Torshavn, Faroe Islands

Torshavn, Faroe Island.

We docked in Torshavn, the Capital city of the Faroe Islands.  Havn comes from the Norse word for port, and Tor is the Faroese word for Thor, the Norse god of thunder.  So, it literally means Thor’s Port.

Today we celebrated our 33^rd Anniversary with some time apart.  That wasn’t exactly the plan, but we had different choices for the morning tours.  In the end, Theresa decided to cancel hers to take the morning off.

Yesterday we were told they had ONE military patrol vessel.  
Guess this is it?

So, they are using the truck to pull the small line that pulls the
big line that they use to tie the ship to the dock.  Really?  A truck?

Walked across Streymoy Island

Bill—on the other hand—had signed up for a hike across the island.  Well, not exactly “across”, but partway.  And the meeting time was 8:15.  So, up, breakfast, get a water bottle, and head to the bus.  We went partway up the mountain and literally pulled off on the side of a one lane road.  About 20 of us piled out of the bus and started up the hill. 

Yeah, we walked up a grassy hill.

The hill was soft, spongy almost, with lush thick grass.  Just watch out for the random piles of sheep scat every 5-10 steps.  After 15 minutes or so, we stopped off at a cairn and our guide told us how the cairns were used to mark routes, and it was taboo to just tromp at your leisure across someone’s property.  Anyway, we tromped up to the ridge of the mountain and maybe a bit passed, so that counts as crossing (partly)

Misty, drizzly, and grey.

And up some more!

A cairn with sheep seemingly following the trail?

Up. down, and up again later.

Narrow trail...with a bit of a slope.

Crossing a river.  :-)

A cairn and a fresh water "lake".

A little higher up, we stopped again and our guide described the volcanic activity that formed what are now the Faroe Islands.  Initially it was a single island created by a volcano.  But a few ice ages and the land was cut by glaciers and left multiple fjords dividing it into several islands.

What a view...of cloud!

While he spoke, the mountain behind him was visible, then cloaked in clouds.  But we headed up the exposed stones for a lookout hoping the weather would clear as we went.  It did a bit.  Then we headed back down a good deal faster than we went up.  But before we did, I asked at the top what our altitude was.  About 300 meters.  The bus was at about 100 meters.  But since no one in the US knows what a meter is, let’s just say I hiked up a thousand feet or so in some 40-50 minutes.  😊

And then we got to rock.

It was raining.  Look at the water!

Now we can see the other island!

Traffic.

Homeward bound!

And back to Torshavn.

Look very closely and you will see my welcoming party!
(second level down, about 4th from the front!)

Back on the boat, after a quick shower, we got some lunch up in the buffet.  

The islands like cloud hats.

At 2:00, we had to be back out for our afternoon tour.  We boarded a bus and set off for what was the oldest church in the country.  It was built about 1200 or so.  During a renovation, a Bishop’s crosier was found buried with (apparently) a Bishop.  But the little church is still used today for weekly services.

The cathedral.

Inside the cathedral.

The old (white) church still in use (center), the cathedral (right).
And the third church in the left foreground.

However, in about 1300, the Bishop built a Cathedral right next to the little church.  It was a beautiful structure, though it was missing everything that wasn’t stone (like a roof and windows).  We explored it a bit, and then moved on to …uh, church number 3.  This was the most recent of them, but it was built close to the sea and one night in a brutal storm, the sea washed out the ground and all but the far wall collapsed into the sea.  So, ironically, the oldest structure lasted the best.

After the churches, we went to a homestead built in the middle ages, which is still lived in today.  The family there had been in that location for 17 generations.  We stopped briefly without much obvious point, snooped around and then left.

Torshavn port.

We headed to the old town portion.  Once, the series of buildings were warehouses for the port.  But they had been converted and now served as the seat of the government.  So, in one building was the Prime Minister, in another the Minister of Finance, and another the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  They were all small buildings within short walks of each other, which seemed quaint and a little funny.

We made it back to the ship in time for our afternoon trivia, and again we faired a solid 4^th place (points go to the top 3).  We can trade the points for Regent swag at the end of the cruise.  Right now, I suspect we have enough for a pen.  Maybe.  As we headed back to our room, we noticed a white plume in the ocean several hundred yards away.  It was an unmistakable whale spouting!  But we weren’t able to get decent pictures.

Thar she blows!!

Dinner for two!

We opted for dinner in our room, so we could be casual, relaxed, and maybe watch a movie.  Our butler did a great job setting it all up, and even provided a cake for our celebration.  The cake was tasty, but we followed it up with ice cream.  The movie turned out to be a musical, so it was …a musical.

Tomorrow, we’re morning drinking!!  Good Night!!

Dessert.