After a late bedtime we woke up later than intended. It was a mad scramble to get out of the farm house, pack up our car (we had to transition to a different sleeping spot because the farm house was not available our final night) and hit the road.
Kalsoy or Bust
We had hatched a plan the night before to spend the day on Kalsoy island. Kalsoy is an isolated island, with no bridge, tunnel or causeway linking to it. The only access point is a (car) ferry that operates on a limited daily schedule from Klasksvik, a town on neighboring Borðoy island. Klaksvik was a solid hours drive away.
We knew we needed to catch the 10:00am ferry from Klaksvik. The next ferry didn’t leave until 2:50pm, jeopardizing our ability to spend sufficient time exploring Kalsoy. We got to the ferry with literally 1 minute to spare, but that didn't cut muster. The ferry was already full of cars (max 17). We watched the ferry push off without us and the handful of other cars queued in front of us. Drat!
Plan B?
Reality set in that our day trip to Kalsoy was no longer in the cards; getting that next 2:50pm ferry wouldn’t afford us enough time to properly explore Kalsoy. We decided to park ourselves in nearby Klaksvik cafe Fríða Kaffihús (with Wifi, bonus!), grab a hot drink & hatch an alternate game plan for the day. As we ordered our Americanos, Doug asked the barista a few questions about the car ferry to Kalsoy. Another patron happened to overhear us and interjected that they were going to run an extra ferry to Kalsoy in about an hour, given there were several cars waiting. Joy!! Suddenly our day turned around and we were bound for Kalsoy again! Phew!!
Goes to show how much good can come from speaking with strangers! If Doug hadn’t asked the cafe worker about the car ferry, the other people wouldn’t have overheard us & chimed in with the good news! We’re incredibly grateful that sequence of events happened because the remote island of Kalsoy ended up being one of our very favorite Faroe Island spots!
Back to Plan A
We hustled back to the ferry landing and caught the bonus car ferry to Kalsoy (left just after 11:00am) with huge grins on our faces. What luck!
The whole island of Kalsoy only has one road. That road is only single lane, so you have to occasionally defer to traffic coming in the opposite direction, which is especially entertaining while going through the many single-lane tunnels bore into the sides of the mountains! Doug handled it like a pro.
Seal Woman of Mikladalur
We hit up the main spots in Kalsoy. First up was Mikladalur, a town only connected via a road since 1981; prior to that it was only accessible via rowboat and a walk up the steep & narrow cleft. Its become famous in recent years for its status of the Seal Woman. The statue was built in 2014 and reignited interest in the legend of the Seal Women. It's worth reading about the legend of Kópakonan the Seal Woman here.
Mikladalur village is in the absolute middle of nowhere. The Seal Women statue feels both extremely out of place, yet also exactly where she should be. Admiring her on the eerie, misty, windy day we visited, it feels like you’re literally standing at the end of the world. Crazy to think of the treacherous conditions fisherman & locals used to endure to access this village.
New construction in Mikladalur. We'll take that view!
Gorgeous Seal Woman statue . . .
No Troll Sightings in Trøllanes
We then carried on another 15 minutes down the road to Trøllanes, the northernmost village on Kalsoy island. At latest count, Trøllanes had a population of 23! Trøllanes is said to have gotten its name from the time the trolls came to the village to dance on the Twelth Night of Christmas. We looked high & low, but didn’t see any trolls :)
The weather & visibility wasn’t the best so we weren’t able to make the full hike to Kallur lighthouse (yet another reason to come back to Faroe!), but we hiked a chunk of the path and enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. The views every which way really were spectacular. Yet again, Faroe does not disappoint on that front!
Kiosk at the End of the World
We lucked out & there was a little cafe in Trøllanes (very generous use of the word “cafe”; it was really a little shipping container sized all-purpose shop, with everything from coffee, to postcards, to ice cream, to souvenirs.) We had to ring a bell for service & a woman showed up a few minutes later from her home to help us. Thankfully the kiosk had instant ramen packets, which made for a warming lunch on a super cold, windy, misty day! We guzzled it down, hopped back in the car and made the 30-min drive back to (Syðradalur) to catch the car ferry back to Klaksvik.
Return Ferry Flop
We cut it (again) super tight for the return car ferry. Driving along, we had already accepted that we were highly likely to miss our desired 3:10pm ferry. Sure enough, we pulled up and there were already 20+ cars in the queue. That’s an important number because the ferry only accommodates 17 cars! Instead of all four of us waiting in the car for another 2 hrs until the next return ferry, Doug brightly suggested that me & the girls catch the current ferry and that he’d stay back and meet us in town after the next ferry. We happily obliged (I couldn’t counter offer Doug because I can’t drive stick!) and the three of us literally sprinted onto the ferry as they closed the gate immediately behind us. Thanks, Doogie!
Us Bohagirls spent the next 1.5 hrs in the cafe that we had started out in earlier that morning. We enjoyed coffee, tea & a decadently delicious slice of chocolate banana cake (we saved a bite for Daddy!). I had to make some phone calls to Schwab and Aetna to sort out a few tricky things, which left me admittedly very irritated and impatient. I consciously worked hard to compartmentalize those yucky feelings & return to the peaceful Faroe Islands vibe that I’d been so thoroughly enjoying up to that point :) Doug returned shortly thereafter and we set out. After a quick pit-stop at a grocery store we were off to our final nights’ lodging, a HomeAway property near Strendur on the island of Eysturoy.
Another Cozy Faroe Spot
The property owners welcomed us kindly, gave us a tour of the place, and then invited us upstairs to their home to meet their three kids (ages 6, 8 and 10). Both of the parents were locals, born & raised in Faroe Islands (albeit different parts) which we found fascinating. Hard not to wonder what it would be like to grow up in a such a small, remote community, where inevitably everyone knows each other’s business. And where there is so little industry or diversity or opportunity. Basically the opposite of our NYC reference point :) About 15 mins later there was a knock on our door and the 6-year old from upstairs had sweetly come back with popsicles for P&S.
There was quite an extensive DVD collection at our pad, so the girls zoned out to some Disney Original movie called “Rock Camp” (staring the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato!) and were entranced. Doug cooked up some yummy salad & pasta to round out a fantastic Faroe day.
We’ve been hitting the sac SUPER late in Faroe. Combination of residual jet lag and the fact that it doesn’t get dark until after 11pm. It was after 10pm and instead of putting the girls to bed (the logical choice), I opted to video call my parents (Grammy & Gramps). Paige was engrossed in a book and Doug was fiddling away with Instagram (join our channel @theglobalsubway) in a far corner of the room. Sadie & I had a lovely video chat with Grammy & Gramps, telling them all about our experiences in Faroe and how much we’ve enjoyed ourselves. Sadie couldn’t stop talking about how cold & windy it is here in Summer, and how the 6-year girl who lives upstairs has also lost her two bottom teeth :)
Almost 11:15pm and I had to end our video call & say goodnight to Grammy & Gramps. Within minutes the girls were tucked in & sound asleep. Doug & I burned the midnight oil on blog stuff and then zonked out.
Comments