Arriving in Torshavn, the morning is a bit foggy and misty, which doesn’t bode well for our cross-island hike later on, but, weather is weather, nothing we can do. We do our normal morning routine, then hit the gangway a little after 9 to explore the town a bit before meeting Jens, our guide for our hike.
Our first stop is the Fort of Torshavn, right outside the harbor. Perched up on a knoll for easy lookouts, the fort was built in the 1630s to protect the Royal Trade Monopoly houses on Tinganes (the parliament peninsula where we will go next). Reconstructed in the 1780s, the fort still has 4 guns from the 17th and 18th centuries and 2 larges guns from WWII. The 335 to 40 soldiers that manned the fort became a police corps in 1865 when the fort was decommissioned. Now, it is a quiet and pretty place to walk around with the green grass, lighthouse, old guns, viewpoints and the sod roof houses – probably barracks – surrounded by dark black rock walls.
Next to the Fort, we find a bizarre sculpture entitled Fia og Frida, an abstract and surreal look at the relationship of the body to space. It was created by the same sculptor who made the Seal Woman statue on Kalsoy island, Hans Pauli Olsen. Strange, but art is art.
Wandering up the street to the grocery store, we scope out the snacks for a return trip at the end of the day, before we go back aboard, then walk down toward the main town, through this amazing – albeit probably typical – neighborhood of tar covered and grass roofed houses.
Then it is onto Reyn, the city’s oldest district, entering by one of the signs asking visitors to respect the residents here. It is a relatively old sign, and we can only imagine the challenges of living here with all of us tourists wandering around snapping pictures – us included. It is a very picturesque area, situated between the two bays of Torshaven, with tons of history and pretty buildings that act as the boundary between old Torshaven and the more modern part of the town as it is today.
At the end of the Reyn district is Tinganes, one of the oldest parliamentary meeting places in the world. Tinganes means “parliament point” in Faroese and this area has been used for political meetings since the Viking days. The original buildings burned down in the fire of 1673, but the rebuilt buildings still followed the typical Faroese heritage with red or black pain and grass roofs. A compact area with all the governmental offices necessary, you can actually walk right up to the Prime Minister’s office – with no security whatsoever. Totally picturesque.
Turning back toward the New Town, we walk around the Torshavn Cathedral, built in 1609 and known for its very simple geometric shape. Choosing not to go inside, the outside is enough for us, we continue on up the street, stopping for a super expensive coffee (as everything is here, but we are breaking cappuccino cost records one after the other – these ended up being $14 USD) at the Paname Café, bustling with locals and tourists alike. A nice little time waster, as we still have an hour and a half before we met Jens for our hike.
After staying as long as we could in the café, we wander around the harbor front, watching the boats and taking in all the great sculptures – especially loving the Young Girl Drying Fish. There is a movie or TV show being filmed on a schooner in the harbor near the drying fish girl, so we hang out there and watch the production for a while – then head up to the tourist center and bus station to wait for Jens who arrives right on time.
Andiamo 