Vacation in Denmark

I’ve spent the last two weeks in Denmark, and I’ll stay one more before going back to the Faroes again. This is the first time I see Denmark more as a place for vacation, than my home country. Maybe because my flight ticket says Faroe Islands-Denmark return, and not the other way round. And the last two weeks, I’ve traveled more around Denmark than I’ve ever done while living there

A few days ago, I visited the most beautiful place in Denmark I’ve ever seen. And that’s a bit ridiculous, as I grew up not far away from that spot - how come I’ve never visited it? Anyway, the place is the island Møn, known for its 128m high, white cliffs and the forest Klinteskoven (the Cliff Forest).

 And of course, I took some pics (a lot actually!) and here’s some of them.

The white cliffs of Møn

Klinteskoven (the cliff forest)

The stairway to the beach

The cliffs seen from the beach

 

The Hylledal gorge

So this is where I live

Most of the young people on my age prefer living in big cities - all my old classmates has left the countryside in Denmark, and now live in bigger cities where they - as some of them say - never get bored. But I moved far away from everything. The Faroe Islands is inhabited by 48.000 people, and is located hundreds of miles from nearest coastline. And they ask “why do you want to live there??”. It’s right - I can’t go shopping whenever I want to. There are not big parties every weekend. But I’m not interested in those activities anyway - I’m more interested in a quiet life, in a beautiful place.

And the picture below shows my village and the neighbouring village (Hvalvik, left side, Streymnes, right side) - and I think I’ve captured the beauty of the place very well. I took the picture at 12 AM. So it’s another picture of the midnight sun. That I have this view just outside my door is worth more than anything else, and I’m not missing the city life in Denmark. I’m a country girl, and I’m proud of it!

Braid dummie

Allow me to complain a bit today. Since I was a little girl, I’ve dreamt of being able to braid my hair. I’ve tried to learn it so many times, and I just don’t get it. I can braid other people’s hair, but not my own.. simply because I can’t see what’s going on. And today, I tried again - and after several attempts, I could spend half an hour trying to comb it, because the only result I got wasn’t a braid, but a really messy hair.

I am a hair dummie - the most advanced hair style I can do, is the good ol’ ponytail. And the reason why I wan’t to braid it, is because the Faroe Islands is a windy place, so every time I’ve been outside, my hair is a big mess, and a braid could keep the hair in place. It’s also practical when climbing mountains, swimming, or other activities like these. Anyway… I’m pretty stubborn, and I guess I’ll keep trying until I’ve learned it. Or I’ll cut that hair short!

And to something not hair-related: It’s the longest day of the year. It’s 1am - and almost daylight! It really amazes me every year. Nights without darkness.. it’s so wonderful, that I forget everything about braiding!

The highest spot so far

Today, I went on another hike - this time with my boyfriend as guide. We went up on a mountain, from where we had a fantastic view. The mountain is 784m (2572.2ft), and the highest mountain I’ve visited so far. I know - this blog is almost becoming a photoblog, and one could get the impression that I’m not doing anything else than climbing mountains.. I’ll try to write about something else than the Faroe Islands or mountains in my next blog post..at least, I’ll try

Ok friends, here we go:

First, on the way up there (at 500m altitude), we came across this strange boulder.. kind of impressive, it has been standing there the last 10.000 years, when the ice placed it there.. In the background, you can also see the village where we live.

And this is me, with the last 200 metres of the mountain in the background

And we made it! Another pic of my boyfriend, on the top of the mountain.

And a few other pics from the top.. here you see Heljardal Valley - a very, very special valley facing towards the Atlantic in the west

Ah.. ok, and this is me with Heljardal Valley in below.. just bragging

Mount Mosarøkur - the mountains in the far west, are on the Island Vágar

Pointing south, a view to the Vestmanna dams

Midnight sun

Oh, here’s another Faroe photo for you. This shows the darkest hour of the night these days, and as you see - we are so far up north, that the sun really doesn’t set. I think it’s beautiful.. even though it’s also a bit confusing, because I don’t notice how late it is, because it doesn’t get dark

It’s a view from our bathroom.

