Weather: sunny and cloudy, nice
Walked: 8km in the fjells
On Saturday we went on a hike to the most important historical site on the Faroe Islands. We started from the University and walked a couple of kilometers to get to the path to Kirkjubøur. The hike started off easy, some of the uphill parts were a bit heavy, but altogether not that much of an effort. After the uphill the most of the path was on a plain. The most difficult (and scary) part was going downhill. There were some very slippery slopes there, I tell ya!
Down there, Tórshavn
The island of Hestur, view from the fjell.
Headed down the slopes,
towards Kirkjubøur.
When we arrived at Kirkjubøur we first had our sandwiches for lunch and then got a guided tour of the premises. The lady that owns the place has inherited this piece of land and property from her forefathers. In the old days there were two kinds of farmers: the kings farmers, that owned the land and their premises (such as Kirkjubøur), and then there were the regular farmers, who rented the land from the state.
The lady of Kirkjubøur knows her blood line to the 16th century and many important political personae have been born in Kirkjubøur. She didn't say it out loud, but I'm guessing that in some sense, she must have some royal blood in her veins.
King Sverre, a former inhabitant at Kirkjubøur.
Kirkjubøur has the oldest, still in use and inhabited wooden house of the Faroe Islands, today the house is approximately 1000 years old. I have now sat by the fire place and walked on the wooden floors that kings and bishops have treaded! The lady of the house gathers her family to celebrate - and when Christmastime comes, comes the whole family in a pack of fifty people.
Kirkjubøur also has the oldest church (St. Olav's church from the 12th century) in the Faroe Islands, although the inside of the church has been recently renovated. There is also a charming ruin of the Magnus Cathedral (13th century, UNESCO World Heritage site). After the hike and tour, we took the bus home.
St. Olav's church
In the evening we went bar hopping in Tórshavn. We checked out a bar called Cleopatra (a mid priced heavy rock bar) and the famous Café Natur (allegedly the centre of Tórshavn's night life), where they had a loud troubadour. I was getting tired and was a bit disappointed that the local people started to wander in as soon as I was ready to say good night! And this was around 02 o'clock! Oh well, a fabulous day when all comes around! (I'm not complaining:)
Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra
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