Faroe Islands
Day 1 – Tórshavn
So I arrived in safely in Tórshavn on the MS Sorrona. We got into port at 7am so I had the day to explore the town before I could get into my Air BnB. Finding a place to stash my bags I headed for the town. Found a shop for a coffee and a chocolate roll while I waited for the town to open at 10. After finding the telephone shop I brought a SIM card and had yet another coffee and little chocolate yummy at Omaná. Then off to the National Art Gallery of the Faroe Islands, Listasavn Føroya. It was a lovely space with some amazing art. They certainly aren’t afraid of colour. Then back down the hill and to my Air BnB which is absolutely lovely. It even has the hexagon plates that I have at home, a little weird.
Day 2 – Kirkjubøur
So I decided to go off on an adventure to Kirkjubøur which has an easy 2 hour walk back to Tórshavn. There is the oldest still operating church along with a catherdral that has seen better days and another ruin of a church. Really lovely spot. You can see the island of Hestur and sometimes Sandoy. The weather was wonderful in Kirkjubøur after a foggy morning in Tórshavn. After catching the bus there and looking around the place and having a packed lunch. I walked back. It was great seeing some sheep and the view from the top of the mountain was great. But after about 30mins in I remember that I don’t like hiking and then the fog came in. The whinging was amazing. I did get to see the Reynsmúlág, the people’s meeting place, which I had seen in paintings the day before at the gallery. Otherwise I learnt my first lesson of the trip. Lesson 1: Don’t go hiking. Walks shouldn’t take more than an hour. I did make it back to a main road and a bus stop and caught a bus home.
Day 3 – Klaksvík
Having learnt my lesson from yesterday I headed off to the second largest city/town in the Faroe Islands, Klaksvík on the Island of Borðoy. A simple 2 hour bus ride from Tórshavn. The drive is amazing. Including getting to go over the only bridge that crosses the North Atlantic Ocean (not that I knew that when I was doing it). Klaksvík is lovely. I visited a lovely cafe Frida’s which is next to the information center. Then went in search of the towns monuments and visited the forest that they have built. On the way to the forest I ended up walking along ‘the beach’. It was lovely climbing over the rocks. Also there was a really cool stature of someone diving into the water. I also got to see my first helicopters of the trip taking off and landing. One of them was even carrying a sling load. There was a great range of monuments: remembering the victims of two landslides that happened 40 years apart on the same day, one for all the people lost at sea and for the ladies who kept the town going when the men were at sea. There was also other random people and sculptures. The church was pretty cool and the bell tower gave me a heart attack. I was standing next to it when it went off I hadn’t figured out what it was. Also went to my first brewery of the trip, Föroya Bjór. Unfortunately no tastings so went back to Frida’s and tried the two that they had on tap with my lunch.
Day 4 – Vágur
Rollercoaster day. So the day started off pretty well. Made the 2 hour ferrry journey to Suðuroy, the most southern island. Once I arrived in Tv I boarded a bus to the other side of the island to Vágur. I really loved the vibe here. No idea why. Maybe it was the fjordy feel. Anyway first stop after a walk along the main street and a visit to the visitor information centre was to the Café Brim. My new favourite place to eat. The cauliflower soup was amazing, the view spectacular, staff very friendly and decor just cosy funky. The beer was good too. 😊 After such a wonderful start the first hiccup of the day happened, I found that I didn’t have my wallet so no credit card and no bus pass. Lucky I had another credit card with me so I could pay for lunch.
Back to the visitor information centre to ask the lady there to help me. She rang the bus drivers. She couldn’t get hold of one of them so told me to wait for 10 mins at the bus stop as he should be there soon. Anyway he arrived and rang the other driver who had my wallet yippee!!!!!! So crossed the road and waited 20 mins for him to arrive. Cool wallet back now off to Vágseiði.
Vágseiði is a natural harbour about 20 mins walk away after a walk around a lake. Absolutely spectatular. Spent a heap of time there. On my way back I decided to try and get close to some sheep. That’s when the second hiccup happened. I decided to cross a little tiny stream instead of leaping I thought it’s not very deep I can just step in it. How wrong was I, I sunk up to my knee in the mud. I struggled to get my leg out also the other foot was no in the water as well. Anyway I managed to get everything out. Now what do I do. Anyway walked back to the town and went to the clothing shop and brought new pants, socks and shoes.
To drown my sorrows I went back to the cafe and had another beer and a peppermint chocolate dessert. I left and went to the bus stop. Welcome to the third hiccup. I had read the timetable wrong, it being Thursday not Sunday. There was no more buses and the ferry left the other side of the island in 30 mins. Just a little stressful. Anyway went back to the cafe. Kris who had been serving me all day was still there I explained what had happened and asked if he could order me a taxi. He chatted to his wife and they decided that he should drive me the 15 mins to the ferry. On our way he saw another customer who was walking and who had also read the timetable wrong. We made it to the ferry. Yay!!! No more hiccups. Just a walk around Skaskin, to fort next to the harbour in Tórshavn.
Day 5 – Runavík
Very excited about going and seeing the world’s first underwater roundabout. It is in the Eysturoyartunnilin which connects Tórshavn to Runavík to Strendur. See all the exciting information in the link below or check out my video of the drive through the tunnel. There is also a great YouTube video by B1M which explains everything about the nerdy building process.
Runavík itself wasn’t that exciting. I didn’t find it as pretty as the other towns/villages I’ve been to. I did enjoy going to Diana Handilin, the local sewing and craft shop. Where I went wild and brought one of every button with a sheep on it. After the town, I walked down to the lake to see the birds and the statue of the man and his dog. There was also a lot of information on signs about lichen called Outdoor Exhibition – Nature’s Artwork(the link goes to a landing page at the moment I hope it gets fixed at some point). The landscape wasn’t as fjordy as the other places I have been so it took a bit of getting used to. Turned out to be quite pretty in the end.
Day 6 & 7 – Rest Days
So after running around and seeing the world for the last few days I learnt another lesson. Lesson 2: You don’t actually have to do anything you are on holidays. So I took a couple of rest days. The weather is expected to turn cold next week. It started with Flurries. Check out my video here about me cracking myself up.
