I Heart the Faroes!

Hello all! I'm coming to you live (in the smallest library I've ever seen) from Fuglafjørður, a small fishing town of about 1,500 people on the coast of Esturoy. We are stopping through here between trips to Gøta, the small village that hosts the G! Festival. We do not have tickets, but are hoping to find a cosy spot on one of the many hillsides to listen in for a bit this evening when Teitur is playing. (An especially nice touch since Teitur is the reason I found about the Faroes in the first place.) The scene there is incredible - the stage is set up on a tiny beach right along the water and there is a huge campsite down the road covered in tents. It's been quite a shock seeing so many young people bustling around the streets (many rowdy, punk or goth types...haha) because so far we've seen very small numbers of people at any one time.

Everything about the Faroes is amazing. I am completely in love. Everywhere you turn there is another absolutely spectacular view to behold. I can't wait until I can share all of these amazing pictures with you all, though even those won't do this gorgeous country enough justice. This is the second of the four days we're spending at Gjaargarður, the guesthouse in Gjogv. A completely serene turf-roofed house by the sea, our accommodations couldn't make me feel more at home. Yesterday we explored Gjogv, hiking up a nearby mountain to take in the views of the sea from its cliff and climbing along the rocky coast to watch the waves crash into the harbor. It's a great spot to stay on this island, Esturoy, because it's the easiest gateway to the other Northern islands which we hope to check out tomorrow.

Everything here is so gorgeous! This is the view from the harbor in the Gjogv.

 

Me in Gjogv!

 

The view from the balcony at the guesthouse where we spent four nights in Gjogv. You can see two of the islands. This is around 9:30pm!

I best be off - there's only one computer here and I don't want to usurp too much of its time. I just had to check in and let you all know how amazingly breathtaking this country is and what a fantastic time I'm having. More tales and pictures to come soon, I hope!

Lots of love,
Meg

Hello from the Faroes!

I have arrived in my featured destination - the Faroe Islands!

The ferry ride was quite a trip. I was mistaken though, the trip was only 20hrs, not 30, so we arrived here at 3:30pm local time, which is five ahead of DC time. The boat was huge - 8 decks in total. There was a cinema, two restaurants, one cafeteria, two bars and a store. It was crazy. Our quarters were quite cramped - a tiny room with three towers of three bunks and no room for bags. But we made it work, and thanks to some Bonine and a little Tylenol Sleepy Time I had a great night's sleep. The views from the outside deck on the top were amazing, especially when we were out so far on the ocean that there was no land in sight and as we pulled within view of the Faroes.

Our ferry!

In my bunk!

Here's what James wrote about our journey here:

The crossing from Bergen, Norway to Torshavn, the minuscule capital of the Faroe Islands, took about twenty hours -- and thankfully mostly on calm, by north Atlantic standards, sea. (Though the roiling sea during the night did threaten to jettison me from my narrow bunk in the bowels of the Norrøna ferry, a bunk I had to share with my large roller duffle.) I marveled at the journey the first Viking settlers must have made. We had the relative comfort of a large enclosed ship, complete with many of the amenities of a cruise ship (lounge singer anyone?). The Norsemen would have been in much smaller, open vessels. There are no real landmarks between Norway and the Faroes, just the grey sea and the grey sky. It must have been a frightening venture.

But when we saw the rising stretches of green land that indicated the Faroese chain, we were excited. Coming from the east, you are able to see almost all eighteen islands. By 3:30 on July 18, we were docking in Torshavn, ready to begin our Faroese adventure.

Tonight we're staying in the capital, Tórshavn (pop 14,000). We rented a car and tomorrow we drive up to Göta to hopefully check out the G! Festival. We'll be up there for about four days.

I'm quite excited to check out Tórshavn this evening, their pubs are supposed to have excellent live music and a great local beer. Hopefully we'll keep ourselves awake long enough to check it out.

Love from the Faroes,
Meg

Quick Update - Photos!

So I found a cafe that allowed me to upload some photos, though with some trouble. I attempted to insert them into a couple old entries, but in case that didn't work I also attempted to put them up at my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9668733@N02/sets/

Enjoy!
Meg

UPDATE: More photos added to Flickr, and hopefully to the blog as well. We head off tonight on the 30hr ferry to the Faroes (though from what I hear it may be closer to a cruise ship, haha) , so I'm not sure how much internet access I'll have for the next two weeks - could be none, could be plenty. It's hard to guess, but I'll do what I can! Also, definitely check out James's blog (http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/cemkess/), he added some great photos both of us and the beautiful scenery along with some better descriptions of what we've been up to! See ya in the Faroes!

