Author: cometsgirl

Today was a walking day. All day. Unburdened of a car, and with no need of public transportation, it was all foot traffic. And the day was beautiful. Blue sky. No rain. In the mid 50’s.

Walking limits the distances traveled and allows time to browse, to consider, to pull up a chair at an outside cafe.

There’s time to take note of the designs that color the walk.

Bowls of designed noodle soups for lunch.

An afternoon walk to the waterfront to view the sculpture Sun Voyager.

We ended this walking day of design by attending a concert at the performance hall, Harpa,

The concert was Skalmöld, a heavy metal group, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, along with two adult choirs and a children’s choir. This was the last of three nights of concerts by this group, all having sold out. We learned that individuals from 37 countries had attended these performances.

We loved every moment of this amazing musical design experience.

As I climb in bed, my Fitbit announced I am an overachiever with 15,084 steps. A walking day indeed.

Late yesterday afternoon we hopped over to Iceland. It took just over an hour to get here. The view outside the windows as we flew across south Iceland from east to west was stunning.

Especially as we flew over the glacier Vatnajökull.

Then over the largest river in Iceland, the Ölfusá.

Hallgrímskirkja in full view as we landed.

A quick taxi ride to the Canopy Hilton and an ever quicker walk to dinner. Soup’s on, literally. Súpa.

I’d rather not leave today. Really rather not. But, in order to return, leave I must.

Awakened to clear skies and a lovely sunrise,

an abundant breakfast,

and a cappuccino at a favorite cafe, writing postcards.

All packed up and ready to travel. Headed to Reykjavík this evening and will have a couple of days to explore the city by foot.

This morning there was time to wander around Tórshavn for a time.

Then off to Vagar Island and the airport, with time for a picnic with a view,

and more vast vistas.

As I said, I’m reluctant to leave.

Now at the airport waiting to board.

Traveling mercies.

Rain was forecast today. And so it did. Most all day. As I write this at 8pm, the rain just now appears to have moved out. There may even be a sunset.

The breakfast served at the hotel each morning has a wide variety of foods and beverages, including the specialty drink of the chef. – a mixture of turmeric, ginger, and orange juice. It has some kind of good health properties. I did try it the first day, but it’s not really to my liking.

It’s the small glass in the center.

The view while enjoying breakfast makes most everything delicious. That’s Nólsoy Island across the water. It’s the easiest island to get to from Tórshavn, foot traffic only. We’ll not be able to fit it in this trip, but will get there when we return.

After breakfast we headed east, then almost due north. Such a beautiful drive out of Tórshavn. (We passed by the prison.)

In addition to the sheep always seen, the geese and cows made there appearance.

Here’s the weird thing…. from our high up road location, we could see a mass of cows running in one direction. We joked that they were hurrying to get in place for when our descent would be complete and we’d drive by. As we approached the cows, it was clear they were all lined up and even jostling for position. Crazy!

We continued north up the east coast of Streymoy Island (our lodging Island),

crossing over to Eysturoy Island, and continuing north all the way to the northernmost village.

We then drove across the top of Eysturoy, negotiating a good number of hairpin turns.

Stopping for delicious bowls of soup,

we had made it to the top of the island.

Following the path to the cliff’s edge,

we were once again gifted with the presence of puffins, a hundred or more, all perched in their burrows. What a thill it was to watch them soar out and then return to the welcoming gestures of their burrow mates.

The return drive was under heavier rains, with increased size and numbers of waterfalls.

It was a glorious day, even with all the rain. Clear skies tonight, our last night on the Faroe Islands. It’s going to be really hard for me tomorrow when we depart. Knowing we intend to return, certainly helps.

In the meantime, we have most of tomorrow on the islands, and then two more days in Iceland.

Now that I have your attention…

We set off today for Vágur Island. The destination was the west coast of the island at the very end of the road. We were on a journey to view Múlafossur Waterfall, a gorgeous waterfall which drops down, in a single drop, over 60 meters and ends in the Atlantic Ocean. This definitely was a destination with my name on it.

We set off after making a stop for espresso drinks of choice.

Climbing out of Tórshavn, we were enveloped in a cloud.

We could just barely make out formations spinning on the hills above us. Wind turbines. Looking eerie in the cloud fog, they also sounded eerie as they spun. Kind of an other-worldly moment as we parked across from the stand of the power-makers.

The Faroe Islands have set a goal of producing their entire electrical energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2030.

It was not long until we began to break out of the cloud.

And then the vistas showed up.

Remember the above view. We shall return to it.

