The Faroe IslandsMap
July If you open an online map and keep zooming in on the area between Iceland, Norway and Great Britain for a very long time, the Faroe Islands will eventually appear on the screen. ![]() An utterly magical place. ![]() The Faroes bear some resemblance to Greenland, both because of the multicolored roofs on the houses and because they formally belong to Denmark. And also because the Faroes are not a member of the European Union—they aren’t prepared to comply with EU fishing quotas. ![]() It seems as though it’s always cool and rainy here. ![]() Because the rain never ceases, all the mountains are covered with waterfalls. ![]() Faroes sheep graze in the austere Nordic grass fields. ![]() And so every supermarket has a wool yarn department. ![]() The highways have special metal grates which hold back grazing animals, who are unable to cross over them, but allow cars to drive through unimpeded. (Iceland has the same. Incidentally, something similar is also described in Ilf and Petrov’s humorous road trip novel Little Golden America, written in 1936.) ![]() Many of the houses have grass roofs. ![]() There isn’t a single tree to be found here. Which makes the “Rest Area” sign with its fir tree look particularly odd. ![]() Falling rocks. ![]() While inside the tunnel (top), passing other cars is prohibited (bottom). Under these two signs is a third indicating the distance range within which they apply. ![]() A pedestrian zone. ![]() The bus stops on the highway resemble newspaper kiosks. ![]() The lampposts are made of lightweight steel truss, like in Sweden. ![]() The shape of residential mailboxes resembles that of old Soviet school satchels. ![]() A blue post box for mailing letters (like in Denmark). ![]() Every car has a clock dial with one hand on its windshield (to mark the time the car was parked, same as in Italy). ![]() A license plate. ![]() There are two types of garbage cans here. The first, a mesh cage with a bag inside, is similar to the municipal trash cans in Bologna. ![]() The second and more common type is a wooden box with a metal lid. ![]() All the power outlets in the country are equipped with on/off switches. One might think at first that these are light switches. But no, they’re actually power outlet switches. ![]() You can pay for anything and everything with a card. The cashier never touches the card—the customer must swipe it himself and then enter his PIN. ![]() In the Faroes, a proper tombstone must be decorated with a plaster dove, which symbolizes mourning. ![]() TórshavnMapThe capital. ![]() A trash can on the highway. ![]() A regular trash can. ![]() A trash can with a dog poop bag dispenser on top. ![]() A pedestrian crossing. ![]() Street name signs are mounted on complex pipes. ![]() Bins with sand are placed along the roads in case of ice (the type of bin is identical to the one in Vilnius). ![]() The posts supporting pedestrian crossing signs are additionally marked with blue and white reflective sticks. ![]() The “Children” sign, meanwhile, has a red and white post. It resembles the traffic sign posts in Faro. ![]() Half the traffic lights which exist in the country fit into this one photo. ![]() A fire hydrant. ![]() A bus schedule. ![]() A bus shelter. ![]() The buses in the capital are all electric and have a hump (they bring Cuban buses to mind). ![]() A homeless man in the city. ![]() A manhole cover. ![]() A suburb. ![]() Although Tórshavn is smaller than Reykjavik and none of the major hotel chains are represented here, the city is much more pleasant and cozy and the food is tastier. ![]() TjørnuvíkMapHay drying in progress. ![]() Life on the outskirts. ![]() A shop owner steps outside for a cigarette. ![]() SkopunMapMost of the Faroe Islands are connected to one another with bridges or underground tunnels. To get here, however, one must take a ferry. This is where the largest post box in the world is located. I wrote a bunch of postcards on the ferry specifically for the occasion. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that this post box has no slot for mail. At all. I went all the way around to check—it’s just a dummy monument commemorating the Faroes post box. And the old one at that—the postal service has since undergone a rebranding. ![]() The world is reminded of the Faroes’ existence once a year—when local residents spot a pod of whales, chase them into the bay and slaughter them. Environmentalists scream bloody murder, activists receive a fresh, long-lasting boost of energy, bloggers share links to photos of the whales for an entire week. Then everyone forgets, and the Faroes go on with their life. ![]() They will yet outlast us all. ![]() |
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july 2012
Faroe Islands
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