Blogs from Faroe Islands, Europe - page 5

Dont worry people... we are not travelling again (we wish!) but our holidays this year in the Faroe Islands were unusual and photogenic enough to warrant a little write up and a few photos. So here we go mini-blog! For any (most) people who have no idea where the Faroes are; they are a small group of islands north of scotland in the north sea midway between Iceland and Norway. I have a lot of family on my fathers side who live there and so I have been lucky enough to visit a few times as a child but having not visited in 12 years, marc reluctantly joining the family holiday (what do you mean there arent any nightclubs?) and with Sar onboard as a Scancinavian first timer everybody was genuinely excited about this trip as ... read more

Yes, we ended up at the Faroe Islands this year! I've been wanting to go here for quite some time, and then the occasion turned up to take the ferry from Bergen in Norway, so here we are. Today we mounted Satan. Actually, we went up the mountain Sátan, close to Leynar on Streymoy, the biggest of the Faroe islands. It's almost 666 meters high, and starting from sea level as we did, we had to climb every darn metre. But we conquered Sátan, while fending off his horned, evil, dark minions. But the day actually began with the bus to Vestmanna, which is actually named after people from the British Isles (people from Scandinavia were called Easterners). There, we bought tickets for a boat trip to the caves and mountains on the west side of ... read more

Standing in the midst of some 8000-1000 inebriated Faroese at midnight last night, all of us belting out Faroese songs (me included), I realized I would have a very hard time explaining Olavsøka -- or St. Olaf's Day -- to anyone who had not witnessed it first hand. It is perhaps the most important festival in the Faroes, though only celebrated in Torshavn, the capital. What limited hotel and hostel space is available fills up months in advance, both with tourists and with Faroese traveling from other islands. Although St. Olaf's Day is technically just that, one day (July 29), the party started on Friday night and didn't really wrap up to the wee hours of today. It is a combination religious holiday (celebrating the arrival of Christianity to the islands) and political affair (politicians ... read more

Jan and I sat enjoying smuggled cocktails at the airport bar while waiting the 2 extra hours for our flight to belatedly land. The small plane dumped off its passengers and within minutes we were sitting inside the 19 year old plane which looked/smelled like it was 50. Jan’s cousin was on board as a stewardess and so she reserved the best beverages for us to enjoy on our outward journey to the north Atlantic. The pilot took an extra long round before touching down since the weather was perfect to enjoy the glorious views of the Faroe’s from above. This did not sit well with Tommy who was busting for the toilet and actually went as far as looking for an empty bottle… We arrived, passed through security with no apparent issues, loaded into the ... read more