Rising in the North Atlantic waters halfway between Norway and Iceland, the 22 Faroe Islands form a breathtaking archipelago of jagged mountains and dramatic fjords. The Faroese people hold their culture and history dear, still speaking their unique Old Norse language and still topping their houses with turf. (yes, I copied the description from the guide book!!)
I love all the people we meet and visit. Cruisers and locals. One of the girls who handles our tickets for the shore excursions is named Sasa. I said, “Sasa”, that means “now” in Swahili and she was tickled to hear that someone knew that.
While walking toward the town of Torshavn, I struck up a conversation with a woman on vacation, who asked where we were going. After her surprise of our world cruise, she said her husband always wanted to go around the world. I had mentioned I was keeping our family and friends updated on a blog and she wanted to follow along also. So “Hello” Allie.
After visiting the book store in the photos above, a lady walking by saw me taking pictures and stopped to tell me about the bookstore which had been a schoolhouse many years ago that she attended. She runs an airb&b and is thrilled to see so many visitors to the Islands.
Both the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands are just dots on the map of the North Atlantic, yet they both played important roles in WW2 for Britain.
The Seabirds tour was full and instead of seeing a Puffin it was nuffin! The first seabird tour in Shetland was canceled due to bad weather. And now Saturday the 21st we have a cancellation due to high waves. Just to give you an idea how bad it has been, a man sitting next to us at supper told us he was a seasoned traveler and that he had been on possibly 30+ cruises and this by far was the roughest as far as waves and rolling goes. I love being rocked to sleep.
Nautical Term of the day – Scuttlebutt
A “butt” was a barrel. “Scuttle” meant “to chop a hole in something.” The “scuttlebutt” was a water barrel with a hole cut into it so that sailors could reach in and scoop out drinking water. The “scuttlebutt” was the place where the ship’s gossip was exchanged.
Today’s scuttlebutt is that John is enjoying himself too much!!