Voyage North - a photo essay: (3) Tórshavn

After sailing overnight from Orkney, we docked the following day in Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands.

As we approached the town we were greeted by a sight that would become familiar to us everywhere over the next couple of weeks in Iceland and Greenland - the sight of brightly painted wooden Danish* buildings climbing up the rocky sides of a fjord:

Also familiar would be the pilot boat, either arriving at, or leaving, the side of the ship:

As in many places to come, we also saw signs of construction near the town - in this case, dredging and building right in the harbour:

On this occasion we were mooring at the quayside, controlled by local port staff - all went smoothly:

I'd been to Tórshavn before, and had then taken an organised trip around the islands. On this occasion I wanted to take the opportunity of time in the town - the harbour church (a small building, but called the cathedral); the old town, site of the original Faroese parliament, of turf-roofed houses houses and narrow streets, called Tinganes; and a gallery showing contemporary Faroese art. I didn't take photos of these.

* The Faroe Islands and Greenland are part of the Kingdom of Denmark, similar in status to what in the UK we would call a Crown Dependency. Iceland was also in this position until 1944, when it gained its independence.