Monday, August 18, 2008

Day 15 - Torshavn, Faroe Islands, DK

Situated roughly halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the Northeast Atlantic, the Faroe Islands are an archipelago of 18 mountainous islands, with a population of just over 47,000. The language of the Islands, Faroese, is a west Nordic language, which derives form the language of the Norsemen who settled the islands 1,200 years ago. Their economy is overwhelmingly dependent on the fishing and aqua-culture industries.

Hello! Our day began with sun on the sea for a short while, but overcast skies greeted us as we docked at noon here in Thorshavn, then the fog moved in. Big time. A local ferry boat was leaving port when we arrived, so of course that captain and our captain had to say ‘howdy’ to each other...with their massive horns! This was no small ferry, as it is a long way between islands/countries out here, with the North Sea being on the E side of this island group, and the big Atlantic on the other side. Ferries need to be large enough to accommodate vehicles, as well as have cabins for overnight sleeping. We sailed 18 hours from Bergen to get here, passing many North Sea oil platforms enroute, so that gives you an idea of how much distance we’ve covered!

The fog hardly lifted after lunch, but this was our only chance to go ashore and have a look, so we did. We snapped a few pics, then it was back to the ship, grab our books, and head to the Crow’s Nest for some serious reading. Tonight’s entertainer is Jeff Moche, billed as a ‘comedy magician.’ We’ll see if he can entertain us as well as Sarge Charlie does. Tomorrow is a sea day. Life is good, but we miss our familyand friends!

6 comments:

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

oh i wish magicmatt could see that show too! have fun honey. and stay warm...

smiles, bee
xxoxoxxoxoxoxoxo

Sandee said...

How fun. Enjoy every moment. Big hug. :)

Haley D. said...

I had to look up the Faroe Islands on Wikipedia to "see" where you are in relation to the world (they said equidistant from Iceland, Scotland, & Norway), and it also said that the name means "Sheep Islands." It looked like a good place to stop between Norway & Iceland for sure!

Sarge Charlie said...

what an adventure, I would love it.

Constance said...

I would have liked to hear the two captains tooting thier horns hello to each-other !

I adore fog in general in terms of weather, but prbabbly for a cruise the more you can see the better it is - and you got a great picture when the sun broke through ! Very pretty !

Anonymous said...

Sounds like y'all are having fun. Sorry I haven't been commenting, My internet signal has been wonky and pages took 5-10 minutes just to load...that was if they'd load.

I'm back at the condo in Nashville now, so I can continue on the cruise with ya'll!