Busy Days in the North Atlantic

August 26, 2021

I heard a rooster this morning saying, “Coo, coo-doo.”  So even in the Faroes, the animals speak another language.  The rooster and his hens seem happy in the morning mist, which is even thicker than yesterday.  Ah, yes–what a great day it was yesterday!

Sasi texted in the morning and said to come for morning coffee and that she would join us on the boat ride to Mykines (“mitch-in-ess”) island.  Mary and I had planned on taking the ferry there and back to do a little birdwatching. But on the way to the boat in Sørvágur, we got an e-mail announcing the trip was canceled.  That’s a pretty common occurrence, I guess.  If the winds are from the south and west, the boat can’t dock.  Sometimes people are stuck on the island for a week.  So we changed plans at the last minute, at Sasi’s suggestion, and went on the Vestmanna boat tour, which turned out to be fabulous.

FIrst we headed to Gásadalur and the Múlafossur waterfall.  It was spectacular and the sun popped out just in time to take some great photos.  

By the time we got to Vestmanna, the boat was ready to depart.  We were the last ones on board!  The seas were not bad to start, but then they got roiling as we went further up the coast and into the North Sea.  Our boat captain, Jacob, was either insane or amazingly skilled as he repeatedly took us close to the cliff walls and into the coves where the rock stacks were covered with bird droppings but not many birds.  Most of them had already left for the year.

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Later in the tour, as we were heading back, we saw a couple of puffins in the water.  It really was a fun trip.  Then Sasi took the steering wheel of our little red KIA and got us back to her home in Nordskali in record time.  The posted speed limit is 80km (50mph) on the highways and I guarantee we were going about 90.  Then I finished the drive back to Funningur with about 30 minutes to spare before our dinner the Højsteds.  Lamb dinner!  Delicious!  Mary and I brought dessert that we had picked up in Torshavn at a little grocery/bakery on Nielsgata–a rolled Danish almond cake.

Our time in Torshavn was spent walking the streets, going to SMS shopping center and eating $40 fish soup at Barbara restaurant in the Tingenes area.  Our main purpose for being in the capital city was to get our Day 4 Covid test.  We thought it would be at the hospital, but they told us it was down where the cruise ships dock.  We raced there, getting a little lost by the harbor, but we finally found it and got our car in line with all the others.  

The tester swabbed the back of the throat on both sides–no nasal swab!  Within 24 hours, we both got our NEGATIVE.  We were “positive we were negative,” but now we had proof!  And now Mary can use it to fly home on Friday.  I’ll have to do it one more time before I head back to the USA in a couple of weeks.

It’s been a busy couple of days–boat rides, Covid tests, and cruising the streets of Torshavn.  Now it’s time to relax.  The morning fog has lifted a bit.  Mary and I are knitting in the living room, taking it easy today–her last in the Faroes.  I think we will go one more time to Navia to search for a sweater and a fleece.  After Alis gets home, she will take us on a walking tour of town and the sod covered church, with its hand carved wooden interior.  And that will end another busy day in the North Atlantic.