Day 1 - Vacation Cheat Code

Today was a lazy morning, catching up on the sleep we didn't get over the last (two) day(s), and sipping coffee while watching boats tool around in the harbor. Got some quite good bread at the grocerys store, and some massive capers that are fantastic to eat whole. We hadn't made any plans for the day, but Bill had found 2 distilleries. One, about 45 minutes away, had a tour available in the early afternoon, so we made that the plan. In our younger travel days of trying to do as much as possibly every day, we would also have booked a boat tour, but this is going to be a slower, less structured trip. 

Before heading out, we hit the Navia almost next door to our apartment. This Faroes based knitwear and yarn brand has multiple locations and is sold in several stores. The yarn selection includes Faroes wools, blends of Faroes, Shetland, and Australian wools, alpaca, and a few other fibers. I tried on a few pairs of pants, made friends with another tourist who wanted to know a bunch about the pants without having to try them on, and looked at the wool options. The sales rack was largely pastels I know better than to think I'll use, so I passed. 

We also stopped by EINSTAKT, a local brand whose designer started in Copenhagen before returning here. Most of the knitwear, including the wonderful sculpted mohair sweater I got, are hand made on the Faroe Islands. 

 After that, we headed out to the distillery, with a brief stop to enjoy the view over Kvivik: 

We got to Vestmanna a bit early, so we hit a local gift shop and visited this handsomely bearded statue of a local hero credited with bringing telephones and banks to the area:

Standbeeld Ólavur á Heygum

He was also passionate about hydroelectric power, but couldn't get the backing for it during his lifetime. 

The distillery tour was just us and one other couple - the ones I met at Navia that morning. They own a small winery in Argentina and are getting into distilling. She's a retired teacher who was working in DC, really not a bad retirement plan. The tour was excellent, starting with some history and pours of 4 spirits. At the other woman's suggestion, they brought out bottles of botanicals used in the spirits so we could smell them while tasting. The offerings included a vodka with a super interesting mouth feel (I'm assuming Bill is writing all about the water source) and one that uses an "ocean truffle" seaweed, which I immediately wanted to mix with the brine from this morning's capers. Angelia grows wild here and they add it to most of thier products - roots and stems. The roots are used pretty commonly in gins, but I am not familiar with using the stems. Apparently the flowers are edible and prior to candy being redily available, children on the islands would pick them, dip them in sugar, and eat them. We then took a turn through the warehouse housing the stills. The vodka and botanical based spirits are all from a combined still with a short but reasonably efficient column. The whiskeys are heavily inspired by Scotch, including the double distillation through separate stills. 

These are Brynhild and Gudron, named after two women in a Faroese ballad from around 1200 who fought for the favor of a dragon slayer. Back in the tasting room, we also sampled a couple of the still in development whiskeys - these are going to be awesome when they are eventually released, and picked up a small bottle of a barrel aged akvavit to help write these blog posts in the evenings. 

I almost forgot to mention the furniture. The tables in the tasting room are made by an American artist who immigrated to the islands and opened a studio in an abandoned NATO base. We aren't going to make it there - hours are by appointment only and we are not exactly looking to acquire furniture. But I'll be keeping an eye out for other Joel Cole work as we travel around. Nice balance of natural materials, industrial edge, function and form. 

After the distillery, we headed into Kvivik to get a look at the coastline up close. There was a small archeological site and a knitting shop called Kvivknit (how could we not stop with that name). In addition to traditional knits that Bill found far more comfortable that our prior stops, the owner also hand dyes Faroes yarns and sells a selection of undyed yarn from the local sheep. The shop had a ton of wonderful things, but we got out with just a sweater and two skeins of yarn, somehow. 

Next up was the tallest waterfall on the island, along with some sheep gawking. The car rental staff had warned us that sheep will just wander into the street. They will run from people, but show no fear of cars. Bill followed me up a muddy slope to get a bit closer to the falls. What fun! 

After that, we headed back to the apartment to drop off our purchases before hitting a local steakhouse for dinner. This is one of the closest restaurants, but wasn't on our radar as the islands aren't exactly known for cattle. The distillery tour guide had recommended we go there to try cocktails (not much of a cocktail scene here...yet) and suggested we get appetizers instead of mains. Solid recommendation - lots of local fish and a charcuterie board that included air dried Faroes lamb. 

 We ended the day with another quick walk to the lighthouse, which we had entirely to ourselves, and a stroll through the section of town where parliament and several government buildings sit. Bill also noted that visiting distilleries and wineries was like a cheat code for vacations as it's a thing we always enjoy, even when we don't end up loving the products. 

