A stopover in the Faroe Islands

During the voyage from Hanstholm in Denmark to Seyðisfjörður in Iceland I stopped for a couple of days in the Faroe Islands archipelago, a Danish possession that enjoys wide autonomy. I stayed in a guesthouse on a hill outside the centre of the capital, Tórshavn. The islands are very beautiful with mountains that plunge into the sea. Vegetation is sparse and almost tree-less. The capital is picturesque with characteristic multi-coloured houses overlooking the harbour, some of them with grass roofs. The roads of the main island, driven with my Fiat Tipo, are all ups and downs. The villages have stone houses and some ruins of old buildings that collapsed and were never rebuilt. Among them the oldest church of the archipelago, at Kirkjubøur, a little south of the capital but already in a largely wild area on a high promontory overlooking the sea.

At Gjógv the fishermen launch their boats into the sea down a narrow stairway that drops into a very narrow fjord. I found the Faroes very interesting although, beyond the historic centre that has grown around the harbour, the capital is too modern. It's lovely to sail among these tall, tree-less but very green islands. At times little more than pinnacles raising sheer walls from the sea. Having left the archipelago for Iceland, the return ship docked here once more for a technical stop. So I was able to see the port of Tórshavn again from the deck