Travels in Fire and Ice Day 8 - Hiking in the Faroe Islands

I have been intrigued by the Faroe Islands for a few years, so I was looking forward to this day. It was a long ride from southeast Iceland, so in the morning we were still arriving. The sea was foggy and I heard the ship’s horn blowing regularly.

I went to a yoga class and came back to a room service breakfast.  

The land came into view at this point as well.  The islands are as beautiful as depicted in travel websites.



I am relieved we arrived after the big annual pilot whale hunt. Some cruises received a nasty surprise on an excursion to the Faroe Islands a few weeks ago.

Temperatures were predicted to be as high as 57 F. A heat wave! During the morning announcements Roy the cruise director said there would be no  “gloooorious sunshine” (as he likes to say), but he was wrong. It was a beautiful day. The clouds burned off and it was our best weather day so far.

We met our guides in the mid afternoon and headed out of town. I learned that Faroe means sheep and there are more sheep than people in the Faroe Islands. In both Iceland and the Faroe Islands, farmers tag their sheep and let them roam free in the mountains during the summer and round them up in the fall, so you see them up and down the mountainsides.  I saw plenty of sheep by the roadside today. At one point the bus had to stop and let one cross.

Driving out we also saw some dolphins in the fjord. They popped up to say hello, but the little boogers wouldn’t pose for photos! Well, it’s as close to whale watching I have been able to do so far.

The hike started with a steep climb and leveled off. We still had to walk some narrow paths on steep hills and there was an occasional rock scramble. Whenever the trail became difficult I reminded myself I hiked Breakneck Ridge, which was inspiring because if you can do Breakneck Ridge, I think you can handle any non-technical hike.










At the end of the hike we went to some scenic overlooks for the fjord, one of the neighboring islands, and the city.


(Things I remember from college geology class:  This is a glacial valley and not a river valley because it is u-shaped rather than v-shaped). 

We returned to the ship and relaxed until dinner. 

We had a late dinner with Erik’s family.  Dad and Beth decided they wanted to eat earlier. We managed to get a table again at La Terraza.  This time I had more appetite so I indulged a bit more.

I started with the salumeria special.

My primo was pappardelle with duck ragu.

I had a steak after that.  It was cooked perfectly rare.

For dessert I has a hazelnut and chocolate cake and some limoncello. 

We went back to the Silver Note bar for a drink with Dad after dinner (total alcohol units: 7)I was starting to hit a wall and went to bed. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Not Curate and Edit Your Wardrobe (and still be happy with it)

Image
Out with the old, in with the new. Wait.  That's not quite right.  Old does not have to go out if it's still useful and still looks good.  New doesn't have to take over the old.  Do I have too much old?  Did I buy too much new? I am following several fashion bloggers who talk about creating a "capsule wardrobe".  This is a wardrobe of fairly timeless pieces that best capture your style. At first I thought these sites were going to help me dress perfectly with every piece mixable and into a signature style that screams "Rachel."  No item would be superfluous and everything would work together harmoniously. I have learned in the past few weeks as I transition my wardrobe from the fall/winter closet to the spring/summer closet that trying to get yourself into this mindset can drive you crazy. It is definitely helpful to evaluate your wardrobe periodically.  Sometimes there is a reason why something has been sitting in the back of the closet unworn
Read more

Travels in Fire and Ice - Day 4, Akureyri and Jewels of the North

Image
I woke up this morning to see the ship pull into the Akureyri, (Iceland’s “Northern Capitol”)Fjord. It was a beautiful sight. We had a tour of Iceland’s Jewels of the North. They are some of the country’s northern natural wonders. It was a quick morning.  As soon as I returned from the gym and cleaned up, we had a quick breakfast in the coffee shop and boarded our bus. We began our day at the Godafoss Waterfalls. Legend had is that when Iceland converted to Christianity around the 11th century, there was a chieftain who was a holdout. He finally converted and threw his pagan idols into the falls.  Not sure if the story is true, but the falls are stunning. The river that flows into them is a glacial river. That means it carries the glacial “milk” of minerals and debris. It turns the water a stunning shade of bluish gray. There were pathways all around so we could view the falls from the bottom and from the top. Our next stop was and Lake Myvatn. The lake is a shallow wetlands area, whos
Read more

Travels in Fire and Ice - Day 2

Image
I want these posts to be interesting, but so far I have few wonders to report.  I might as well have put these posts on my food blog because at this point it’s all about the food I woke up this morning and saw we were still in Reykjavik.  I went about my usual routine and hit the gym.  It’s adequate but not as nice as the gym on Regent. I am sure my readers needed to know that. Anyway, sometime after my workout the Captain made an announcement about the situation.  It wasn’t the winds alone that prevented sailing.  As we were pulling away from the dock last night, the ship crashed into the dock and the hull was damaged. This morning it needed to be repaired and inspected. We would not be heading to our stop in Patreksfjordor today. Once the ship was cleared to sail, we will head for tomorrow’s port of Siglufjordor.  That’s disappointing as we were going to visit a major puffin colony today. We had breakfast at the ship’s buffet and found it lacking. Besides, parents were not making the
Read more