 Ending the day typing this up with a glass of Akvavit while looking over the harbor - I could get used to this.

The Truffle Epiphany (Day 1)

The day started with sleeping in, which was well deserved after the travel marathon yesterday. The first order of business was working out how to make coffee. The apartment came with a French press, blade grinder, and a water kettle. Yesterday we stopped by a grocery store and bought some beans. It's been awhile since I've made a French press, and oddly enough, I've never done it with a blade grinder. While I was digging around in the kitchen looking for something to scoop the beans with I also found a kitchen scale. Hot dog, I'm in business now. After weighing the beans and the water I was able to produce a passable pot of coffee to start our day. We paired that with some rye bread, butter, and avocados that we also bought at the grocery store. Additionally, I opened a jar of the largest caper berries I'd ever seen... which were sublime. We washed that down with a second pot of coffee and made a plan for the day. 

Dawn booked us a distillery tour at 1:00 in Vestmanna which I'm super excited about.  The distillery is a 45 minute drive away. That gives us enough time to take a quick stroll around Torshavn and visit some clothing shops before we hit the road. 

The Faer Isles Distillery was a bit of a gamble. I learned about this distiller a few weeks before the trip, and was very enthusiastic about the fact that the Faroe Islands made their own aquavit.  Dawn's research said that they only do tours if enough people book a tour for a given day. When we got there we learned that they only open the distillery to the public if they our doing tours. Fortunately four people was enough for them to do a tour. I grew even more excited when they said the tour was going to be at least 75 minutes long. I've done a lot of distillery tours and a motivated tour guide can usually explain the process and give you a tasting in less than 45 minutes. This tour was unique being that they started with the tasting and talking us through the genesis of each of their four base spirits and what made them special. 

They had two aquavits, a gin, and a vodka. Every single spirit was exceptional. Unsurprisingly, one of their hallmarks is using botanicals from the Faroe Islands in their spirits. Specifically, all of their spirits include some kind of seaweed. Both the gin and the aquavit were excellent on their own, and I suspect would be great mixed into cocktails. I'm not usually impressed by a vodka... and the tour guide started out saying that neither were they. Initially, they weren't interested in making a vodka. In fact, they have intentionally avoided it even that that's the obvious thing to make when starting a distillery, because they couldn't figure out why anyone would need yet another vodka. 

 However, that changed when a new under sea tunnel was being drilled between Streymoy and Sandoy. In the process of building the tunnel, the excavation team encountered an undersea reservoir of fresh water. They actually contacted the distillery and asked them if there was anything interesting they could do with it... and they decided making vodka with crazy sub-ocean water that happen to have crazy high minerality might be an argument for a vodka. The spirit truly celebrates the unique water supply. It has a definite mouth feel, a lot of salinity, and significant minerality. In fact, they apparently had to dilute the spirit down with normal water to qualify as a vodka because their initially offering was too distinctive to be categorized as a vodka. 

The last of their four base spirits was the Ocean Truffle Aquavit. When Dawn and I independently looked at their website, we both commented on how unfortunate a thing adding truffles to an aquavit was. What we didn't appreciate, until we took the tour, was that Ocean Truffle is actually a kind of seaweed. This is a umami forward aquavit that we both really dug. The plan is to buy a couple of bottles as we leave the islands at the airport. What a unique spirit that is truly of the place that it is distilled. 

The tour guide also told us that the vision of the distillery was actually whiskey, but that would take time. The founders started the distillery after learning about the factors that made Scotland such a good place to age whiskey: stable temperature, humidity, and salinity. It turns out that the Faroe Island has all of those things as well.  Some may argue that they perhaps have and even better environment, but until recently, it was lacking a legal way to distill spirits. That changed a few years ago, and now they are trying to prove that the Faroes can age an amazing whiskey. 

We got to try a sample of a two year old whiskey, and I'm a believer. It tasted more integrated and more mature than many 3-5 year old spirits I've tasted. I can't wait to see what this island is able to produce over the next ten years. I plan to follow their progress with interest. 

After spending 2-3 hours at the distillery talking to the staff and having a great time we decided to explore more of Streymoy. We started by stopping at the town of Kvivik. We spied this town on our way to Vesmanna because there is a scenic overlook above the town. We drove down into the town and took some photos. We were about to leave, but Dawn discovered that the town also had a knitwear and yarn shop, so we hopped out of the car and decided to find it. A two minute walk later and we were there.

