From Scotland to the Faroe Islands.
We had planned to go into Edinburgh again this morning and spend a couple of hours before returning the rental car and checking in for our afternoon flight to the Faroes, but decided against it as there were just too many logistics and things to go wrong, and not enough time to make it worthwhile. Instead, we had a casual morning, and actually our first relaxed day. After breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we headed back to our rooms and didn’t check out until 11. The weather was good when we checked out of the hotel, and as the afternoon unfurled got better and better.
After checking out of the hotel and leaving our car in the hotel parking spot, we took a stroll to the nearby Dunfermline Abbey, minutes away, which has quite the history, some of which I described in my blog entry of a few days ago. This time I noticed the words “King Robert The Bruce” built into the top of the spire, added during the restoration of the abbey in 1820. With respect to the origin of his name, Robert’s father, a Norman, was Robert de Brus, but after coming to England following the Norman conquest, his name became Robert Bruce. His son, Robert the Bruce, was born in Scotland in 1274, and in 1306 was crowned King Robert I of Scotland, and is buried here in Dunfermline Abbey.
After touring the Abbey a little, we walked into Pittencrieff Park, from the entrance right by the Abbey and the ruins of the Palace. The park is lovely, and at 76 acres pretty big. By comparison, St. James’s Park in London is 57 acres. The park has a number of walks and trails, some leading down to Tower Burn, the stream running through the lower part of the park (a burn is a small stream or river), and others walks through the upper park, including its lovely gardens. There are also peacocks in the park, although they were apparently off duty today, maybe themselves on vacation, as well as a substantial cafeteria.it’s a lovely park, with many people and their dogs taking full advantage of the walks and the weather… which by now was most definitely shorts and sandals weather. And me in long pants and sneakers. Bah!
Actually, I was rather surprised to see how many international visitors were at the abbey, as well in the park. I guess Dunfermline is close enough to Edinburgh to be popular, especially with the Fringe Festival in full swing, and the abbey and palace also pull in visitors. In fact, the Dalai Lama visited Dunfermline in 2004, visiting the Abbey and meeting with Scottish religious leaders there, as well visiting Pittencrieff Park, where he blessed a Peace Pole installed at the time.
Apparently, the City Hotel is also well known. They’re currently taking reservations for their Christmas day dinner, four months away, and expect to soon be fully booked. Who’d thunk it?
We didn’t want to get to the airport too early, figuring two hours would be enough time for check in (which it easily was), but rather than staying in the park, we drove to the off-airport car rental area, but stopped along the way at South Queensferry Harbor, a really lovely small village and harbor on the edge of the Firth of Forth, with great views of the three bridges crossing the Firth: the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, and the Queensferry Crossing.
The village was lovely. It’s really too bad we didn’t visit a little earlier as we had very little time available by this point, but who knew?
Apparently, lots of people did know, as the small village and its narrow cobblestone streets were full of visitors, including several parked tour buses, and we were actually quite lucky to find a parking spot. Several sightseeing cruises leave from the harbor (that sounds nice), was well as a local ferry. Very nice.
After maybe 30 minutes we left, with no time to further explore more of the village, and headed for the car rental return near the airport, traveling on the by now usual narrow roads and back roads, arriving in good time, and from there getting to the airport right on time. Security was a breeze, and we had plenty of time before our flight. Edinburgh airport, with just one terminal, is just the right size and pretty nice, with plenty of stores and eateries while we waited. Boarding was on time and simple, and as the plane was half full, there was plenty of space on board.
The flight, a little over an hour, was uneventful (always good), and before we knew it, incredible scenes of the Faroe Islands appeared outside of the cabin windows. Next thing we knew, we were flying through cloud covered mountains, rather than over them, as we neared Sรธrvรกgur airport on Vรกgar Island. Pretty incredible views.
We landed around 6:30 pm, quickly passed through immigration and customs, and picked up the car rental from just outside this small airport. We already had a number of wow and double wow moments just seeing the Faroe Islands from the air, but stepping off the plane and out of the airport, there were numerous more wows! Incredible surroundings. Simply incredible. I’ve been to relatively nearby Iceland, and that is an incredible place, but this triples the wow factor. The Scottish highlands too!
The Faroe Islands are an archipelago in the North Atlantic comprised of 18 main islands, about 190 miles northwest of Scotland, 280 miles southeast of Iceland, and 670 miles west of Norway, with a population of around 55,000. Its capital is the city of Torshavn, where we’re staying in an Airbnb, with a population of around 15,000, on Streymoy island. Most of the islands are connected by ferry but also underwater tunnels for seamless driving across the Islands. The Islands are part of Denmark, but have their own government, culture, and identity. In addition to Danish, the local language is Faroese.
Driving is on the right side, with left hand drive, as in the U.S., and most of the world, but after driving in Britain for the past few weeks, on the left side of the road, I had to re-orient myself, and almost went the wrong way round the roundabout out of the airport. We headed for Streymoy island and the city of Torshavn, about 45 miles away. The drive was amazing, and soon after we passed through the tunnel connecting Vรกgar and Streymoy islands, the road climbed up and through incredible mountain passes with amazing views below, as well as sheep, some pretty big, dotting the hillsides and in some cases wandering along and into the road. There was little traffic, a car or two here and there, so the desolation felt even greater, and we were repeatedly awestruck by what we were seeing around and below us. INCREDIBLE!
And after a simply amazing drive, as we started to descend from the mountains, Torshavn came into view below.
As we got into town, we had a little trouble finding the right place, and it turned out that was because the airbnb map directions actually took us to the wrong location, but it turned out to be just across the street from where we were actually booked. So, phew, because that place was dumpy. But the actual place isn’t. It’s quite lovely., and quite contemporary and spacious inside.
We were met by our very gracious hosts, Karis and Heini, who live upstairs , with their two teenage sons; their daughter away in nursing school. Both are firefighters, and Heini is the fire chief, whereas Karis is a volunteer. She is a graphic designer for the Smyril Line, the ferry company for the islands. We were thinking about a ferry ride to see the area, so Karis will be the person to ask.
Karis was not only extremely friendly, but also very helpful, quickly showing us places to shop for food and restaurants in the area, with recommendations, and when she said text or call her with any questions I’m certain she meant it.
Once we settled in a little, we drove to a nearby supermarket and got some food. There are no English translation signs, and we quickly realized that although some of the food labeling is in Danish, much of it is is Faroese. Google translate can do both, but was definitely having difficulty translating the Faroese. We couldn’t use the self-pay checkout though, as we couldn’t understand a word. Interestingly, although one of the staff we engaged with spoke English well, the young woman at the checkout register either couldn’t speak English or chose not to. Still, we made out.
We returned to the house, figured out how to use the oven (amazingly, no microwave), ate, hung out and went to bed. Tomorrow…. well, we’ll see, For now, goodnight.