Faroe Islands Day 2: Káta Hornið

Early morning walk down to Tinganes after a breakfast of ham and cheese smørrebrød (cannot for the life of me remember how you spell it in Faroese).I find the Prime Minister's Office...(It's the one on the right.)



And the view across the harbour is pleasant enough despite the white sky.




At 9am it's all aboard the Norðlýsið schooner for a trip around the neighbouring island of Nólsoy.I'm (predictably) the only British person on the boat,along with a crew of 4 Faroese,a Norwegian couple with a baby and a Danish family with 2 teenage boys,one of whom clearly resented his parents from the minute they came home and said "right,we're going to the Faroe Islands for our holiday this year."

I speak to a couple of the crew in English- including a boy of around 15 who does that typical Scandinavian thing of putting you to shame with his perfect language skills.He makes us all coffee and one of the other guys says "we're all Scandinavians here aren't we? Good,I'll speak Danish" in Danish.At this point I'd feel a bit silly pointing out my nationality,and as I once spent a day at Schleswig-Holstein parliament pretending I could understand what all the Danish politicians were saying,I figure I can do it again.Five minutes out of Tórshavn and all the Danes/Norwegians are putting waterproof trousers,wellies,woolly hats and gloves on.I'm just wearing jeans and a thin cagoul.Alarm bells in my head "WHERE THE HELL ARE WE GOING???!!!" But I stay calm and don't question anything.That's British isn't it?

The skipper tells me to move to the other side of the boat as we're getting close to the bird cliffs and you can sometimes see puffins there.This is interrupted by another one of the crew shouting "SEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAALLLLL!" I get a brief view of said seal but he soon dives into the water,quite possibly scared off by the shouting man,who incidentally sounds so much like Georg Bjarnfreðarson from Night Shift that I can't help but chuckle.Especially when he comes out with the Georg-esque comment "he obviously doesn't like Danes," referring to the seal. Anyway,we don't see anything more exotic than sheep or seagulls for the rest of the trip,despite there being 206 species of bird in the Faroes apparently.But Nólsoy is very pretty and we see some sights that you wouldn't really expect to see in the North Atlantic...



...Far cooler than Capri's Blue Grotto :) The Norwegian guy obviously thinks so too,and gets a bit arsey with his wife for not taking enough pictures of it despite the fact she's struggling with the baby who's now getting a bit arsey herself because of the rather large waves.According to Georg these waves are nothing- he used to work on the trawlers in Iceland and it's much worse there.Still though,my camera and cup slip off the wooden seat onto the deck,covering the camera in coffee.It makes quite a loud noise,but again,I do the British thing and pretend nothing's happened.

Back in Tórshavn I have to take the obligatory picture of a flag.I like the Faroese flag,not only because of the colours and the fact that it has an interesting story behind it but also because it's used in Björk's Declare Independence video- the lyrics of which are dedicated to the people of the Faroe Islands (and Greenland).I'm frozen through (turns out those clever Danes brought extra layers with them purely for warmth after all),and on the (90 second?) walk back to the hotel,I fantasise about turning the radiator up to 4 to see what it's like.

Time for a walk around town again.Well,along Niels Finsens gøta anyway.It's the main shopping street and I haven't bought anything yet.I take a picture of Káta Hornið,which is of course what Teitur's Faroese album (and one of the best songs on it) is named after.The song goes "I always stop at Káta Hornið,have a talk with someone who likes to talk.It's not Picadilly or Piazza Navona,but a very good friend that is so much else." Káta Hornið also means "happy corner," and for me today,it's certainly that.Tutl is right next to the fountain and the board outside declares that the free show today will be by none other than Jens Marni! We've played him on Sounds of Europe a few times after discovering him through the Danish Melodi Grand Prix in 2010.I'm stupidly excited and go back home to listen to his album,doing the "I bet he'll do this one,I hope he does this one..." routine that I always do before gigs.

I watch the Tour de France on Danish telly- it's going to be a sprint finish which I always love watching,but with about 6km to go,I have to leave.I can't be late to Tutl today! Jens is already there,setting up,and it's the most awkward gig atmosphere ever,as it's just me and a teenage boy who was there yesterday too.Jens looks different to what he does on the album cover so I'm not convinced it's him.When he plays about 4 Faroese songs in a row I think "he must have cancelled,I have no idea who this is." But the songs are pleasant.Then suddenly he starts playing Heroes Will Fall and I get a massive smile on my face.To go to a foreign country and happen upon a completely unexpected show by a singer you really like in a very intimate setting is an amazing experience.The poor guy has a really bad cold,you can practically feel how sore his throat is when he hits the big notes and he keeps coughing during the instrumental bits,but he plays for nearly an hour and chats a lot to the audience (sometimes in English too,weirdly).He does a very intense cover of Billie Jean,a few more Faroese songs and most excitingly,this...



Back in June,I was in a foyer in London basically on my own with Tim Schou,but I was so starstruck I couldn't even look at him.I didn't want this to be the case this time,and I planned everything I was going to say to Mr Marni,but when it comes to it,I'm too embarassed again.So I just buy both of Høgni Reistrup's albums and Brandur's album and leave.With Jens' album on my iPod as I walk up to SMS.