be_z.jpg |
entral Kirkjubøur, with St Olav's Church (Ólavskirkjan) at the right:
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8711/2...a1d4f047_z.jpg This church dates from the 12th century, with occasional updates: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8771/2...5de75172_z.jpg This is pretty much what the interior of most village Faroese churches look like: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8653/2...0a6e837c_z.jpg A cool stained glass gate to Ólavskirkjan: https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8746/2...8a1bee7f_z.jpg This building is partly a museum now, but it's been a residence since the 1100s, and continuously occupied by generations of the same family since 1550. Originally an episcopal residence for the nearby church and (unfinished) cathedral, this is also the location where, in 1298, the future Haakon IV of Norway set forth the "Sheep Letter" which governs the raising and slaughter of sheep on the Islands to this very day: https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8573/2...514e67e5_z.jpg |
Next to Ólavskirkjan is Kirkjubømúrurin, also known as "Magnus' Cathedral". Construction started by Bishop Erlendur about the year 1269, when he thought the Islands needed a majestic cathedral. He was forced by the Danes to leave the islands in 1303, and work slowed down substantially, but continued piecemeal until around 1500, when they basically gave up and focused on rebuilding Ólavskirkjan again.
It's currently having conservation work done, however. https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8101/2...520913ee_z.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8793/2...0e5817c0_z.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8189/2...8fa35121_z.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8869/2...219746d9_z.jpg There are even remnants of an old spiral stone staircase: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8369/2...66920779_z.jpg |
One of the main reasons we went to the Faroe Islands was hiking, and since the weather was, by Faroese standards, excellent (that translates to 50 degrees and sunny), we went on a hike to Trælanípa and Leitisvatn.
Letisvatn is the largest freshwater lake in the Faroes, and it's a hanging lake, draining by waterfall into the Atlantic, and there's a large sea cliff, Trælanípa, nearby that provides a good vantage point. But it's a bit of a hike to get here. Here, you can see the Trælanípa off in the distance: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8589/2...16591ea3_z.jpg About halfway to Trælanípa you come to a notch in the ridge, and you get a good view in each direction: Here's looking at Leitisvatn: https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8832/2...95b3bf2f_z.jpg Here's looking at Trælanípa, which is around 500' (small by Faroese standards) https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8583/2...3bcf58cb_z.jpg Here's the view out of the notch. Looking across there's Koltur, Streymoy (behind Koltur), Hestur, Sandoy, Skuvoy (along the right edge of Sandoy), and Suduroy: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8574/2...c9ab7498_z.jpg Getting to the top of Trælanípa, the view of Leitisvatn is pretty good. There's a bit of a weird optical illusion at Leitisvatn since the lake and sea are at different levels, but it doesn't convey in 2D images: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8844/2...e1a87961_z.jpg |
Looking east frmo the top of Trælanípa, the view got even better:
https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8249/2...260a091e_z.jpg There are a bunch of old foundations up there, let over from WWII when the British maintained an observation and early warning station for the nearby Vagar airport. During days like my hike that must have been a great posting. During the winter? Not so much (the Faroes are famously windy and misty in the winter): https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8564/2...ff241544_z.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8746/2...0fb8f1bf_z.jpg Here's Carol enjoying the view (staying far away from the sheer cliff): https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7560/2...f21d4cd4_z.jpg And we weren't the only people enjoying the weather. We got a nice wave in to the Atlantic Airways sightseeing helicopter that passed by: https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7767/2...8a3374c0_z.jpg |
After that hike, we were a bit hungry. While the food scene in the Faroes is limited, there are some niches where the offerings are quite good. One of them is Etika, Torshavn's best (only) sushi shop:
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8594/2...9a629d1d_z.jpg A few things to note about sushi in the Faroes: 1. There's no tuna. The tuna stocks in the North Atlantic are low, and it's too pricey to import. 2. There's salmon. A lot of salmon. While it has the softer taste of farmed salmon (because, well, it's all farmed), it's quite good. 3. There was a new one to me: Porbeagle. It's a type of shark. It's not bad. On the left are salmon and porbeagle. The specialty roll on the right was tempura shrimp with mango, spicy mayo, and salmon https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8735/2...d4bb1eb4_z.jpg We also had some good tempura shrimp (shrimp and langoustine are pretty common catch from the trawlers) and a surprisingly good salmon salad: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8813/2...69a0e78f_z.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8594/2...dac38dd3_z.jpg I also got to try Black Sheep, one of the flagship beers of the older Föroya Bjór brewery: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8872/2...4daac21b_z.jpg |
While there's not exactly a wealth of travel info in English for the Faroes (the Lonely Planet "Guide" for the Faroes is, literally, a single page in the back of the Iceland guide, for example), most any guide has a few "must see" lists for the Faroes.
