A day at the Faroe Islands

This morning we arrived at the Faroe Islands. I am now aboard Brennholm. To clarify how that happened since I didn't have time to explain yesterday - The small orange boat (don't know the technical name for it) was lowered for me to get on from the second deck and we took the boat to the opposite side of Brennholm where there was a built-in ladder in the side of the boat for me to hold on and climb up. My bag was pulled up with a rope. I felt like a combination of James Bond and Bear Grylls! On Brennholm there are fewer cabins, so now I am sharing a cabin with the other American girl (Sarah) who shares my office with me at the IMR.

So back to the Faroes - after lunch I explored the world's smallest capital, Torshavn, with Ørjan, Jostein and Sara. We were given a good tip for a day trip and jumped at it, even though it was a little pricey - but how often does one go to the Faroes?? We took a bus about 40 minutes northwest to Vestmannen and took a scenic tour of the coast on a small boat. I saw my first puffin!! And then another, and another! They fly very fast though, so I did not manage to get very good pictures, and they are smaller than I thought they were! We also saw a small harbor dolphin.

Torshavn is a cute little city, and you'd never know it was actually a capital! I believe there are about 45000 people, and the space of the town felt about the same size (or smaller than) Tromsø. What a fun cruise this has been!!


[Waiting patiently while his owner is busy building this viking boat]

[Creative use of whale bones]

[Old harpoons]

[The Faroe Islands' government building]


[23 sheep were placed back here because the farmers believe the grass here makes them taste better - I guess the grass really is greener on the other side.]

[PUFFINS!]
Location: Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

Comments

  1. DiazFamilyJuly 19, 2012 at 3:58 PM

    Looks like Sheila's ghost is keeping an eye out for you! What a cute dog and beautiful scenery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JustineJuly 25, 2012 at 1:52 PM

      I wanted to take the dog with me. About half the size of Ozzie and a real sweety!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pancho is 6 months and I'm finally published!

Image
Work is going fine. My boss has given me some lab activities to keep me interested in my work, so I'm testing antibodies. The positive control turned out as expected, but it is such a pretty staining that I have to share the picture. This is an embryo of a starlet sea anemone ( Nematostella sp.) approximately 30 hours old. The green is actin (a protein in cell walls), the blue is nuclei, and the red/pink is clusters of DNA. There are some pretty examples of cell division in this embryo! Also, as of a couple weeks ago I'm officially a published scientist! ....well, the paper has been accepted for publication, so it will likely not be in the journal before next year. The journal is called ICES Journal of Marine Science. Furthermore, this weekend the mountains got a nice thick layer of snow, so I took Pancho up for his first time in a proper bit  of snow (not counting the icy leftovers that were on Jutenheimen this summer). He's now 6 months old and weighs bout 34
Read more

This week on M/S Brennholm

Image
[There's something wrong with the synchrony of the acoustics] My job aboard Brennholm is to work on the acoustic part of my thesis. So I am practicing some sonar and echo sounder scrutinozing. I am also relating the mackerel movement to the currents, but this will be hard since mackerel are so hard to see at all on any of the acoustic equipment since they lack a swim bladder. It is nice to just have a 7:30 to 10 work day though and I have my supervisor right next to me for help. Everyone on the cruise has gained weight, and despite doing some exercise almost everyday I am no exception. We are feed too well on the boats and you don't move around too much. (I was even convinced to try salted and dried whale meat from the Faroes. I stayed far away from the blubber!!) At least I have been able to run 13.5 km the past couple of days with the calm seas. There aren't many options for exercise on this ship compared to G.O. Sars. [The "gym" in the bow of th
Read more

Smalahove

Image
Many Norwegian traditions are distinctly regional. Even recipes are variable by region to go along with dialects that can be different by town separated by just 50 kilometers. This tradition, that both Marius and I were new to trying, was from a town just about an hour and a half east of Bergen called Voss....smalahove, or half of a sheep's head that is cooked in a broth for several hours. Smalahove comes from two Norwegian words: smale = sheep, and hove = head. It is served before Christmas with potatoes, mashed rutabaga, and red cabbage. Many of my friends were telling me that the cheek is supposed to be the best part, and others were saying that they wouldn't dare eat it. So I can now say that I have done something that many other Norwegians haven't dared try. I actually really enjoyed it! It had a texture like corned beef and had a very nice flavor. Marius went as far as to try the tongue, and thought that eating the eye was a normal thing, so tried that as well...bu
Read more