Strength

I impressed myself today, as it seems as I’m getting in better and better shape for each day. I went up on a mountain today, without taking any breaks on my way up there.

From that mountain, there would have been a stunning view over the town Klaksvík, and to the islands of Kunoy and Kalsoy, but it was foggy so I couldn’t see a blooming thing. But walking in fog is somewhat special - because you can’t see much, all your other senses takes over. You hear the streams clearer, and you can smell the fresh grass and the salty sea breezes.

I really love these islands, thank you God, for sending me a sweet Faroese guy, and leading me to a life in a remote but special and wonderful country!

Pictures? Oh, here’s a few

Silly thing, that I was too lazy to take pictures, now that my legs carried me up to no less that two beautiful viewpoints. But I did get a couple, though. To be honest, I prefer photographing, when the grass is green all over the country, that means in July-August. Right now, it’s still “yellow-ish” after the winter. But still.. this is from my hike Saturday

 

Here’s the mountain that I considered climbing, or rather - walking. On the other side it’s not that steep, so you can actually walk all the way up, even though it’s a bit tough. I guess theres around 60-70 meters from where I’m standing, to the top.

And a few sheep.. cute animals, aren’t they? I had too use digital zoom, as they are wild sheep - they aren’t talkative at all. Every time I took one step closer, they ran four steps away.

And finally, Fuglafjordur - “Bird Firth”. You can’t see the firth, as it’s hiding behind the mountain on my right side. It’s a nice town, with 1500 inhabitants.

I am planning other hikes, as I love walking in the mountains - and I can’t tell ya how happy I am to be back home!

 

Mission accomplished

I did it! Walked all the way from my home in Hvalvík to my boyfriend’s family in Fuglafjorður. It took me 6 hours - and even though it was tougher than I expected, I feel good. Apperantly, I’m in good shape.

To get there, I had to cross two passes (up and down again!) the first was 2132 feet (650 meters) high, and after walking down the mountain side, crossing a beautiful valley, I headed for the next one, that was 2296 feet (700 meters).

On the second pass, I even considered climbing a mountain - but it looked too dangerous, because it was very steep, and I’d had to avoid a huge gorge. And at this point I was tired, so I said to the mountain “some other time”

Except the fantastic view, I enjoyed the fresh mountain streams - I had nearly forgotten how refreshing, cool, and clean those streams are. Simply the best beverage under the sun!

Pictures? I did take some - but now I’m too lazy to upload them and comment on them That will have to wait, now I’ll just enjoy the evening sun that lasts until 11 pm (favourite time of the year!) and relax. I hope all of you enjoy your weekend

Indoors and outdoors adventures!

I’m looking SO much forward to this weekend - I’m going to do a few things that should be fun. Hiking and fishing, and visiting family - maybe even a BBQ party

BUT first.. the boring part. Cleaning up the house. For some reason, it seems that everything inside my house live its own life. I already cleaned and organized some parts of it (the living room and kitchen), and while doing that, I found a few lost items. For example, I found my “Famous last words” album again, that had been gone for some moths. Yay! Nice listening to that again, especially while exploring every corner of the house, finding even more lost items - cat toys, books, pencils under the sofa (my cats LOVE playing with them) ect.

Anyway, once finished, I plan going fishing. I planned doing that the other day, but then the weather turned really, really bad. Ah, now I recognise the Faroes again! Actually, it has been sunny for nearly a month, so many streams were drying up. It’s not a big problem, actually, it’s just unusual.

