Day 10 It’s Pronounced Teatime

This morning, we didn't set an alarm, but still got up early and went to the hiking trail just above town. The road was of questionable repair, so we parked about a km before the trailhead and just walked a bit further. This trail is far steeper than anything we've done so far, but the views are amazing. 

We managed to get there and back again without getting covered in mud as well. We then walked to a different bakery, which turned out to not actually be open, but pointed us to the grocery store selling their goods. The items at the grocery store looked good but were far to large a portion for use on this, the last full day here. So we walked back to the bakery we've visited previously and got entirely different pastries to take back and relax with coffee and rye bread at the apartment. 

I didn't get any pictures, but the bird watching from our apartment has been pretty great. We've seen several of the ones from the sign we saw in Torshavn. As the tide comes in and out, the come pick at whatever is left on the shore. 

Our next stop is the liquor store, but this time to return bottles. There is a fun machine you feed bottles and cans to with a conveyor belt that automatically sorts and calculates a payment for returning each. Then it shoots out a receipt to take into the store so they can credit your card. Far more fun than I expected from recycling. 

We also hit a different bakery that opened at 1PM and Bill tried on some clothes at a shop full of Danish brands. Our only structured plan for the day was afternoon tea. I'd seen a brochure for this place at the cafe and it sounded like fun. 

The location is a replica of a house built by national hero, Nólsoyar Páll, and named after his wife, Marin Malenu, a Klaksvik woman who got much of the northern island population vaccinated against small pox. The woman running the place also owns the cafe, which is named after Nólsoyar's smuggling ship, which he used to defy Danish officials by bringing Faroes goods to other markets. His entire story is wild, he brought a case to court in England against an Englishman who sank his boat, arguing that just because Denmark was occupied by France, that did not mean the Faroe Islands were allied with the French. He won, got a new ship, and then was lost at sea, likely to a battle with a Norwegian privateer hired by corrupt officials from Torshavn. 

We also got to hear about local building developments, a cooking school, some history from the brewery/distillery in town (and a bad idea of moving it from the waterfront to make room for hotel parking - the town was build around the brewery, why would you then make it move). And also try lamb several different ways, fermented, roasted, as sausage, and testicles. All in all, quite a good stop. 

After that, we went to a local wool spinning club that claimed to have events every Thursday night, but was closed. Instead, we hit the local pub. I asked for a cocktail menu and the bartender assured me that she could make me anything I wanted. I immediately called her bluff, asking for something with aquavit, a nonstarter. Instead we just ordered shots, trying more of the Einar's spirits, including their quite lovely peated whiskey - Islay on the nose with an almost caramel finish. This was the last full day here. Sadly I feel like we're just getting into vacation mode. I guess next time we'll have to take a whole month!