FAROE FRIDAY: MONOCLE DISAPPOINTS, JENNY DELIGHTS

I was excited to learn that British culture magazine Monocle was doing a feature on the Faroe Islands. The magazine doesn't post their stories online, so I actually had to leave my house and plunk down the $10 to buy the thing. I took it home and read it and... well... I didn't like it all that much.

It's not that the article was bad, but there just wasn't any flavor to it. After reading it, I didn't feel transported to the place. Instead, I felt like I had read a marketing company's analysis of the opportunities and problems in the Faroes. To be fair, the story was about how the country intends to market itself to the rest of the world. But still, it was an international dispatch, give it a little more color. The photos were mostly of people, but you really didn't get to meet any of those people.

If you're looking for a great piece of travel journalism on the Faroe Islands, might I direct you to a fantastic piece that appeared in the New York Times last year. It sums up everything I find beguiling and wonderful about the Faroes. It's an article I can point to when I'm not articulate enough to answer the question, "so why are you so obsessed with the Faroe Islands?"

And if you're looking for good, first person, accounts of everyday life in the Faroes, you're in luck: Jenny is back!

Last year, I wrote about Jennifer Henke. She's an American, but spends a fair amount of time on the Faroe Islands. She shares her observations about life in the small village where she stays and posts quite a few pictures as well. (All photos in this post are lovingly stolen from her site... she said it was OK.) She's been back in the states for several months, but she landed in the Faroes again a few weeks ago.

Jenny has a knack for catching the small details that bring the Faroes to life, from choior practice at the church... (love the stained glass there)

To life on the waterfront...And even little scenes from the local grocery store...She even took some nifty photos from the plane during her arrival this time... (that's Torshavn down there)It's a fascinating read, and there are lots of great pictures to be had. So if you wish you could spend some of this beautiful spring in the Faroes (I know I do), a stop at Jenny's Year Abroad is the next best thing.

Enjoy.