Faroe Islands September 2013

Helen Rose Hill Diary
Faeroes housesThis is the last blog on my three part High Arctic Odyssey. The Faroe Islands lie to the north of Scotland and a day and a half by ship from Svalbard. The visit was only a half day as we were sailing that evening for the Orkney Islands and back to Leith. The ship docked at Torshavn the capital of the Faroes. The Vikings arrived at the Faroes in 850 A.D. on their transatlantic trip from Scandinavia to North America. This was the same year that the Ting (parliament was formed). The Faroes are now part of the Kingdom of Denmark but retain their own language which is closest to Old Norse. We selected the trip to Vagar Island and had a very good guide who spoke with an Aberdonian accent having spent four years at Aberdeen University!
The bus followed the road and tunnel to the island of Stremoy where we visited an early Lutheran Church complete with a Menorah as they accept gifts. The new undersea tunnel is under the Atlantic Ocean for 2.5 miles from Stremoy to Vagar and opened in 2002. The Faroese have a lot in common with the Norwegians in their love of underwater tunnels. There are even roundabouts in them for bisecting tunnels!
Faeroes villageThe Faroe Islands are ragged and weather beaten with steep cliffs teeming with seabirds and deep fjords giving shelter for habitation. Vagar is to the west of the main island and we drove through a mountain tunnel to the small village of Gasadalur to look at the houses with the traditional grass roofs. The guide pointed out that the earth roofs with grass are not as good as modern insulation but it is a Faroese tradition and culture. In the picturesque village of Gasadalur, there are many houses built in the traditional stone with the earth and grass roofs. The roofs have to be replaced regularly like thatching as the earth slips down beyond the gutters. There are also little outhouses for drying meat and fish. There are more sheep in the Faroe Islands than people. The mountain tunnel road to Gasadalur was built for the post to avoid the post person having to walk over the mountainto the village!
We drove back towards the undersea tunnel stopping at Sandavagur looking over to the sea stacks across the fjord. Sandavagur is often voted the most well kept village in the Faroes and has an ancient history. A stone has been found with 13th century runes indicating that the Viking, Torkil Onundarson, was the first to settle in Sandavagur. The rune stone is on display in the picturesque village church. A Steig in Sandavagur was the residence of the Lagman, the chief judge and leader of the Faroese parliament. Here V. U. Hammershaimb, the founder of the written Faroese language, was born in 1816.
Faeroes Sea and signThe fjord at Sandavagar is used for whale hunting. In principle, I am not in favour of this as it is not needed any longer as food but the guide explained the control of it and the cultural and community tradition. Enough said about it! On our way back to the ship the guide pointed out the football stadium as football is the Faorese national sport and there are over 4,000 registered football players from a population of only 46,000. This was only a taster of the Faroe Islands and I would like to go back as there is a lot to see and the walks sound very good.

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Languedoc, France October 2013
Svalbard August 2013

This section: Helen Rose Hillwalking Diary

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