Tomorrow, Saturday, is going to be a day for hiking. I plan my longest hike ever, or - well. Not the longest, but the toughest. Simply walking from my house in Hvalvík (whale bay) to my boyfriend’s family’s house in Fuglafjördur (Bird firth)- It will take a lot of ups and downs (lol) and even climbing. So my next blog posts will probably be about sore muscels But there’s nothing I love more, than walking by my own in the mountains, enjoying the beauty of mother nature. When I lived in Denmark, I took long walks at the beach or in the forests, now it’s in the mountains of the Faroe Islands - but walking in those peaceful spots gives me so much peace in my mind. And when it comes to climbing/walking in mountains - it’s a much better way of exercising, than in fitness centres! I remember my first hikes in the Faroes too well - I thought I was in good shape.. but on the top of that mountain, I felt like calling for a helicopter to bring me down again. And my Faroese friends were already on their way down the mountain.

Anyway, when I finally come to Fuglafjördur Saturday evening, we’ll - if the weather is good (forecasts are ok) -have a bbq party, with family and friends. That should be a nice way of recovering from a long hike.

But first; cleaning up the house.  It’s already 10 am, Friday, and I’m wasting my time blogging! The sooner I finish cleaning, the sooner I can go fishing for cod, flounders and saithe. I still find it amazing - that I can go to the beach, and fish in the North atlantic, not even needing a boat, or needing to wade into the water. Just wearing jeans and a woolen sweater, and I can get myself a wonderful dinner. I do love this country a lot ;) 

So much fun with languages

First, let me tell you a joke - I heard it a few weeks ago, and I came to think of it last Monday.

- Two men were sitting on a bench, when a German tourist approached them, and asked them about something - none of the two men understood German, and the tourist then tried asking the same question in French. None of them understood French either. So the tourist tried in Spanish - but the two men just shook their heads, and the tourist gave up and walked away.

“Well” one of them said. “maybe one should learn some languages”.
“Why?” the other replies - “that man spoke three languages, and what did he get out of that??”

I had exactly the same feeling, when I sailed back to the Faroe Islands. There were many tourists on the ship, among them a guy from Switzerland, and two Hungarians who were my “neighbours” during the trip.

The guy from Switzerland sat next to me on the sun deck, and asked me - in German - where I came from, and where I was going. I replied in English that I live in the Faroe Islands, and that I was on my way home. He didn’t speak much English, so I had to use those few words I know in German. Not only that - he was very, very hard to understand. Well, I must have been hard to understand too. “Ich wohne in..err..die Färöer…err..ich bin on my way nach hause…”
“Ah, die Färöer Inseln? Ja ja, ich verstehe” And then we agreed that “wetter ist schön” (weather is good).

Then I met those very kind Hungarian people. They asked me if I spoke German, and I could only reply “not much”, but he spoke a little English. I never found out if I spoke more German than he spoke English - and his wife basically only spoke Hungarian, but understood a bit English. So again, communicating was a bit hard, but again - we managed to communicate somehow. At some point, I was sure we had made up a brand new language, mixing German, English, Hungarian and Danish. But the matter was, we understood one another with this nonsense-language

The funny thing was, that when I arrived in the Faroes, I went for a looong walk in the wonderful weather - and then I met those Hungarians again. They had 6 hours in the Faroe Islands before the ship continued to Iceland. They asked for suggestions for what to see. What is “I recommend you a walk along the coastline for good pictures, or the museums for learning about the islands” called in German/Hungarian? They had a map with them, and I tried to point at the spots that I could recommend them, but I never found out if they understood it. But I met them in the most boring part of Thorshavn, and I just tried to show them a way to a more beautiful spot.

I wasn’t the only one that day, who were challenged in languages - my boyfriend told me that he had met an Italian tourist (also from the ship), who only spoke Italian. My boyfriend speaks a tiny little bit of Italian, and with a few words he tried to tell the Italian fellow the way to a museum. “Capisco! capisco” he said (I understand I understand), and walked in the wrong direction.

So that was why I came to think of that joke. I speak and understand Danish, English, Norweigan, Swedish, Faroese and that tiny bit of German. That is 5½ languages, but what did it help me?

So, I have to do something about it very soon - learn German and maybe some Spanish, Italian and French. Then I would be the perfect tourist guide