FAR16.1: Family Fun in the Faroes

So this weekend my parents and my brother came out to visit me. My parents have been here before (see here and here), but this was Paul’s first time on the Faroes. And I think they made a good impression! (The Faroes, I mean, I don’t know what sort of impression my family make).

The weather leading up to their visit had been fantastic for about three/four days. Good weather doesn’t usually last that long here, so when a guy from the Army said ‘I fear this weather won’t hold out’, he just confirmed what I’d been thinking. Although rain is all part of the Faroese experience, when you only have three days in which to show someone as much as you can, it does make things difficult.

But the weather did hold out – in fact, as you’ll see from the photos, it was excellent!

After making everyone walk a lot on Thursday, on Friday we set off to the metropolis of Klaksvík (the Faroese second town with a population of just under 5,000) and the village of Viðareiði. My mum fell in love with the village last time she was here, and we now have a big picture of the church in our dining room at home, so she really wanted Paul to see it:

Back in Klaksvík, my mum was rather taken (read ‘confused’) by this statue: Actually, if you look between the rocks, you’ll see the Logos Hope, which stopped in Klaksvík for two days before setting off to Belfast.

We were having a great time, but I was very conscious that although this was the first time for everything for Paul, my parents were getting pretty much the exact same trip they had last time they came. Consequently, we decided to hire a car and check out the island of Eysturoy on the third day. Driving round the north of the island, we passed Risin and Kellingin. According to legend, these two rocks were a giant and giantess who were trying to pull the islands over to Iceland. The giantess tried to climb up the mountain to attach a rope, but the mountain cracked (see it?). When the sun came up, the two of them turned to stone...

Our main destination was the village of Gjógv, often called the most beautiful village in the Faroes, and I think you’ll see why from these two pictures: Whilst in Gjógv, we ate at a fantastic guesthouse, where we were presented with all kinds of Faroese speciality. We were a bit taken aback when we went in and the guy said ‘So what would you like?’ No menus, no specials, nothing, just whatever we wanted. You don’t get that too often at home! Come to think of it, I should have asked for a Big Mac.

Back in Tórshavn, we caught the procession marking Flag Day (the day when the Faroese flag was officially recognised by the British in 1940, as the flag of occupied Denmark could no longer be used): It was a really nice weekend – although very tiring – and hopefully they enjoyed themselves as much as I did!