One of these is seeing the Vestmanna Cliffs (they are also one of the few things on the Island that require a lot of advance planning, since tickets are pretty limited) Vestmanna used to be a bustling ferry port, being the only way between Streymoy and Vagar. Until 2002 when the tunnel caused the town to get abruptly bypassed. It's still somewhat busy due to tourism, and being the location of three hydroelectric and two wind farm power stations. The reason most people to go to Vestmanna is to take a boat ride over to the high Vestmanna Cliffs on the west end of Streymoy: a series of impressive tall canyons, grottos, and cliffs inhabited by a large number of birds. https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8538/2...bc267480_z.jpg It's still a nice little town, however, although it's definitely a bit rough about the edges if you wander from the tourist area (although the Faroes are quite possibly the lowest crime place you could visit) https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8736/2...2d022fdd_z.jpg Unless one asks a lot of questions, when you book tickets for a Vestmanna Cliffs tour, you pretty much get assigned randomly to a ship from the several that do tours. We got tickets on the Silja Star, which was quite nice (and enclosed): https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8826/2...e5ee7255_z.jpg Or you could have ended up on the Frigerd, an open-top fishing boating also used for tours, captained by a self-described "Crazy Viking": https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8543/2...3886c1af_z.jpg While definitely a wilder and wetter ride, if I had to do this again I might try to ride with the crazy viking, since they did seem to get into smaller spaces than our boat did. |
The first part of the ride out from Vestmanna is a reminder that virtually every inch of the Faroes is actually someone's ancestral sheep pasture. Here's what is considered highly valued pasture land in the Faroes:
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8264/2...a868af39_z.jpg Yes, if you look closely, there are indeed sheep: https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8104/2...3231dac4_z.jpg Going back to the days of the Sheep Letter, these lands are prized, since supposedly the exercise gives the meat a better flavor, and the natural barriers make it easier to keep the sheep from running off. There's just one little problem: getting the sheep to and from the fields. Supposedly they actually raise and lower them by boat from either the cliffs above, or boats below. I really want to see them do that sometime. There is also the occassional shelter for the sheepherders: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8884/2...4e394e16_z.jpg But mostly, they just graze away and enjoy themselves. Since despite the slope (which does occasionally result in a sheep tumbling to their death), it's also a 100% predator-free environment: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8752/2...891d8170_z.jpg |
The sharp cliffsides of Vestmanna mean a lot of birds nest in the cliffs (although recently bird populations here have dropped for unknown reasons).
A byproduct of that is a thick chalky layer of droppings along the cliffs: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8676/2...e93cfa35_z.jpg Most of the rock of the Faroes is a very hard basalt which resists the wave action well (leaving behind the famous steep cliffs), but every once in a while a fault rift or vein of softer rock occurs that the waves can erode, leaving a series of caves, grottos, tall canyons, and "sea stacks" (freestanding basalt formations). Here's a relatively small (~12') cave: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8857/2...86eccdc7_z.jpg And here's a small sea stack in front of a grotto (and yes, the ocean was that weird shade of blue-green): https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8640/2...91723228_z.jpg We took a swing through that grotto in the boat, but it didn't really photograph well. But here you can see the crazy Viking going through behind us: https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7687/2...f0d15133_z.jpg Pretty much the whole west end of the Islands is craggy like that: https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8753/2...0db6d2fc_z.jpg |
Here's one that did photograph pretty well. This formation is called "The Elephant"[1]. Squint a bit to see it:
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8085/2...9ee99e51_z.jpg The cool thing about the Elephant is that he has puffins in his hair: https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7581/2...7264cb8f_z.jpg The grotto behind the Elephant is really deep: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8291/2...2b8902cf_z.jpg And you can pass through an arch in the Elephant (which we did): https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7596/2...55a18c95_z.jpg And emerge on the other side: https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8698/2...aaac049c_z.jpg [1] Pretty sure that one is modern, since I don't think even Hannibal made it as far as the Faroes. |
Otherwise, it was mostly a lot of threading in and through some of the sea stacks:
https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7732/2...05d08e3e_z.jpg And looking up at tall (~750') cliffs: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8651/2...73d720a9_z.jpg And more narrow passages: https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8672/2...85175e96_z.jpg And some nice sea-stacks: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8840/2...0480216a_z.jpg Which I deliberately undexposed, since in most of these photos the sky is washed out, obscuring the fact that the sky is full of birds, and almost deafening from their calls: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8515/2...c283633e_z.jpg |
See that ominous-looking cave... No, we didn't go into it...