Bergen - My New Home

I am totally obsessed with Bergen. This city is amazing - sitting right on the east coast of Norway it's the perfect port town. Slash metropolis. We arrived last night after a crazy day of travel - ferry to bus to train. The views of the fjord from the ferry were amazing. Truly spectacular...but I'll let the pictures do the talking once I finally find somewhere to post them. Right now I'm at the public library (30min of free internet...hooray!) but they don't have the connection available to upload photos. 

View of the fjord from our ferry ride

Another view of the fjord from our ferry ride

Yet another view of the fjord from our ferry ride

The craziest part of the trip was the bus ride, believe it or not. We took a bus straight up the mountain. No, seriously. We traversed all the way up, taking ridiculously wide turn on scarily narrow roads (which were two-way so cars kept having to pull onto dangerously steep grass to let our bus pass). I nearly fell out my seat from my the nervous giggling slash masked terror. It was pretty amazing though we stopped at a hotel at the summit and were able to get out of the bus and go into their backyard to take photos - the view from the top was worth it.

The road we drove up on the bus!

Here's what James wrote of our adventure to Bergen:

The next day we boarded the ferry to Gudvangen, a trip that would take us through two arms of the Sognefjorden. Flåm is at the end of the Aurlandsfjorden, which is in and of itself quite dramatic. Soaring mountains and isolated villages and farms (one on such a steep incline it required a ladder to get to the farm house) and the like. But as we gloried in the view, we turned into the other branch of the fjord, Nærøyfjord. And then we entered the land of the gods. The cliffs soared and tightened around us, the waterfalls crashed, the winds howled, and the mountain tops were lost in ancient mist and clouds. I felt very small and insignificant, fearing I'd never be able to appreciate the beauty of any other place. We were, once again, gobsmacked.

To finish the "Norway in a Nutshell" tour, we had to take a bus up to a town called Voss and catch the last stretch of train on to Bergen. We assumed -- which we really need to stop doing -- that the bus ride would be a piece of cake after the ferry adventure. But no, we had to zig-zag up a narrow, and frighteningly two-way, road to the top of a valley. Again, the eagle-eye view was enough to make us drop our jaws. Another of those moments where one thinks "and just when I thought I'd seen it all!"

By the time we got into Bergen, our senses had been so overwhelmed all we could do was hunker down for the rest of the evening and write. We didn't even go out to explore the new city. Simply, gobsmacked...

We arrived in Bergen around 8:30 and settled in to our room at the guesthouse - the first floor of a family's home that has been arranged into four bedrooms, one kitchen and two bathrooms. The room is super cozy and pretty spacious - for the first time on this trip we're not on bunkbeds! 

James having breakfast in our room in Bergen.

The rest of our room in Bergen

This morning we woke up early and headed out around town. We got the Bergen card for 24hrs starting at noon so we've been to several museums and used some public transport - though this city is perfect for walking. We saw a couple museum in old wooden houses and a castle from the 13th century. It was awesome. We also took a cable train up to the top of the mountain for a great birds eye view of the whole city and enjoyed a cup of coffee and some cake on the terrace at the top.

Rosenkrantz Tower

Dark spiral staircase in Rosenkrantz Tower

View from roof of Rosenkrantz Tower in Bergen

Birds eye view of Bergen

By far though, my most favorite part of the day was the fish market. Right down town on the harbor is a huge array of tents selling all sorts of things - from fresh fruit to jewelry to sweaters. And of course lots and lots of seafood. James tried whale and reindeer and I had a delicious fish cake and a sample of fresh salmon. We're already planning to go back tomorrow for lunch to try their fish soup and maybe a little sandwich.

The fantastic Bergen fishmarket!

A giant Monkfish (I think) at the fish market in Bergen.

The air here is just so gorgeous, and I love being so close to the water. It's like Newburyport on steroids. I love it.

Port in Bergen

Tonight it's off to find some dinner and then perhaps grab a beer somewhere to hear some of the live music we've seen advertised everywhere. We may even try to find another internet cafe that allows us to upload photos - keep your fingers crossed. Tomorrow we have the most of the day to explore the city some more and then we catch our 30hr ferry around 5pm. I'm hoping to get on here again tomorrow before we leave, but if not I'm not sure what the conditions will be like for the internet on the ferry and once we're in the Faroes. But I'll do my best.

Love from Bergen,
Meg

Greetings from Flåm!

