Shamrock Report 11

Yesterday morning, we went in to the town of Torshavn, in the Faroe Islands, with Sheila, Ken, Mitch, and Bert. It was very quiet as it was Sunday morning. No cars or people. We walked past the harbor and some very brightly colored houses and boats, reflecting nicely in the water. The day was cloudy when we started the walk but the sun kept trying to come out. We walked past many little shops and cafes, all closed, and also past the Town Hall, Visitor center, and school, also closed. Ken and Sheila had been to this town before and knew of a park on the top side of the town with a little stream running through it. It was very picturesque. There were mallard ducks which all seemed to be paired off. Suddenly another male would arrive, feathers would fly and then the female duck would go off in a huff. Men! (This section was written by Gail!) There were also trout in the stream, but we didn't have any poles. David, I thought of you. We then hurried back to the ship for an early lunch since our tour left at 12:15.

And that tour was quite an experience. We had signed up for a Boat trip to the Vestmanna Sea Cliffs in order to see birds, particularly a better view of puffins.

We departed the pier for the drive to the village of Vestmanna where unfortunately we were the second of two buses. I say unfortunate because there were two boats waiting. One a reasonably sized boat with a large indoor cabin and the other a much smaller cabin cruiser type boat with a cabin that could hold maybe 15 people. There were of course seats outside the cabin and above it, but it was pretty cold, especially during the sail.

Anyway, one gets very close to the cliffs, and we were rocking and rolling. Some got sick, some got scared, but Gail enjoyed it. Taking photos was "murder" because of the movement. It was an interesting ride in that one sailed along the cliff walls into narrow gorges, and in fact we had to don hardhats in case of falling rocks. (That hats came in handy not for falling rocks, but for sick passengers.) We thought there might be a mutiny because many wanted to return to the dock. I think we were out for essentially the allotted time, but it wasn't great. We found out later that those on the larger boat had a wonderful excursion, which caused further disappointment. Gail spotted a puffin, but I guess because of the movement (of both the bird, the water, and the boat) my photos were not good. Ken Simpson managed to get a good photo.

After the hair-raising sail, we were back on the bus for a drive to the pier with a brief photoshop to view the capital. We returned just in time for Trivia, and I think we came in second (or possibly third).

Dinner was at Signatures, and it was very good once again. I ordered exactly what I had last week: lobster salad, magret de canard, and tiramisu. I think both Gail and I overdid the food and wine, as we were not feeling too chipper this morning.

But the weather today, in Lerwick, UK in the Shetland Islands was gorgeous. I'll report on our wonderful excursion here in the next report.

Some photos:

Some nice reflections during our morning walk


More reflections


Duck pairs


Modern igloo-like houses on our way to Vestmanna


Salmon "rings" for salmon farming and a town along the way