This was a cute little shop run by a woman who was proud that all of their products were hand-knitted by women in the Faroes. She also died her own yarn and apologized for not spinning it herself. It was a truly charming shop. I was so impressed with their sweaters that I decided to buy one. Even to my uneducated eye, their hand-knit mens sweaters were obviously better than what we had seen earlier in the day in Torshavn. 

After Kvikik, we decided to go north and drive up to the Fossa waterfall. I can't understate how beautiful the island is and how distracting the scenery can be from the act of driving. As we got closer to the waterfall this was compounded by the road becoming a single lane road and having to negotiate two-way traffic by pulling off the road to allow on coming traffic to pass. We had the waterfall to ourselves with only some sheep looking on. We scaled the hill side as much as we dared. On the way down I made a poor choice in foot placement and submerged the better part of my left shoe in some kind of muddy (I hope) sludge. 

Once back in Torshavn, we struck out for dinner. Our distillery tour guide told us that The Tarv in Torshavn was using their Ocean Truffle Aquavit to make a martini, and they were doing some of the best cocktails in the islands. He warned us off the expensive mains and told us that their seafood starters were what we wanted. The Tarv was a short walk from our apartment and we had no trouble getting a table. The seafood starters were indeed delicious. We also got their chartuterie plate which included a Faroese speciality, wind dried lamb. Dawn really enjoyed this shaved meet. I didn't know you could dial the gaminess of lamb up to 11... or maybe even 12. I understand why she was enjoying it, but I am certain that paticular speciality is not for me.

Day 0 - What Day Is It?

We got up bright and early on Sunday to head to the Dupont Circle farmer's market for pastries, and by the end of dinner, it was past 9PM on Monday. 

Our First View of the Faroe Islands

We're in the Faroe Islands, finally taking the trip we were supposed to do in 2020, but something came up. 

We got here the shorter way, via Iceland, but it was still a long day. I did get a bit of a nap on the first flight, which is likely the only reason I was even up for dinner. Here are some photos from the first bit of driving:

 For this first bit, we're staying in Torshavn, the capitol city, with an apartment overlooking the harbor. Once we figured out check in, found the correct parking, pulled in our luggage, and stopped in a local cafe for a small snack, it was close to the end of the day for most of the retail. Bill scanned the recommendations listed in the apartment's extensive directory and found a restaurant for dinner. We then walked around a bit to get oriented and hit a grocery store. And then I asked how far a walk it was to the lighthouse we could see. 

 The lighthouse turned out to be reasonably close and walkable. It's part of an old fort that has been around for at least 400 years, with the newest armaments dating back to WWII. In addition to being fun to walk around, it also provided a great view back into the Torshavn harbor. 

 Next up: Dinner at Áarstova. I got salmon tartar with crisp toasted nuts, tons of herbs, and sesame oil: Roasted lamb shoulder with a crisp skin and a wonderful sauce: A shared cheese course: And a lovely lemon mouse.  Bill's rhubarb dessert was one of the best rhubarb dishes I have ever had. I paired my dessert with an 8 year old Kilchoman - when we visited, the distillery hadn't been open long enough to have anything legally considered Scotch. After dinner, the waiter took us on a tour of the house, including the room they serve visiting VIPs in, and the wine attic (killer staircase). He also showed us that the street just outside had a river underneath when the house was built. 

 All in all, a great start to the trip. Can recommend: lounge access at Dulles - far more civilized than any other way to wait for a flight. Cannot recommend: wandering between parking lots while dragging luggage to discover you walked up a completely unnecessary hill.

Away We go (Day 0)

We were fortunate enough to be able to upgrade our flights to the Faroe Islands as "Saga class" on Iceland Airlines. This seems to be the equivalent of first/business class. The vacation is off to a fortuitous upon checking at Dulles  in that we learn Sage class gets us access to the Air France lounge while wait for our first flight. The lounge is sleepy when we enter and we have no trouble snagging some nice lounge chairs, then the next order of business is checking out the food and drink offerings. The hands-down favorite is a multi-bean and olive salad. The charcuterie is also welcomed, and being Air France's lounge, the wines are all French. Not a bad way to start a vacation. 

The flight between Dulles and Reykjavik is about five and half hours. Our seats our comfortable, but don't really recline. I manage to get a small catnap in, but continue to struggle to sleep on planes. 

When we arrive in Reykjavik we our offered a small surprise. Our plane is parked in the center of the tarmac and not connected to the main terminal. Thus, we get to deplane down the stairs and walk over to a transport vehicle for a ride to the terminal. Also, it's in the 30's outside. Surprise! 

Our layover in Reykjavik is around 4 hours. On this side of the flight we get access to the Saga Lounge to while away our time. There are multiple automated coffee stations located around the lounge which aligns with my priority of getting a hot cup of coffee. 

