Even after Iceland to which it is similar in many ways, the Faroe Islands have been stunning. Anywhere you look.
One morning we drove to the down to the small harbor at end of the fjord at Vestmanna to go see the cliffs. We boarded the Silja Star and sailed down the fjord. The captain pointed out the village you can see to your left in the first photo. It is abandoned. When electricity came around in the 1930s and '40s this village was too remote to add to the grid. It also wasn't connected by roads and it took villagers four hours to walk to the nearest connected village. So people left. Now some of the homes are maintained as summer homes.
The cliffs are amazing. They rise up from the water to over a third of a mile. Some of the cliffs have grassy outcrops. The Faroese bring their sheep to these outcrops to graze for summer. They lower them with ropes from the cliffs tops. At the end of summer men are lowered who then pick up the sheep and lower themselves and sheep into waiting boats below. The captain explained that this is because the grass is better on the cliffs and that makes the lambs taste better.
"And also just for sport" he added.
One morning we drove to the down to the small harbor at end of the fjord at Vestmanna to go see the cliffs. We boarded the Silja Star and sailed down the fjord. The captain pointed out the village you can see to your left in the first photo. It is abandoned. When electricity came around in the 1930s and '40s this village was too remote to add to the grid. It also wasn't connected by roads and it took villagers four hours to walk to the nearest connected village. So people left. Now some of the homes are maintained as summer homes.
The cliffs are amazing. They rise up from the water to over a third of a mile. Some of the cliffs have grassy outcrops. The Faroese bring their sheep to these outcrops to graze for summer. They lower them with ropes from the cliffs tops. At the end of summer men are lowered who then pick up the sheep and lower themselves and sheep into waiting boats below. The captain explained that this is because the grass is better on the cliffs and that makes the lambs taste better.
"And also just for sport" he added.
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