Ruins of Magnus Cathedral, built around 1300, in the village of Kirkjubøur, Faroe Islands, March 19, 2015. // Credit: David J. Eicher
On Friday, March 20, our group viewed what we could of the total solar eclipse from a site close to Tórshavn, Faroe Islands. The day before, and the two days following, however, we had a variety of adventures in and around Tórshavn, the largest city in the islands, and in Klaksvik, the second largest city.
These included wandering around looking at the beautiful and historic buildings of this amazing island chain. Much of the history involves stories of Vikings, but other settlers preceded the Vikings and some structures stand that are more than seven or eight centuries old. Some of our group went horseback riding, some went kayaking, and others explored caves, while some even did a bit of cliff diving. The menu here is of course heavily slanted toward fish and related seafood, and it is delicious. (I must say, however, that the reviews of the whale blubber, which is served at various meals, are mixed.)
On one day, we took a 6-mile (10 kilometers) hike from Tórshavn to Kirkjubøur, the most important historical site in the Faroes, which holds the ruins of Magnus Cathedral, from about 1300. Church and farmhouse buildings date even earlier, and here we rested and recovered after the long hike over the mountains, during which we were thoroughly drenched with cold rain. It was great exercise, mind you, but after three hours felt like something of a forced march.
These are beautiful islands. If you ever have the chance to visit the Faroes, I encourage you to do it.
The weekend following the eclipse, we are continuing to enjoy the island paradise before heading back to Iceland, New York, and points beyond on Monday.
It has been a glorious time with some old friends and a large number of new ones.
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