It's now six in the morning and they have a breakfast buffet on offer. After breakfast is taken care of, we turn our attention to the selection of Icelandic spirits the lounge has to offer. Not trying the gins with locally harvested botanicals or their brennivin seems rude, so we oblige the lounge and support the local producers. 

After an hour and a half flight on a dual turbo prop plane we land in the Faroe Islands.  First impressions, the airport is so much larger than the Lofoten airport. That's probably not surprising since this single airport services an entire country and the Lofoten airport serviced a couple of islands. Second impression, this next part is going to be tricky. I need to drive about 40 minutes to Torshavn. I need to learn the nuances of Faroese driving real time, and I have slept maybe 2 hours in the last day.  Also I need to not get distracted by the amazing scenery and focus on the driving. It is a tall order. 

On this initial drive I'm a bit fuzzy on the speed limit when you're not in a town. They don't bother to post speed limits when they aren't restricted. We eventually make it to the apartment we're renting for the week. We have some initial obstacles to accessing the apartment that Dawn irons out... and the place is as advertised. Hurrah. 

We are exhausted. First order of business is getting down some food so she doesn't have to go homicidal. After we stop by a cafe and get a sandwich and some coffee, we walk around the town... and it is CHARMING. 

Based on the recommendation for local restaurants included with the place we're renting we make reservations for dinner at a place called Aarstova.  Dinner is amazing. I approve of a wine pairing that includes a cocktail, wine for each course, and a nightcap. Why aren't more restaurants using this protocol? It just seems civilized. 

Every course is well considered and very tasty. At the end of dinner we get a tour of the entire building. There are so many little private dining rooms hidden in the house that has been here for hundreds of years! There is a dining room for VIPS where the table is a repurposed boat that is more than 100 years old. There is another dining room that used to be a bed room. Basically, every time you think you've seen it all, there is another door off to the side, with a set of even more treacherous stairs leading to another private dining room. How many levels does this building have!?! 

Back at the apartment we are well feed and we are tired.  Our first day in the Faroes promises a very good vacation.

One Last Day

As mentioned before, I made some last minute changes to my accommodations. I had made no plans for most of the day today since I didn’t know how much time I’d lose to hotel/train shenanigans that are now irrelevant. This turns out to be a good thing, since the morning and early afternoon are nice (but hot) weather, and there is an 80% of storms from 3-6.

I research the Mithraeum mentioned yesterday, and while it was free 25 years ago when that guy went, it’s now only accessible as part of a private tour – the version I can find is north of 200 euros. Instead, I head to Basilica di San Clemente where I can walk through at my own pace for 10 euros. And it’s cool in every sense of the word. The temperature is several degrees lower. No pictures again, all my favorite things are in no photo zones.

The alter is blocked off by a gate as people couldn’t stop touching it. The guidebook says Mithraism competed with Christianity, which is interesting phrasing. This implies a sporting event where both teams played by the same rules and one came out ahead. In reality, Christianity overtook those in power, and it became illegal to play for the other team. So, same play book we still see today.

Next up, I take myself on a walking tour to a few other sites, including the truth mouth from Roman Holiday.

The Pantheon is also open today, so that’s another quick stop.

I also find a street artist who paints over cardboard, leaving parts of the original packaging still visible, and find a piece I quite like, though it’s slightly larger than practical. We’ll see if it survives the flight back.

After a little more shopping, I stop for lunch at a random place that does a fantastic carpaccio and has a waiter who flirts with every lady.

I wander around a bit more, but eventually head back to the hotel ahead of the rain. I consider fitting in one more museum, but rather than feeling rushed, I take some time to repack my luggage, and take a few cold drinks up to the rooftop terrace to watch the storm roll in and catch up on writing this blog. It never actually rains, though the temperature plummets. I grab some fast food (https://www.lapiadineria.com/) in the form of a salmon wrap and a nutella wrap for dinner and return to the rooftop for a quiet evening.

And then it’s time for the last item on the itinerary, a night tour of the Colosseum. The starting point of the tour is a little hard to find, but we all manage to make it eventually. We start by walking around a portion of the forum while getting a history lesson, first about everything the modern world has stolen from ancient Rome, but also how everything in Rome was stolen from the cultures they conquered. It’s a pretty cool tour.

At last, we arrive for the 10:30 entry into the Colosseum. We are the last group to go through.

A great tour of the underground area, we get to see where and how props, people, and animals were raised to the stage before heading up to the arena proper. A great way to end the trip, and I'm off to get a few hours of sleep before heading to the airport.