Faroe Islands, June 2006

The small archipelago far out in the North Atlantic Sea is connected by only two mini-airlines to Copenhagen, Denmark and London, UK. I spent my time on the islands around Midsummer, when the days were long and the nights bright and short. Despite their isolated location close to the Arctic Circle, the climate on the islands is quite mild thanks to the Gulf Stream constantly pumping heat to the Arctic. Nevertheless the islands are regularly battered by fierce Arctic storms turning the sea into treacherous waters.  The islands are the tip of a underwater plateau pilled up by volcanic activity. Towering layer-cake mountains are obvious evidence of the archipelago's volcanic origin today. Vertical sea cliffs of over 2600 ft. (800 m) height on the Northern Islands rank among the highest cliffs on earth.

Geologically spoken the archipelago does not belong to the European continent. Politically, the Faroe Islands are an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Denmark with seats in the Danish parliament. Unlike Denmark the Faroe Islands, however, are not part of the European Union (EU) since they don't accept EU's restrictive fishing laws. Fish and a few sheep are yet the country's only natural resources important to the nation's economical success - which the 48000 Faroes would like to control themselves.

Apart from Danish the Faroes speak their own tongue called Faroese. Together with closely-related Icelandic these languages come closest to the original Scandinavian language. The isolated geographical location of the Faroes helped to preserve the language of the Vikings until today.

Traveling on the Faroe Islands is surprisingly easy. The Islands Vágar and Streymoy as well as Esturoy and Borðoy are connected by deep undersea tunnels funded by the Danish state. Most other islands are connected by a daily ferry or a helicopter service running three times per week. Only accommodation can be difficult to find outside the capital Tórshavn. Since there were only few tourists I always found a  "Bred & Breakfast" to stay.

Tórshavn

Streymoy

Esturoy

Northern Islands: Borðoy,Viðoy, Kunoy and Kalsoy