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8604/2...7abeb4a0_z.jpg We went around back... https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8778/2...bffb9037_z.jpg And came out of it: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8831/2...28706ae4_z.jpg And soon enough, were back in Vestmanna: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8381/2...da9d5111_z.jpg And then we were starving for lunch. Well, I had mentioned that, once you got outside of Torshavn, restaurants got pretty thin? Yeah, on the day we went there, Vestmanna had exactly one restaurant that was open (two more apparently had dinner hours only). And every table was reserved by one of the tour buses. So we went to the local grocery store and foraged, coming up with typical Faroese/Danish lunch fixings: various salami-style sausages, bread, cheese, and curry-flavored potato salad (they rather like curry mayo). And Sisu, the soft drink of the Faroes! https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7760/2...19353f19_z.jpg |
Leaving Vestmanna, the weather cleared up a bit, giving me a good chance to get a nice shot of the entire town, including the harbor (large, since it used to be a car ferry terminal) and one of the three hydroelectric dams:
https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8526/2...5d51c9c1_z.jpg At the top of the rise, we could see over to Esturoy (the next island up, and second largest island), which was a good demonstration of the steep mountains making their own weather as the wind drives moist air up into the colder upper atmosphere: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8747/2...b788dc1a_z.jpg On our way back to Torshavn, we did a small diversion into the small town of Kvivik (this is probably a good place to mention that the limited number of towns, and even more limited roads between them, make it excessively difficult to get lost driving in the Faroes, since there are very few options to not take a direct route). Kvivik is one of the few towns to have a natural harbor, indeed, Kvivik is one of the oldest settlements, going back to Viking days. But these days its mostly a quiet town: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8119/2...63d5bb60_z.jpg It does have a nice cemetery: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8567/2...5c1a505b_z.jpg At the center of the cemetery is a nice memorial to the Stella Argus, a fishing vessel that sank with all hands in 1957, eight of them sailors from Kvivik: https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8690/2...ac5fc50d_z.jpg |
Kvivik is one of the few natural decent harbors, so since Viking days it has been a harbor town. Indeed, when improving the harbor in the 1920s, they found evidence of Viking Longhouses and Storehouses, and have left the site mostly intact:
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7719/2...002a746a_z.jpg https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8620/2...3f9ce7a7_z.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8720/2...dff2a013_z.jpg I realized I haven't given much in the way of example Faroese aside from a few placenames, so here's a nice sign: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8625/2...3aa1d9fe_z.jpg Google Translate doesn't work with Faroese, although you can sometimes get partial translations with Icelandic, since the languages are similar. For example, I recognize that "Góðu tit" is basically "Welcome [you]", "Hjálpið okkum" is "Help us", and "grasinum" is "grass (plural)". |
The next stop was Kollafjørður. For years, this was a very quiet little town on one of Streymoy's more obscure fjords, but then opening of the Kollfjarðartunnilin tunnel in 1992 substantially shortened the drive from Torshavn over to Vagar, and all of a sudden Kollafjørður found itself just off the main road, and it's now a small suburb of Torshavn.
The church is interesting, since it's one of the best-maintained traditional churches. This is probably a place to mention that when you see black-colored Faroese houses, they aren't usually painted, but tarred: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8776/2...882ab7ed_z.jpg Inside, it's a marvel of well-maintained unfinished wood and, apparently to survive winter weather, some pretty severe cross-bracing giving it a weird, low-clearance interior (I suspect people were shorter back then...): https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8345/2...fb52faf7_z.jpg The detail on some of the woodwork is amazing: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8401/2...67c40b54_z.jpg And hey, some more votive ships: https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7561/2...1a048ffe_z.jpg And, indulging my love of church organs, this church had a neat Danish-made compact organ that nicely wedges in under the rafters: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8823/2...d852105c_z.jpg (Yes, I've always considered making a coffee table book about church organ. I may have to consider one on Votive Ships as well) |
A substantial fraction of Faroese homes, old or new, have a Hjallur. It's basically a partially vented (see the holes and vertical slats) drying room that's designed to allow moderately cool outdoor storage.
