Scotland is cold with short days in winter but lovely in summer. If you have already seen Scotland, in reality or online, consider going further north to the Faroe Islands which are half way between Scotland and Iceland. (Beyond the Scottish Shetland islands which are only ten miles from Scotland.) The most likely way to travel to the Faroes is from Denmark.
A good day to be there is July 29 which is national day when people wear national dress.
The Faeroe Islands, north of Scotland, beyond the Shetland Islands.
If you cannot travel now, or then, how about a virtual tour? The novelty idea of remotely controlling a tour guide many miles away has started in the Faroe Islands, which I would find hard to find on the map, never mind travelling there. I checked their location.
The Faroes or Faeroe Islands are a group of 18 islands, seventeen of which are inhabited. The islands belong to Denmark. They are isolated, appropriate word, in the North Atlantic, all crags and birds.
Flag of the Faeroes
A lot of unpronounceable names of unheard of places. Yes, I have heard of them. Aren't they the places ships have to avoid in gales, after being blown of course from visiting better known places? I don't mean to sound unkind. I actually think their initiative is great. I would like to see them straight away, online, during in my lock down on a much larger island, Singapore, which I can only visit by peering out of the window at a thunderstorm while part of my family is on the phone to me intermittently from their lock down in London in England. So I have time to travel virtually and visit the far off Faroes, from the comfort of my padded swivelling desk chair.
The Faroe islands are a summertime destination. Rugged and rocky. Steep cliffs inhabited by birds. I love the wonderfully funny face sheep. The name Faeroes means sheep islands and the national symbol is the sheep.
Postage stamp. Public domain.
Their Tourist season is summer, July and August. Their virtual travel with a walking human guide initiative is running now, through April 2020.
Tiny population.50,000. Of humans. I hope the peak of the coronavirus '19 passes them by, by summer, or there won't be many of them left. They have a had a few cases already, but no fortunately no deaths.
Jumping Guides
So what is the bright idea? The idea is that a real life local guide walks around and you can ask the guide to walk in a specific direction, walk, run, even jump. Jumping is a joke idea for amusing online game players, control freaks and kids.
I thought that this would be for one family, like in real life hiring a guide to take you up Everest. But it's more like joining those free city tours where lots of people follow a guide and pay nothing for a free tour - but a tip is expected. A group tour usually cost less than you could end up paying if you join a shared car tour and find you are the only one on it and must pay the single person surcharge.
It appears that on the Faroe trip you can only direct the guide for one minute. So you cannot go on continuously in a specific direction because one minute later after you have said, 'turn left towards the sea,' somebody else will say, 'go right towards the mountains'.
What if you tell the guide to jump off the cliff? Why would you do that? Apparently somebody has already tried that. Fortunately the guide was not a robot and was not standing for, running for or jumping for any dangerous nonsense.
I looked at the comments. When I looked there were only seven comments, not all complimentary. One person said he, or she, preferred to be in a place to feel the breeze and the sun. We would all prefer to travel, if we had unlimited funds, time, and permission to travel. meanwhile, you could sit in your garden or on a balcony in summer or at mid-day to enjoy the illusion of a sunny tour. You could also watch from home drinking iced drinks, hot coffee, local cuisine, or open a window for fresh air, or set a fan to create a breeze, and watch after showering, with wet hair sitting on a towel. You could also prepare yourself with rose-scented or lemon-scented soap or perfume.
Others complained about the killing of whales. An entire group of whales is killed, which turns the sea red. The islands also have a fog. A good place to write a thriller. I shall make no judgements, just stick to the facts. Let's do a self-guided tour. Start at the capital.
Torshaven
The capital is Torshavn, I presume haven or harbour. The Tors part is from the same God which gave us the word Thursday (Originally Thor's Day.) Thor was the God of thunder and lightning.
As you might expect, the capital has a museum, an art gallery, an historical museum, and an outdoor museum. I love the red buildings. Also a modern Nordic museum.
A Cathedral.
Cathedral in the capital of the Faeros. Photo by Matthew Ross in Wiki.
Music
And a music centre which offers concerts. I went off to You tube to check out music of the Faraoes. I found music with male and female choirs, drumming, ending with sea birds and the sound of the sea. Somebody commented on the YouTube video, very Viking.You can eat fish. Their main industry was originally fishing, now also supplemented by tourism.
I am writing a book about alliteration. I could add Fun in the Faeroes. Family holidays in the Faeroes. Fish in the Faeroes. Fishing for a tourist guide in the Faroes. A whale of a time in the Faeroes. Guide a guide around the Faroes.
Their Facebook page invited me to the most pristine place on the planet. You can view virtual tours which are at 5 pm local time and sometimes also at 2 pm. Your guide could be on foot or in a helicopter. Take a bird's eye view of the 80,000 sheep.
What other landmarks to see? The statue of the seal woman. The statue withstood a storm with white waves washing over her, as you can see on a video on the internet. On Mikladalor, a finger shaped island, east of the island where you find the capital, next island but one.
The Kalsoy Island village on island also has a striking red roof church.
Tórshavn, the ferry port at the eastern harbour, seen from Tinganes.
This photo was taken from Tinganes in Tórshavn at Ólavsøka 2010. Ólavsøka is the national holiday of the Faroe Islands. On 28 July there are boat races down at the eastern harbour. This view is towards the ferry port in the eastern harbour. The ferries Smyril, which goes to Suðuroy, and Norrøna which sails to Iceland and Denmark, embarks here. The administration of the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands is here on Tinganes in the old wooden buildings. Most of the buildings on Tinganes and Reyni have a turf roof. The sail ship on this photo is the wooden smack Johanna TG326 from Vágur in Suðuroy. The smack was built in Essex, England, in 1884.
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You can buy upmarket woollen clothing. Visit a waterfall. Get married. Go there for Christmas.
Useful Websites
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-8245455/Faroe-Islands-offers-remote-tourism-web-users-control-real-life-tour-guide.html
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands
https://www.facebook.com/VisitFaroeIslands/
https://www.instagram.com/visitfaroeislands/
www.remote-tourism.com
https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/about/stories-legends/kopakonan-the-seal-woman/
https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/about/the-faroe-islands-in-a-seashell/
Faroese music with male and female choirs and drumming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My5GeaQ4RBo
https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/plan-your-stay/transport/getting-to-the-faroe-islands/from-london/
https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/plan-your-stay/transport/getting-to-the-faroe-islands/from-north-america/
www.faroeislandstranslate.com,
https://www.instagram.com/visitfaroeislands/
Author
Author, Author! About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. (Not related to the actress.)
Author of twenty books including: Quick Quotations; Who Said What When.
See books and profiles on Lulu.com and Amazon, such as Wedding Speeches & Toasts. Also watch videos on YouTube.
See other posts on singers and statues and languages and destinations.
If you want to learn to speak the Queen's English, or Received Pronunciation. join me at my online toastmasters club,
Braddell Heights Advanced. Wednesdays, 7-9 Singapore time which is seven hours ahead of London, England.
I am also a member of
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Tampines Changkat Advanced.
Harrovians, London.
Toastmasters International Find a Club
https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club
https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=upSEBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=quick+quotations
lulu.com/shop/angela-lansbury/who-said-what-when/paperback/product-21713991
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