Hello Hello

Hello everyone! Just a quick update while I have a moment on the internet. We're currently staying in a fantastic guesthouse on the island of Suðuroy. The helicopter ride was great and we arrived here in one piece! Last night we even had coffee and dessert with a Faroese family in their home. It was so much fun.

James enjoying the views from our helicopter ride

Now we are in the second largest town on this island, in the school's library, grabbing what little time on the internet that we can. We head back to the capital of Torshavn tomorrow by a 2hr ferry ride. But since the national holiday festival begins on Saturday, we're not sure how much internet access we will have. So I just wanted to check in and say hello, and though it's very rainy and foggy here we are still having a great time.

Here's a recap of our last few days from James:

...we moved quickly to the wild coastal landscapes of Vestmana, a truly lost world that illustrated the fragility of the islands' environment. Birds like puffins and guillemots are leaving their nests too early in the season -- something that would have been a disaster in earlier generations. It had not rained properly for nearly two months, something highly unusual for the Faroes with its very wet climate (that has changed of late!). We crossed over to Mykines, with its one lonely hamlet and its lonely light house on the westernmost point of the islands. But, again, no puffins much to my disappointment.

Now we are in the very south, on the island of Suduroy, having helicoptered here from Mykines (sorry mom and dad!) -- the birds'-eye views were spectacular. And we encased in dense fog, which thankfully only rolled in after we landed.

But tomorrow it will be on to Torshavn once again, where we will experience the most important time of year in the Faroe Islands, the Olasvsoka Festival. A full circle we will have made....

This is the hiking path we took out to the light house on Mykines

This bridge was part of our hike out to the lighthouse on Mykines

Another part of the hiking path we took out to the light house on Mykines

Hope all is well! Love and miss you!
Meg

And I'm Back!

Hello everyone! After a few days out in the countryside of Gjogv, we're back in the capital of Torshavn. First off, I just wanted to say Happy Belated Birthday to my mom!! Sorry I couldn't say it to you yesterday, but I was thinking about you!

It's been an amazing few days! We had the most beautiful weather for our first four days here. Bright sunshine and warm temperatures. So I can't really complain that it's rainy and cold today. Though I have my fingers crossed that it will clear up enough this afternoon for our boat tour of the bird cliffs. Especially though I hope it clears up for our tour of the southern islands the next couple of days, because those are definitely weather dependent seeing as how we'll be taking a ferry and a helicopter!

Life in Gjogv was grand and we were able to see three new islands while based there. It was quite gorgeous. I'm uploading a few new photos onto Flickr now, so hopefully you'll be able to get a taste of what the gorgeous sites up here!

On our travels through the northern islands

Our travels through the northern islands

We were able to see Teitur perform on Friday which was quite exciting! Though we were pretty far back, we had a great view of the stage and the sound was perfect. It was quite surreal seeing him perform here, especially since most of it was in Faroese. We also went back to the same spot on Saturday to here Eivør perform. She's an amazing singer whose hometown was hosting the festival, so it was quite a treat. If you get a chance you should check her out online, her voice is hauntingly beautiful.

Here's what James described our recent adventures:

Sitting on a grassy hill above the village of Gøta, watching the festivities of the surprising international G! music festival unfolding on the beach below -- and listening to the haunting voice of my now favorite Faroese singer, Eivør -- I couldn't help thinking: this is what the Faroe Islands are all about. Here was an international music festival, drawing performers from Europe and North America, in a little village that was also one of the major sites of the Færeyinga Saga, the farm of the powerful Faroese chieftain, Trondur i Gøta (and the hometown of Eivør). And the bay around which the the three part village is stretched, enclosed by the high treeless yet oh-so-green hills of the islands, was the sight of a grindadrap, or pilot whale killing, just a week before the festival (once an important means of survival in the harsh environment of the islands). This was the very Faroese balance of the modern, plugged-into-the-rest of the world view and the deeply felt sense of history and unique cultural identity. There is somehow no contradiction. The islands are both very ancient and very forward-looking. There are turf covered homes and sheep leaping from all directions no matter where you are traveling. Yet there are sub-sea tunnels with video toll registration (you pay at the nearest Shell Station!) and cell phone reception in even the most remote areas. You can fly by helicopter from one remote village to another -- just leaving a name to reserve a spot and paying right before take off (change made in a tin can). It all works here.

We rented a car for four days, which allowed us considerable freedom to explore in our initial days. After spending one night in Torshavn, we situated ourselves for four nights in the lovely village of Gjogv (pronouced jek-v) on the northern shore of the island of Eysturoy. It was an ideal location, with car, from which to really experience much of the Faroes. From here, we were able to visit remote villages like Saksun, lost in timeless mist, and pretty turf covered churches (always facing out to sea, as beacons for the sailors and their risky endeavors). We traipsed across the northern islands of Bordoy, Vidoy, and Kunoy -- some possessing only a couple of inhabited villages because the terrain is too wild and steep to sustain real agriculture. Yet almost all are connected by well paved roads and even tunnels (sometimes only one lane, but two way -- there are pull offs every few hundred meters, but it's a nerve-wracking venture). We were able to stop twice in Gøta to listen to our respective favorite Faroese singers -- Eivør for me and Teitur for Meghan, one of the main reasons she came on this trip! -- albeit from outside the official perimeters of the G! Festival. We hiked in the cloud wreathed hills north of the village of Eidi, trying to get an up close view of the rock stacks Risin and Kellingin, but were thwarted by dense fog. You could just make out their hulking blackness, or the waves crashing at their base. (These rock formations are considered to be a giant and his wife who tried to tow the Faroes to Island, but were turned to stone before they were able to complete their task!) We also just enjoyed being in Gjogv. Our guesthouse, Gjaargardur (pron. jawr-gar-ur), was extremely cozy, and its proprietor, Eirik, a gregarious host. We hiked on the cliffs above town, saying high to the sea birds and sheep. I even ventured into a Faroese church service -- with three-fourths of the town's population of 40. It was hard to leave and return to the "bustle" of Torshavn.

In other exciting news, I was able to lay my hand on the new Harry Potter book today! We couldn't buy it while out in Gjogv, but they had it here in the capital. So I'm to read a couple chapters a night and be close to finished when I make it back to the states so that the ending won't be ruined for me. (So please don't mention anything about it! Thanks!)

Ok...I'd best be off. The pictures are up and ready to go! Miss you all lots!

-Meg