One of the primary uses is to make Skerpikjøt, the local delicacy: a leg of mutton is basically hung up and let ferment and dry for a period of time that's usually 9 months or more. The result is a hard and dry mutton that's got a, well, particular taste and smell. (Yes, I tried it. I'll get to that later): https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8576/2...1b35fdf1_z.jpg https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8728/2...78aa365e_z.jpg The next stop was Saksun. Back when Saksun was first settled, this was a town with a decent deep-water harbor, but a particularly brutal winter storm in 1600 resulted in the harbor getting blocked by sand, and made the town accessible only at high tide, or via a fairly long journey along the Dala river. While accessible by road now, it's one of the shrinking villages of the Faroes, since every once in a while a family moves into one of the larger communities. https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8018/2...645a9ef0_z.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8707/2...e239d965_z.jpg And Saksun had a lot of these nesting around. This is an Oystercatcher, the national bird of the Faroes. They are pretty fiercely territorial, so it's not uncommon for you to get too close to one and have it very loudy circle and swoop at you. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7590/2...e86788ca_z.jpg |
One of the neater attractions is Dúvugarður, a former residence that, when the family that owned it built a newer home nearby, have maintained as approximating its state in the 1930s, showing traditional Faroese life:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8723/2...20ff7b52_z.jpg https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8875/2...f7333a4c_z.jpg https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8055/2...36d54bf0_z.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8870/2...30ee8785_z.jpg |
And, finally, a hike down to the lagoon looking back at town:
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8742/2...9192a465_z.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8708/2...c072bb49_z.jpg |
After that, it was time to go clean up, put on some nice clothes, and head back down to Koks, easily the most upscale and expensive restaurant in the Faroes, that recently moved from the hotel in Torshavn (and Copenhagen before that) to a renovated house in Kirkjubøur:
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8658/2...38a1eb6a_z.jpg Koks is a fine dining restaurant that prides themselves in (like many other fine restaurants) local ingredients and traditions. It's just that here, chef Poul Andrias Ziska is using the local ingredients and traditions of the Faroes, which are quite interesting indeed. They've gotten a rather large number of awards, including multiple wins of the "Best Restaurant in Scandinavia". It's quite the elaborate tasting menu, with 7 appetizers, 6 main courses, and basically three desserts. The food was interesting, to say the very least. :) I'll have to say, the view itself was awesome in itself: https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8004/2...fb38222e_z.jpg After settling in the tasting menu with wine (which turned out to be one of the most awesome wine pairings I've ever had), they launched into the appetizers. First up: greytur, or "porridge", but in this appetizer, the porridge has been deep-fried in little cubes. This worked surprisingly well: https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8622/2...427e119d_z.jpg Next up: Kufiskur. Mahogany clam with dill oil auce and thin slices of radish. This was absolutely delicious (and I don't usually care for clam): https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8654/2...63010010_z.jpg Then, our first divisive course: Oda. A shaved, dried horsemussel served over a "cracker" of dried cod skin. Despite my generally dislike of such things, I actually enjoyed it a bit. Carol rather disliked it. https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8632/2...196c3944_z.jpg Next, one of the big attractions: I finally got to try a variety of Skerpikjøt! Here was it served over a bed of dried reindeer moss. This was another divisive dish. While I thought of the Skerpikjøt as "extremely gamey" and not really my thing, and the reindeer moss texture being odd, I actually enjoyed this dish a little. Carol? Not so much. https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8640/2...ce70d705_z.jpg Next was an odd little dish: Fermented leek slice served up with greens. This is hard to describe, it tasted kinda like eating a rotting onion, but in a good way. I actually liked it: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8607/2...13acf4e0_z.jpg Next up: Garnatalg. One of those little dishes where the description defies simple translation, basically, this is a spread made from fermented lamb's fat mixed with cheese and topped with dried fish flakes. I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8515/2...f3eef9e0_z.jpg Usually when I go to these sorts of fancy restaurants, there's one course that has me going "That's it?!". In this case, it was two nasturtium leaves with a dollop of rhubarb compote. Not bad... but also something I literally have at home. https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8267/2...71478297_z.jpg This one was bizarre but good, but almost impossible to capture with a photo. Razor clam, pea puree, and greens, under what was described as a "burnt leek cracker". Which was exactly that. Very much to my surprise, this actually worked really, really well: the clams were delicious and tender, and the little bits of burnt leek actually worked a lot like caramelized onions. Alas, once you started picking at it, you couldn't really