Barnett Vicarious Adventures: September 5, 2013

On the way to the Faroe Islands, we sailed between Lewis and Skye Islands in the Hebrides Islands and sorely missed the fun group with whom we traveled to visit the Scottish Highlands. To that group of fine young people who were so much fun and who might be reading this, we love and miss you very much.

Waterfalls falling to the sea from Skye Island.

A lighthouse on South Harris Island in Scotland.

Crown and Anchor party. The Crown and Anchor Society is a group of frequent cruisers on Royal Caribbean and they always have a welcome party for us.

Edward is talking with Steve, the Cruise Director, who just happens to be from Millwaukee, one of our many wonderful cities we have privileged to worked and lived. Edward wanted to know how he was able to have so many different suits, shirts and ties on the ship.

Approaching the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Island is an independent nation administered by Denmark. They are a set of volcanic islands about half way between the Shetland Islands of Scotland and Iceland. They are sparsely populated having less than 50,000 people in the entire island chain. The capital has 15,000 people and we are docking in the city of Klasksvik in the northern islands. The town of Klaksvik has a population of 5,000 people. Should be interesting when a cruise ship with over 2,000 people arrive in the town.

Faroe Islands from our stateroom

The Faroe Islands look like a group of fjords in Norway. There are six islands aligned side by side with a long slip of the ocean separating each island.

The small town of Klaksvik.

Maps and things to do. The first map below shows the islands making up the Faroes and Klaksvik is one of the towns in the pink northern islands at the top of the map.

In these far northern islands where the winter is long and harsh, it is important to keep homes very insulated. The Faroe Islanders seem to have solved the problem by placing sod on the roofs of their homes rather than shingles. The sod and grass roof provided excellent insulation for the houses and, yes, the grass has to be mowed periodically!

Another view of Klaksvik at the top of its fjord.

Above, a replica Viking ship at the harbor. Irish monks were the first to settle the islands in the 9th century. They were followed by Viking settlers in the 13th century. Over the years, the islands have been claimed by both Norway and Denmark. They are currently affiliated with Denmark, however, they were invaded by England during World War II to keep the German Navy from establishing a base in the islands and to monitor German U-boats passing out of the Baltic Sea and into the north Atlantic.

The local beer brewed in the islands uses a mountain goat as a trademark. We cannot pronounce the beer, but it tasted good. Danish is the language spoken in the islands and all signs are in that language.

Below, Roykstovan Bar. Don’t panic, the prices are in the local currency of the islands. To get the US price, you divide by 7. So, the “Dallas” hamburger is a reasonably priced $5.00. But, do not take change in the Faroe Island Kroner. It is not accepted in exchange anywhere in the world. Fortunately, they did accept Euros so we could have a beer and use their Wi-Fi.

Check out the “large” selection of liquor on one shelf.

Bartender at the local beer taps. When I had no money left other than a 10 and 20 Euro notes, he simply asked to see all the change I had in my pocket and kindly accepted the coins for the beer. He saved his change and I got rid of coins which could not be exchanged for paper money so we were both happy.