The Faroes
First of all you often hear the Faroe Island mentioned on the radio on the British shipping forecasts. But the Faroes are not British. They are Danish.
However, they are fiercely independent and different from Denmark.
Flag of the Faroes.
What is different about them, from a travellers' point of view?
1 Food. Puffins. See puffins. And eat puffins, stuffed with cake. What! Yes, it sounds like Puffins are not endangered. Puffins proliferate.
2 Rocking Stones
3 National dress.
Worn at graduation and weddings. and on national Day.
National day is July 29. It is Saint Olav's wake after the king who died in battle. The day's events include the opening or Parliament and processions from churches.
Flag day.
4 Language.
Museums in the Faroe Islands.
- National Museum of the Faroe Islands
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_the_Faroe_Islan
- Kirkjubøargarður
- Listasavn Føroya
- National anthem on You tube with subtitles in Faroese and English. Mitt land is my land.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dba7HG9Fa0
The Faroes (plural) should not to be confused with the Fairisle (singular), which is a small island in the Shetlands.
Now, let's look at the Orkneys. Scotland. British. (In May 2021)
The Orkneys
The capital is Kirkwall
Kirk is Scottish for church.
Top three most memorable sites and landmarks:
1 St Magnus Cathedral
2 The Underground Mounds
3 Did I mention the Big Tree. Not that remarkable, but in the middle of a shopping street, which is flagstoned and pedestrianised. The tree has a plaque on the nearby wall.
The Shetland Islands
The Fairisle
The Fairisle is the furthest north inhabited island off Scotland, and Britain.
The Fairisle is tiny, about three miles long and one and a half miles wide, with its only attraction being a bird observatory which has the island's only eating place. The men work at fishing combined with crofting. Crofting - what's that? Lived on land which is poor quality but provides subsistence farming of crops, sheep or animals, with the tenant able to use common land and obliged to keep the allotment active, whilst earning a subsidiary income elsewhere.
The women's main activity is knitting Fairisle jumpers.
The jumpers became popular when worn by the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII.
Useful Websites
https://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page
FAROES, Denmark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faroe_Islands
https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/about/history-governance-econo
Shopping and tours:
https://www.visitfaroeislands.com/see-do/shopping/
https://www.facebook.com/VisitFaroeIslands/
St Olav's Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93lavs%C3%B8ka
You can buy Faroe islands flags, small hand held flags on sticks to wave at events, bunting (strings of decorative flags), and flags on oven gloves and notebooks.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=faroe+island+flag
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scandinavia-Nordic-Seven-Different-Flags/
FAIR ISLE, Shetland, Scotland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Isle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Scotland
ORKNEYS, Scotland
SHETLAND, Scotland
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Shetland_Islands
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Shetland_Islands#/media/File:Jarlshof_(47506298641).jpg
Kirkwall, Capital of Shetland Islands
MULL, IONA & STAFFA
http://www.staffatours.com/boat-tours/departs-oban/
Not much useful information for the tourist except a picture of the Forth Bridge. (Not fourth, Forth.)
Angela Lansbury B A Hons is the author of ten books by regular publishers plus another ten self-published books.
About Angela The Speaker & Trainer
Angela Lansbury is a teacher of English and other languages to Toastmasters clubs and businesses.
Angela has several blogs speeches, comedy and song writing and organizing, writing itermittently, but writes almost daily on these three:
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