On the road in the Faroe Islands

After a delay or three, we arrived in the Faroe Islands. There are 3 planes in the Atlantic airways, and two helicopters. We saw them this morning having arrived last night.

Did you know the Faroe Islands are under the Denmark Government but have their own rules for the country and their own language.Islands are green, and I mean really green..in colour. You like waterfalls? Well here there are waterfalls on nearly every hill, cliff or mountain. If fact you would never react to running water again, because the sound is constant.

The scenery is amazing.

Don’t you love the way the mist and clouds form on the hills. Then , while you watch, they flow down the hills into the valleys.

We have a car, don’t tell it ,but it isn’t behaving well ,so we haven’t given her a name…cantankerous just doesn’t have a warm ring to it. Sorry, I diverted, so we have a car and still walked 7 km without noticing,(the legs  might tomorrow ). With the unknown one, Vagar Island was soon conquered.

First the village of Bøur. What did you think of the houses? The grass growing on the roofs makes them almost disappear into the hillside.Streets are narrow and it appears that everyone wants to keep the traditional character of their village. Interestingly, there was no one about, except us travellers and tourists ( they were the ones walking in the middle of the road oblivious to the car creeping behind them.)

This was our next stop. Here is an spectacular waterfall straight into the sea, Múlaossur waterfall. Up until 2006, this village could only be reached by ferry. Now a tunnel links it to the other islands. It is still quite isolated but has a shop and a cafe. Can’t recommend it to you as it doesn’t open till 12 and then only in summer.

Sandavàgur is the next village in the area. This is considerably bigger and built around the harbour. The village is known for its church which was originally planned in 1891, designed in 1914 and finished mid 1917. It stands out against all the other buildings. 

The Faroes have a population of 50,000 people and 70,000 sheep.The sheep seem to wander around,  sometimes even across the road. People ,not so much unless they are tourists.

You always need some culture in your life. We are heading to Tórshavn. This is the capital of the Islands, in fact it is the smallest capital in the world. I hope you aren’t expecting a modern city with glitz. Tórshavn is a compact city of just 14000 people. It is made up of traditional buildings and quite narrow streets. We drove around several trying to find our hotel.Lets take a walk around the Government buildings ,”úti á Reyni“, and the old town (Tinganes).    

You are standing beside the Prime Ministers Office. They are in these traditional buildings dating back to the 1600’s. Surprised! Tomorrow we are still in Tórshavn,so get your raincoat and walking shoes ready.