One amazing vista after another. Too much for one soul to hold.

The road ended as we reached our destination. Múlafossur Waterfall. A small path through the grass marked the way.

But….. just as the waterfall came into view, a woman standing nearby pointed at a puffin just on the edge of the promontory. A puffin!!!

This was a totally unexpected sighting for this time of year.

My anticipation grew with each step I took, bringing me closer to the actual waterfall I had experienced through photos and videos posted on the Faroe Islands Instagram page.

Múlafossur Waterfall. I could hear its power before I could see it. Then there it was, thundering over a cliff into the sea below!

Here it is on its way to becoming powerful waterfall.

Awesome!!

Turning around at the end of the road, we began our drive home, stopping in a church along the way for afternoon prayers.

Our drive continued….

Now, about prison…..

On the early part of the drive to Vagar, about the time the skies cleared, we pulled over for gaze at the land below.

A sign outside the structure that was just a few yards below us read; Joel Cole, art gallery and studio. Access was through a signal gate with the words “prison/probation”. Hmm. We chalked it up to a weird translation of something or other, as we have seen a number of very odd translations of Faroese.

Determined to stop on our return, we did just that. Pulling up to the signal gate, pushing the red button and waiting for a good bit…. the gate finally swung up, and in we drove.

As we neared the main building, an armed guard stepped out. I quickly parked the car, got out, and called out: “Hi! Is this the art gallery?” To which he responded, “It’s a prison!”

Uh oh.

I asked about the artist’s sign to which the guard said something about a small building in the complex and the artist.

We then made a hasty exit.

Googling later I found a Forbes article entitled, The Coolest Prison in the World?” “The prison only has room for 12 inmates, and is only used for nonviolent offenders serving brief sentences. Each get their own individual cell with a working television. They also have a mini-golf course out back to while away the hours. But would you look at those valley views? ”

Yes, a day to experience power, puffins, and prisons.

Today was a day filled with intention.

Intention to keep sabbath – through community worship, slowing down, walking when possible, lessening the need for haste.

A gentle awakening under an overcast sky, to begin this new day. No need existed to be anywhere until 11am for church.

We chose to walk to church, mapping the walk through narrow streets, up and down stairs, alongside fences, with twists and turns through neighborhoods.

Our destination, Hangar Kirkja.

Arriving in time to be welcomed, to learn a bit about where to sit and how to follow the service which would be in Faroese, we were surprised to be ignored, avoided even. No eye contact, no conversation. It felt unseen.

The space was beautiful, the chick priest had a lovely presence, at least one of the hymns was familiar, and there were three christenings.

Note the wooden boat hanging from the ceiling. This is a tradition in churches in the Faroes.

Ann, our priest, led worship with her back to us during much of the service. This style of worship is how the Episcopal church did it up until the 1970’s, when the altar was pulled out from the wall and clergy began to face the congregation. Her sermon may have been inspiring. She had a brilliant smile, and a softness about her as she christened the three babies.

Although the table appeared to be set for communion, there was none. There was nary a cross in sight.

Ann and Beth had a greeting of recognition of shared ministry as they shook hands after the service ended.

We then walked to Brell Cafe for coffee and sandwiches. The cappuccinos and lattes are always works of art.

Continuing the walk home, we had quite an interesting conversation along the way. A dropped glove brought Henri into our life for fifteen minutes of delightful chatting.

Late afternoon we chose to drive to the harbor to do some laundry. This activity necessitated “sitting around” waiting for clothes to get clean and dry. Delicious bowls of curry soup for supper as we waited.

This business of doing laundry deserves reward.

This day ended as gently as it began.

This day was to have had a prearranged meeting, but when the reality of needing to arrange all the possibilities of places we could go and the things we could see around this appointment, we choose to abandon any timetable.

It turned into a fluid day with choices made as we moved through the day and along the roads ahead.

There was heavy rain the night before, gifting us with waterfalls too numerous to count or capture. All showcased by the sunny day.

A bridge took us from Streymoy Island to Eysturoy Island, where we stopped in the town of Toftir at Navia Yarns, a mecca for Faroese wool.

Not being a knitter, nor drawn to yarn this day, I came upon a bowl of buttons. I saw the possibility of creating flowers. I ended up having a delightful time choosing buttons that will later become flowers.

Oh, and I found a lovely wool throw to purchase!

Moving on through town,

we stopped at the old

and the new.