photograph it any more. https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8634/2...fc0e0614_z.jpg Steamed crab with puffed buckwheat and elderflower: again, a perfectly cooked bit of crab with an interesting sauce: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8654/2...3683915f_z.jpg And here was the masterpiece of the meal. They brought out a pair of covered bowls, each containing a langoustine, an actually burning chunk of dried spruce, and several hot, wet rocks. This was absolute perfection: I've never had a more delicious and perfect piece of langoustine, and the soft spruce smoke notes add just the exact amount of smokiness: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8649/2...6e3613a6_z.jpg And skate with peas and lovage pesto. Not one I'm use to trying, this was cooked to absolute perfection: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8768/2...7cfc2e51_z.jpg For some reason the next course was served up with a traditional Faroese whale knife, even those the dish itself was halibut (and, didn't really need a knife, it was fork tender). Still, the knife was neat: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8733/2...7238c940_z.jpg And the halibut with nettles was absolutely delicious as well: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8592/2...3200a3e6_z.jpg Then, there was the Fulmar. I'll stop here and mention one of my biggest mistakes as a food photographer. I forgot to photograph one dish, and it was easily one of the most memorable dishes I've ever had: fulmar breast served up in a nest of beetroot and rose hips. Memorable in a bad way, mostly. I say this, because.... Fulmar (a seagull-like bird inhabiting many of the cliffs of the Faroes) is seriously one of the most disgusting bits of bird I've ever eaten. It was like bad grouse reeking of urine and rancid mackerel. Way worse than puffin. Uggh. I will definitely be tasting that for a long time. Interestingly, Carol thought it was okay. Since several other diners have taken pictures of the dish, I'll have to find one of theirs for my review. (You can look here for another diner's photo a week later), although I can't seem to deep-link it: http://www.lifeandall.org/?p=283 ) Meanwhile, this lemon verbena tea was quite pleasant, and *almost* washed the rancid nasty taste of fulmar out of my mouth. https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8798/2...3b82ab9b_z.jpg |
Closing out the meal was a nice sorrel ice cream:
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8877/2...d3b3f16b_z.jpg And this really weird dessert, made with fermented blueberries, dulse (a seaweed they literally pick up from the beach), dried chocolate, and a few other things. Taste-wise, this was awesome. Texture-wise, it as a bit like a fruit rollup: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8725/2...2b756458_z.jpg This wasn't a cheap meal (around $300pp after conversion, one of my most expensive non-Thomas Keller meals), but it was memorable for many reasons, both good and bad, and the good items were seriously good. I'd do horrible crimes for more of that langoustine. I wouldn't hesitate to come back, although I may grovel for a substitution for the fulmar. |
One of the main attractions in the Faroes is the island of Mykines, the westernmost island.
The island is only lightly inhabited, with a single village (also called Mykines), that's a cluster of about 40 houses, most of which are only vacation houses now. And some of the best bird nesting grounds in the world, especially for puffins. But getting there is fun; it's one of the few islands that's not reachable by road. Your options are the twice-a-day ferry from Sørvágur (that books up well in advance) or helicopter from Vagar airport. Both are subject to cancellation due to high winds (indeed, helicopter flights were canceled most of the time we were out there), or high waves. They also warn you to bring some cash, basic toiletries, and patience, since it's not unknown for people to get stranded for days at a time on Mykines due to helicopter and ferry cancelations (the author of my guidebook got caught out there for 7 days, and there's an entire Danish novel and miniseries about a doctor whose wife left him while he was stranded for two weeks on Mykines) Despite the extreme winds (40 mph gusting to 70, which isn't apparent in this photo) and rough seas (4' swells coming out of the harbor), we were able to catch the ferry: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8890/2...94574c2f_z.jpg Here's a nice view back at Sørvágur from the ferry, which was shockingly stable despite the wind and 4' swells. https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8599/2...df51aa3d_z.jpg Between Vagar and Mykines there's a cool uninhabited islet called Tindhólmur (and the sheer amount of salt spray that covered me in this shot is the cause of my camera later having problems with some of its selector buttons... :( ) https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8834/2...0e0c581c_z.jpg But about an hour after departure, we arrive in Mykines' harbor, a surprisingly compact little harbor behind a small breakwater: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8562/2...32a3f61c_z.jpg Mykines also had one of the better funiculars for hauling stuff up from the harbor (these and boat winches weren't uncommon) https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8671/2...951e6b77_z.jpg |
The side of the harbor was our first clue that Mykines is absolutely full of birds, since almost the entire cliff wall of the harbor is covered with Kittiwakes (another cousin to the seagull, these distinguishable by their black feet):
