Faroe Islands

The native and official language of the Faroes is Faroese, which is a West Nordic or West Scandinavian language. It is one of three insular Scandinavian languages descended from the Old Norse language spoken in Scandinavia in the Viking Age, the others being Icelandic and the extinct Norn, which was thought to be mutually intelligible with Faroese. Until the 15th century, Faroese had a similar orthography to Icelandic and Norwegian, but after the Reformation 1538, the ruling Danes outlawed its use in schools, churches and official documents. The islanders continued to use the language in ballads, folktales, and everyday life. This maintained a rich spoken tradition, but for 300 years the language was not written down. In 1854 Venceslaus Ulricus Hammershaimb published a written standard for Modern Faroese that exists to this day. He produced an orthography consistent with a continuous written tradition extending back to Old Norse. The letter ð, for example, has no specific phonemes attached to it. Also, although the letter 'm' corresponds to the bilabial nasal as it does in English, it corresponds to the alveolar nasal in the dative ending -um [ʊn]. In 1937, Faroese replaced Danish as the official school language, in 1938 as church language, and in 1948 as national language by the Home Rule Act of the Faroes. Today, Danish is considered a foreign language, though it is a required subject for students from 3rd grade and up. English is also widely spoken. Other Nordic languages are also understood.

Most traditional Faroese cuisine involves meat, either lamb or fish. The traditional Faroese kitchen mainly owns its food traditions to the archipelago´s harsh climate. This results in the fact that in earlier days the food culture on the islands was not very extensive. It is hard to find a Faroese dish on the menu of a restaurant, but it is possible at certain restaurants and hotels. Distinctive Faroese foods include:

• Wild seabirds fx puffins. The puffins are stuffed with cake and served with potatoes and wild berries
• Skjerpikjøt, dried mutton that has been hung for over a year and is eaten raw
• Ræstkjøt, meat that has been hung for a couple of months to mature before cooking
• Ræstan fisk, dried fish that has been hung in the same way as ræstkjøt
• Turran fiskur, dried fish
• Whale meat and blubber
• Rhubarbs since they are easy to cultivate

Restaurants

There is an increased number of restaurants in Tórshavn (the capital), a few good ones are mentioned below. Outside Tórshavn, however, the quality of the restaurants isn't as good. There is no McDonalds on the Faroes, but Burger King has arrived. In Tórshavn you can find fast food restaurants at the shopping centre SMS and City Burger is situated in the Town center. All over the Faroes you will find gas-stations, Statoil and Shell. Nearly every gas-station will serve fast-food, espescially sausagues.

• Glasstovan at Hotel Føroyar. From the restaurant there is an excellent view over Tórshavn. Their cuisine offers Faroese specialities as well as international cuisine. A typical Faroese speciality is a dish of dried lamb, dried fish and whale blubber. The price is DKK 110,00. Glasstovan is the only place on the islands, which serves sushi.

• Gourmet by the western harbour "Vágsbotn". This is the finest restaurant on the Faroes.

• Merlot in the town-centre.

• Toscana nice and small Italian restaurant downtown.

• Nan tong in the town centre. The only Chinese restaurant.

The legal drinking age in the Faroes is eighteen. There are two brands of Faroese beer: Restorff´s and Føroya Bjór. Alcoholic drinks are very expensive. Light beer my be purchased in shops and unlicensed restaurants and cafés. Stronger beer, wine and spirits can only be purchased in the Government Monopoly stores in major towns and in licensed restaurants, café´s and bars etc.

Government Monopoly Stores

• Streymoy

Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins, Hoyvíksvegur 51, FO-100 Tórshavn

• Eysturoy

Rúdrekkasøla Landsins Heiðavegur, FO-600 Saltangará

• Norðoyggjar

Rúdrekkasøla Landsins Bøgøta 38, FO-700 Klaksvík

• Sandoy

Rúdrekkasøla Landsins á Mølini, FO-220 Skálavík

• Suðuroy

Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins Drelnes, FO-800 Tvøroyri

• Vágar

Rúsdrekkasøla Landsins Norðuri á heiðum, FO-370 Miðvágur

Nightlife

There are few bars and nightclubs outside of the capital. The bars in Tórshavn, are the same as in your hometown. Manhattan and Café Natúr are situated in the centre of Tórshavn. They both feature wooden interiors similar to English / Irish pubs, and have live music (usually in the form of a singer / guitarist) most nights. Another place is Kaggin which is further up town. A popular disco is Rex, at third floor in the same building as "Havnar Bio", the cinema. Get there early, or you won't get in. It's very popular. You need to be 21 to get in. For young people the disco Eclipse is a popular place to visit. It is the same as in most European cities. You have to be eighteen to get in, and you shouldn´t be older than 25!

Cafés

For a cozy and old fashioned cafe, go to the Western harbour "Vágsbotn" - just below Tórshavn Dome and have a cup of coffee at café Karlsborg. However, it isn´t open at regular hours. Other Cafés include the very popular Gallarí Jinx and Café Condittaríi, both right in the centre of Tórshavn. Hvonn is one of the most popular places at night, keeping it sophisticated and clean, and also includes a brasserie.

Currency

The Faroese currency is the Danish crown (in Danish: den danske krone), abbreviated kr. But since the Faroe Islands are a self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroese government prints its own currency, the Króna, although Danish coins are used. The coins come in 25 and 50 scents, 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 króna. Paper notes come in 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 króna. the exchange value on notes is equivalent to the Danish crown, and there is no service charge on exchange, as Danish notes are equally acceptable as the Faroese króna throughout the country. Faroese Notes  Faroese banknote series

Costs

You should note that almost everything in the Faroe Islands is expensive; particularly if you're not from Northern Europe. All consumer sales include a 25% sales tax but displayed prices are legally required to include this, so they are always exact. If you are from outside the EU/Scandinavia you can have some of your sales tax refunded when leaving the country.

Shopping

Opening hours in the Faroes are better than they used to be, but many smaller stores still close early on Saturday (usually at 2PM ) and nearly everything is closed on Sundays. It is very modern to wear wool and woolen clothing on the Faroe Islands. You definitely will find trendy sweaters, jackets and (cheaper) huts and gloves. Check out the shops "Sirri" and "Guðrun og Guðrun". You can buy coffee roasted on the Faroes at a roaster shop "Brell" at Dr. Jakobsensgøta down town. Nice - and a rather rare souvenir for your mum.