FAROE FRIDAY: LONG SUMMER DAYS

Winter is gone in the Faroes, and now residents are enjoying the long days of summer. The really long days of summer. According to Jenny's Year Abroad, the sun will set on the Faroes at 10:55 tonight and rise again at 3:55. Twilight starts at 1:30 AM. Indeed the photo you see above was taken by Jenny at midnight a few days ago.

From what I gather, this is the time of year where the Faroese enjoy the outdoors. Hiking is popular and some brave souls even try swimming in the cold water of the fjords. It's good that there are a lot of good outdoors things to do in the Faroes, because I just checked the movie listings for the only theaters on the islands, and it's all crap like "Made of Honor." I'd rather participate in a death march than see that film.

Sorry, I lost my train of thought there for a moment. So where was I? Oh yes, the great outdoors. Folks on the Faroes have more time to get outside because their calendar is clogged with holidays between late April and July. Most are religious holidays of one kind or another, but Flag Day (April 25) and Constitution Day (June 5) are the good old fashioned patriotic kind.

This week's Faroe photos (in addition to Jenny's) come from this guy's Flickr Photostream. I don't know anything about him, but he's an excellent photographer and you should all study his work and shower him with praise and money.

The photo above is from a village called Gjógv. Gjógv means "ravine" in Faroese and the village is centered around a natural harbor in (you guessed it) a ravine. Boats have to sail into the ravine and then be dragged up a steep hill by hand. There are some great pictures of the harbor here.

This second photo is of the village of Klaksvik at night. It doesn't get that dark this time of year, but it's still a nice looking photo.

That's all for now. More next week.