https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7547/2...d2212630_z.jpg The main activity people like to do is to hike down to the end of Mykines and cross over a small bridge (that's semi-jokingly called the Bridge over the Atlantic, since, well, it sort of is), and down the next islet called Mykinesholmes to see the lighthouse and the birds nesting out there. Here's a view of the basic trail: https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8130/2...6c3aedf3_z.jpg But we started with a brief exploration of Mykines proper: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8742/2...795257d6_z.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8168/2...c4ceb85c_z.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8682/2...95c27512_z.jpg |
The hike quickly ascends from the NW corner of the town, and you are soon given a rather nice view down on the village:
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8807/2...dc7c964e_z.jpg And shortly after that, a view that goes all the way back to Vagar (and note the heli-pad): https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8684/2...323a0290_z.jpg The skies were generally very cloudy that day, but every once in a while we'd get a clear stretch and have an awesome view: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8631/2...81702d83_z.jpg Until you get to this: a simple monument that memorializes.... all the people that have fallen to their death on Mykines. Makes you watch where you step: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8862/2...628ab433_z.jpg |
By the time you get up to the Memorial, the winds are really strong, around 40 mph, pretty much swirling around the top of the hill.
In this wind, you frequently get buzzed by... puffins. Literally thousands of them, swooping through on the wind, occasionally diving into the water for fish. It's an amazing sight, especially since I never realized puffins were so nimble and aerobatic: https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8710/2...0e3a3f2c_z.jpg There's no shortage of puffins. At least 250,000 this year (the population fluctuates and has been seen as large as 1M puffins): https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8173/2...f5be13b5_z.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8771/2...15ac728b_z.jpg https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8788/2...6fa87bbd_z.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8685/2...bb038c51_z.jpg Many of them even had dinner ready: https://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8446/2...c081a3cb_z.jpg |
As the hike continued on down the island...
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7584/2...92ce952b_z.jpg I wondered what this guy was seeing: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8630/2...4a4dd76a_z.jpg Turns it, it was more puffins flying around in the updraft (meaning that from my perspective they were almost stationary): https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8718/2...ae42c715_z.jpg https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8733/2...39bbc82c_z.jpg https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8808/2...e8f6ab89_z.jpg |
The fun thing about Faroese sheep is that since they have zero natural predators, they are pretty mellow about people. Here, this sheep is checking out why the other photographer is lying down looking over the cliff at the puffins:
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8623/2...548409a3_z.jpg From that spot, the lighthouse was getting pretty close: https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8135/2...96022986_z.jpg What's nominally one island is actually two: Mykines and Mykinesholmur, separated by a sharp cleft that's about 200' tall: https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7686/2...a8ebff4b_z.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8890/2...79615b99_z.jpg Luckily, there's a bridge (an enclosed one, since the previous bridge was the source of about a third of the names on the memorial): https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8661/2...3dd50862_z.jpg Again, as I approached the ridge above the bridge, got another of those brief moments of direct sun: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8608/2...ee7813ca_z.jpg And then noticed that the puffins were swarming again. Pretty much every speck here is a puffin: https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8801/2...77421d61_z.jpg |
And here we come to the bridge:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7649/2...25246eba_z.jpg What I didn't capture is the fact that the little chasm is pretty much the only interruption along the entire ridge of Mykines and Mykinesholmur, so the wind through that gap is incredibly strong. I could easily get blown off this bridge if it wasn't mostly enclosed. https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8599/2...bfe31a34_z.jpg https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8872/2...883c1fa2_z.jpg And hey, the chasm was covered with fulmars. My favorite! (It was someplace around here that I commented that I had a theory that the old Norse translation was wrong, and that "Faroe" really means "birdsh*t") https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8740/2...2f7a9510_z.jpg https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8864/2...7249ba43_z.jpg Interestingly, few puffins and fulmars nest past the bridge, instead it shifts to the much larger gannets: https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8658/2...2f1db1e8_z.jpg Here's the final approach to the lighthouse: https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7639/2...0058c603_z.jpg And my version of the famous Mykines Lighthouse photo: https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7642/2...0ee1d100_z.jpg |
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