FAROE FRIDAY: HANGIN' AT THE MALL

As I'm sure you all know, Summer is a difficlut time or news. Most people are on vacation, and there just isn't much going on.

This was confirmed when I checked the Faroe Island's biggest news website and found the following headline: "Altjóða mótasýning í SMS í dag." What does that mean? I have no idea. But I do know that SMS is the name of the only mall in the Faroe Islands, and the story was accompanied by this picture with the three women wearing somewhat provocative black clothing.

Using these small shards of information, I can safely assume the mall has been taken over by an alien race of Amazon dominatrix women. (Or, more likely, there was a fashion show at the mall.) And seeing as this was the most prominent story on Portal.fo, I'm also going to assume something else: there's absolutely nothing going on in the Faroe Islands.

So what to talk about? Well, how about that mall?

There's not all that much information out there about the mall, but I managed to find the SMS Centre's website. From that site I learned that the Faroe Island's only mall has a Burger King, a Body Shop, and about 32 stores I've never heard of like Bindibúðin , Tøjeksperten and let's not forget Klokkan , which I'm assuming is a clock store.

I also discovered that the mall publishes its own magazine called "Mess." It's an online publication (and, I'm assuming, a glossy magazine) that has ads from the mall's stores. This month's cover story is about champion swimmer Pal Joensen. "Mess" also has movie and music reviews and a feature story on... pornography?

Photos of the mall are also somewhat difficult to come by. The one above was posted by a man known only as TomFoolery. He describes the SMS Centre as a dreary place. Tom and a tour guide a read both noted the mall is sometimes called the "SOS Centre."

But a wise Faroese friend of mine offered a different opinion. He said the SMS Centre was the place in the Faroes "where latitude meets longitude." Everyone knows where it is. Everyone has been there. Every prestige shop wants a spot there (I imagine right next to the Burger King).

So what's the verdict? I don't really know. Perhaps I will find out myself one day. This week's Faroe photo is of the capital city of Torshavn, where the SMS Centre is located.

When you figure Torshavn is by far the biggest town on the Faroes, it's surprisingly hard to find many pictures of it. Apart from a few shots of the harbor and the parliament house, you're not going to find all that much out there. Perhaps, with all the breathtaking countryside out there, people don't think to take many pictures of the towns.

Oh well.