Several people had suggested we attend the Fisherman’s Festival held each year in Klaksvík, on the island of Borðy. That became our next destination. A five-mile long tunnel under the sea took us to Borðy. It’s easy to lose visual acuity and spacial clarity when in a tunnel that long.

I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised by the crowds and the traffic, but we were. Directed through town (it was now a rainy day) by volunteers, we passed by much of the festival’s goings on. All the way past and on up above the town to find parking. What we found instead was a vista point from which we enjoyed the entire array of events.

That was quite sufficient for us.

About to leave town, we read this in our guidebook: “The extravagant interior of Christianskirkjan holds a whopping altar fresco of The Parable of the Last Banquet from St Luke’s Gospel.”

We quickly entered and exited several round-abouts to make our way to the church. It did not disappoint!

We sat in this space doing prayers from Daily Prayer for all Seasons.

Excerpt:

Scripture reading: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13: 34-35

Meditation; Isn’t that what friendship is all about: giving to each other the gift of our belovedness? Henri Nouwen

Prayers; As the day lengthens, O Christ, Teach us to walk in your love. While we strive to be faithful in word and deed, Teach us to love one another. While we live as part of your creation, Teach us to love this good earth. Amen.

Our next choice was to go up up and away.

We drove across the midsection of Borðy via another, shorter tunnel, then roads up the eastern coast.

A pretty church perched on the edge of the coast.

Another tunnel under the sea crossing took us to the island of Vidoy. One more tunnel through the mountain and we were on the eastern coast near the top of Vidoy Island.

It was unbelievably windy with off and on rain. Then the rain ceased and the wind blew the clouds away,

allowing the sighting of distant islands.

Then, of course, was the return drive home. Back down the coast, through tunnels, and across bridges. To the sunset outside the hotel window.

The previous blog ended at the end of the road at Skarvanes. The return drive from Skarvanes was filled with the sights not seen while driving down the road. Well, of course.

A brief stop on the way to catch the return ferry, to visit a local church (note turf roof).

We calculated how much time we had left before we needed to be getting in the ferry queue, and determined we could make the drive to Søltuvík and back in time for the ferry. The description of what we were to experience made it worth the effort. “In the remote and wild bay of Søltuvík is one of the most beautiful spots in the whole of the Faroes.”

It was SO worth the effort!

A quick return drive to board the ferry, and we were on our way back to Tórshavn.

The rains hit, making for a stormy thirty-minute ferry ride.

It was perfect weather after a perfectly beautiful day, to enjoy bowls of asparagus soup. Hmmm, good.

The final activity of the day was to summit the “highpoint” of Tórshavn.

While we did have to adhere to a scheduled coffee date this morning, the remaining day was more maybe.

Maybe we should wander around the marina.

Or wander over to an arts section of town.

Or…. what about catching a ferry to Sandoy Island. Not having a reservation, or even knowing when the next ferry was scheduled to depart, we took off for the ferry departure location south of Tórshavn. A good number of cars and trucks were already in the quay. Nonetheless, we were able to get on the ferry – just barely. We were next to last to load. Amazing! And so off we sailed.

Upon arrival on Sandoy, we headed to the very south end of the island. Our guide book described some not-to-be missed coastal drives. One we especially wanted to do, but it’s description ” it’s a hair-raising 5km journey around the towering headland, on a single-track lane with blind corners that hugs the side of the mountain high above sheer cliffs before finally dropping down into Dalur, one of the most picturesque places in the southern islands,” gave us pause. After reading these words and carefully considering our ability to do this drive, we opted to drive to Skarvanes instead. It did not disappoint.

Sheep are a real issue for drivers anywhere on the islands. One defers to sheep on the roads. They are everywhere, primarily eating or seeking more to eat as they wander down the roads.

The color of their fur is kind of a mix-and-match blend in shades of brown, black, and ivory.

There is much more to tell about this adventure, but we must be off to today’s opposite direction adventure.

Stay tuned.

Today began with early morning light serving as an alarm clock. That’s our room on the top floor left.

Breakfast was abundance while overlooking the fields and the sea.

Coffee at Brell Roastery followed. It was here that we decided to have a “maybe” day. We would just see where our day took us. Maybe we’d turn here, maybe we’d walk there, maybe we’d just see how the day unfolded.

It took us to the island of Streymoy where we saw waterfalls too numerous and vast to count;

to roads too stupendous to drive without gazing off;

to vistas too magnificent to photograph well,

We shared the day with some of God’s precious.creatures.

Walking through high grass, I saw that God had sown a fine field of colors.

The choice to have a maybe day fit well on the Faroe Islands.