Hello everyone! I'm sitting here in a little village called Flåm - population 400. But it's a major tourist destination as it's a port between lots of ferries and trains. We spent the night here in a campsite/hostel that was actually quite cozy. The best part about Flåm, however, is getting here. The views on the train up here were absolutely spectacular.

The first train we took was from Oslo to Myrdal and lasted about 5hrs. What started off as distant views of hills through small towns soon because dramatic scenery. There were giant mountains with patch of snow and amazing waterfalls. We spent a great deal of time trying to get the perfect photos through the window of the train while avoiding glare and trees and tunnels. As soon as I find an internet portal that has a USB port, I will definitely share some photos!

James admiring the spectacular views on the train from Oslo to Myrdal

Once in Myrdal, we quickly switched trains to the Flåmsbana - a train line almost exclusively for tourists that lasts about an hour. 

The Flåmsbana train we took from Myrdal to Flåm!

Gob smacked by the views!

Probably the most amazing part was when we pulled up to this gigantic waterfall. As everyone ran over to the left side of the train to try to get a good photo, a voice came over the loud speaker to tell us that the train would be stopping for 5min so that we could get out and get a full view. Needless to say, James and I raced out of the train to capture the moment. The waterfall was absolutely spectacular. There are no words to describe the power and beauty of it. As we were snapping pictures (in the cold rain, mind you, and of course I didn't think to grab my coat on my way off the train) the oddest thing happened. Loud music started to play and these two women dressed in blue dresses came out on a hill up closer to the waterfall in what looked almost like ruins. They sang and danced for a few minutes in an oddly captivating little number. It was quite amusing. I videoed some of it on my camera, so I'll have to share it with you all as soon as I get the chance.

The waterfall!

But as if that wasn't enough, when we arrived in Flåm, we were immediately taken by it's beauty. This small village lies in a valley surrounded by enormously high green mountains and sits at the mouth of a fjord. It's totally stunning. Last night as James and I took a stroll around town we couldn't stop musing how it felt like we were living in a painting. Once we settled into our hostel - bunk beds again, which I love since it reminds me of such good times in Little (not the same without you, Liz, of course!), we headed out to hike a little through the village. There was a trail that went up by a nearby waterfall so we thought we'd try our hand at that. Well am I glad I wore my hiking boots. This trail ended up being a steep uphill climb over rocks and through mud for about an hour. But my was it worth it. The view of the village below and of course the waterfall were absolutely breathtaking. Aching muscles and sweat were quickly forgotten when we cast our eyes upon this intense waterfall. The one on the train had been gorgeous, but we felt like this view was one that we earned.

View of the waterfall after the hike

View of Flåm from the waterfall

After taking a well deserved rest and photo break at the top of the trail, we headed back down to town to quickly change into some dryer and less muddy clothes and head out for some dinner. We grabbed dinner at this great little cafe where I had the most satisfying plate of fish and chips. After the intense hike it really hit the spot. Then it was back to the hostel (where we have a nice little private room) to unwind and head to bed.

Now we're spending the morning in Flåm before we jump on a ferry tour through the fjords followed by a bus and a train before arriving in Bergen this evening. Bergen is supposedly a big and fantastic town, so hopefully I'll find somewhere to upload pictures when I arrive there.

Here's what James wrote about our journey:

It's really the only word I can think of to begin to describe the sensation of taking the train from Oslo to Myrdal and from Myrdal to Flåm. You slowly ascend through the gentle rolling farmland of southern Norway, thinking "oh, this is pretty". But then you climb into hills and forested craggy mountains dotted with pristine lakes and you say "this is spectacular". And still there's more. You burst into the clouds onto a high plateau of eerie rock and snow landscapes, obscured by rain and mist. Now you say "I have no words to describe this". And STILL there's more. You transfer trains at this lonely spot in the clouds and begin a steep descent through an intensely green fjord valley, cut with dramatic ribbons of gushing waterfalls and spotted with percariously situated farms. Both Meghan and I were speechless and giddy like schoolchildren, hopping up and down to make sure we weren't missing the next awe-inspiring view. We were, in a word, gobsmacked. In a daze we arrived in the pretty port of FlÃ¥m.

Keyed up we quickly checked into our hostel and set forth to hike in the dripping wet hills, taking a strenous and muddy route up to Brekkefossen Falls and a view of the fjord that made us say: We are in Norway.

Can't wait till I can share full stories and pictures with you. But until then, I'll just send my love over the ocean.

-Meg