And, we’re off! Our normal morning. Gym, Trivia and Brain teaser in the Living Room (we’re going for a free Azamara t-shirt people!), down to brunch, which was totally crowded at 10:30 – not like normal when no one shows up until noon. We couldn’t find a seat on our first go round, had to wait 30 minutes before successfully trying again.
Our afternoon is filled with a lecture on the Faroe islands with Dr. Jannie Mackay, a cultural psychologist. In an nutshell:
There are 18 islands, 17 are inhabited; 70,000 sheep and 53,000 people; sheep are so important to the islands, they have incorporated a ram on their Coat of Arms; fishing and seafood are 95% of all the Faroe islands’ exports, making them one of the largest seafood exporters in the world.
In an nutshell: There are 18 islands, 17 are inhabited; 70,000 sheep and 53,000 people; sheep are so important to the islands, they have incorporated a ram on their Coat of Arms; fishing and seafood are 95% of all the Faroe islands’ exports, making them one of the largest seafood exporters in the world.
The weather can be totally unpredictable; they have over 250 days of rain a year; residents live in houses coated in tar to protect from the wind and grass roofs for insulation; supposedly they use sheep to “mow” the roofs!; traversing between the islands used to be only by ferry, plane or rowing – now there are 21 tunnels that connect the islands, vastly reducing transit time.
Cute story: The islands are so remote, that Google Maps wouldn’t come to map them. So, the Faroese mounted solar powered cameras to sheep and let them map the islands. It created such a positive stir, that Google Maps finally came out to do the mapping!
There are wonderful Norse legends, one of which is about the Seal Woman (there is a statue of her on Kalsoy island which we will pass when we leave the islands): Long ago, seals were people who would come ashore once a year, shed their skins, then dance and play all through the night, then go back in their skins and in the water by daybreak to continue being a seal. One year, a farmer caught fell madly in love with a seal woman, stole her skin and locked it in a cabinet so she could not return to the sea; she was forced to stay with him for 3 years, cooking, cleaning, and having children; one day the woman regained her skin, immediately went back to the water to her seal mate and babies. The farmer was so angry the seal woman had left him, he gathered villagers and went out to sea, slaughtering a large number of seals, including the woman’s mate and her 3 little pups. The woman became so incensed, she came back ashore and yelled loudly at the entire village, cursing them to have no more luck fishing nor sailing in the waters. To this day, the area around the Kalsoy island has been the scene of many a shipwreck and not very profitable fishing. Moral: Don’t cross a seal woman (or hell hath no fury like a seal-woman scorned!).
And that was our afternoon. Followed by, yes, you know the drill, gym, drinks in the Living Room, sitting on the balcony watching islands in the distance, dinner – table #4 again – then back to the balcony because we’ve seen the show a few too many times and it is just glorious out there. Tomorrow, our non-stop adventures begin.
Andiamo 