Day 4 in Vestmanna

4:15 a.m. German time. I wake up. My brain quickly asks, work? No, you're on vacation. Command to the eyelids 'close'

At 6:30 a.m. local time, I wake up again. I look through my hotel window at the rocky wall behind it.

It smells like damp moss and the trash bins that are housed between the rocks and the hotel wall. Apparently, the occupants of the single rooms are accommodated at the back of the hotel. I deduce this from the displayed escape route diagram. Only guests in the double or multiple rooms have the privilege of enjoying the beautiful view of the sea. Or does that mean sea bedtrroom?

Anyway, I don't want to spend the whole day in the room. I am sitting at breakfast at quarter past seven. Everything is there. Not a wide selection, but what's there tastes good and if you have enough, it's filling.

Done, now just a coffee and a cigarillo outside the door, then the day's routine can begin. Speaking of cigarillos. I actually found some on board. However, the selection is limited. One type. The name Café Créme, sounds good and smokable. Well, it tastes somewhere between train track clippings on the south side and lamppost at the bottom with a slightly fishy aftertaste. Well, I don't smoke that much anyway, but I have the impression it will be even less on this vacation. My lungs will be happy.

We changed the plan from the previous day to hike together with Jule and Reinhard to instead have Jule and Reinhard take the bus to one of the sights, or rather 'hot spots', and hike there, and meet in Vestmanna at 4:00 p.m.

Vestmanna is the second largest town on the main island Streymoy and is located about 25 kilometers northeast of Tórshavn. From here, you can book boat trips to the surf caves and bird cliffs.

I started the morning with a walk through Tórshavn. The weather was great, sunny, light wind, cozy 14 degrees Celsius.

One suitcase had to be completely empty so that the motorcycle jacket and pants fit in well on site. The hiking pants will be worn under the motorcycle pants. Thanks to the few pounds lost in the past months, this works quite well. Sweater and light jacket, as well as various small items, drinks and the apple from the breakfast buffet, all go in the backpack. This then fits in the empty suitcase. So I emptied the left suitcase and took the things to the room. Why do the rooms I book always end up on the top floor? Backpack packed and off I went.

First out of Tórshavn, but which way? As a navigation-addicted motorcyclist, I am a bit handicapped in the Faroe Islands. Garmin, despite having a complete map of Europe, only knows the Faroe Islands as a group of 18 islands. They are there, but whether there are roads or places other than Tórshavn is unknown. For navigation on Iceland, I have, in a very old-school way, brought a map with me. But not for the Faroe Islands. Well, the few roads can also be seen on the small map in my guidebook. Entry into the logbook: Next time, bring a magnifying glass as part of the travel equipment. Two roads lead to Vestmanna, the 50 and the seemingly more attractive 10 which runs along the east coast.

Well then, let's go, of course in the wrong direction at first. Doesn't matter, the journey is the destination.

The supply of directional signs here is a bit poor. After extensive turns in various roundabouts, I thought I wouldn't be able to get out of here heading northeast. I was briefly in the south of Streymoy, also nice.

North-East...? Garmin can also do compasses. So I turned on the compass display, turned around, and managed to escape the city in the right direction.

The Faroe Islands have beautiful roads, well built and not very crowded, there are also curves.

The maximum speed outside built-up areas is 80 km/h. The condition of the roads tempts you to go faster. The guidebook states that speeding is punished with high fines. However, it does not say what that means. I assume that, given the generally called prices here, the fine is somewhere between reason and greed. Since I'm on vacation and also want to experience the impressive landscape, I glide along, looking right, looking left, looking down... oh, already going 110 km/h. So, I loosen my right hand a bit and the landscape slows down again.

In between, I also stopped a few times to take photos. This is completely problem-free here. At first, I always stopped where there was a parking bay or a parking lot. Then I thought, what nonsense, there is so little traffic here, and where I had an interesting view, I just stopped. Right turn signal and that's it. Try that with us.

I continued curvy and mountainous towards Vestmanna. The Faroe Islands are also called the sheep islands. These animals are standing everywhere, even by the roadside, not only behind, but also in front of the guardrails. So I always drive in a wide arc around them, you don't want to collide with a wool ball.

It is 2:00 p.m. as I look down on Vestmanna from about 300 meters away.

The circles on the water are fish farming ponds. 'The best Salmon all over the World,' as the captain of the sightseeing boat later proudly announces. I'm sure the same can be said by salmon farmers in other countries about their own animals.

I stop at the Vestmanna Tourist Centre, park Suzi in the sun, and change clothes as planned. Hungry, I think, as I see that there is also a restaurant in the tourist center.

Eat, drink, free Wi-Fi, what more could you want. The menu is clear: fish platter, fish & chips, steak, soup, and salad.

The following conversation takes place with the friendly server behind the counter:

'Hi, I think I'll take the fish platter.'

'Sorry, we don't have the fish platter today.'

'Okay, then I'll have the fish & chips.'

'We don't have fish & chips today either.'

'Steak?'

She doesn't answer anymore, just shakes her head.

'Okay, last attempt, soup?'

She beams: 'Yes, and we also have salad!'

I answer her question about a drink with 'No, thank you', as I don't feel like checking the fridge inventory.

After the soup with salad and the free water, I walk around the town a bit, buy some fruit and cookies at the gas station for the road, fill my water bottle, buy a ticket for the boat tour at 5:00 p.m., and wait for Jule and Reinhard.

At 4:00 p.m., I receive a message from Jule and Reinhard that they came back late from their hike and can't make it to Vestmanna in time by bus. Too bad, I'll just go alone.

5:00 p.m., we set off with the small boat 'Froyur'.

Thanks to strategic placement while waiting, I secured a position at the very front, sheltered from the wind and with space for my backpack. We set off in the best weather and drive relatively close to the steep cliffs.

An incredible experience that can hardly be captured in pictures or film. You have to see it live. The bird cliffs weren't very busy. It was already after five o'clock, the feathered friends were surely off for the day.

After two hours, the experience is over. We dock again and I drive back to Tórshavn. Jule, Reinhard, and I wanted to meet for a beer when I'm back.

The return trip was supposed to be via road number 50, but I couldn't find the entrance. So I went back the same way. The weather was still nice, the thermometer still showed 16 degrees Celsius, until suddenly, the world in front of me disappeared again.

Suddenly, fog, the temperature immediately drops to 13 degrees, and visibility limits the speed. After 10 minutes of driving, the spell is broken, fog gone, temperature back to 16 degrees. I'm back at the hotel at 8:00 p.m.

Contacting Jule, where are you? Irish Pub Tórshavn! We want to eat something, Jule informed me and already sent me the menu on my phone. Fish burger was my choice, and Jule was ready to order. Google Maps says 700m, so I put on my best shoes and after 10 minutes, I was sitting next to Jule and Reinhard.

'Fish burger is sold out,' was Jule's first sentence. Ah, didn't I just experience that today? Except for a bit of finger food, the two of them hadn't ordered anything yet. So now we all decided on 'Irish burger'. Jule placed the order at the counter and came back with the information that there are only two burgers left because they ran out of buns. Reinhard then decided to take the burger without the bun.

The choice of fries was also simple: steakhouse fries or regular fries, the steakhouse fries were sold out.

After exchanging the day's experiences, eating, and discussing plans for the next day, everyone went their own way. Reinhard on his bike, Jule by bus. I covered the 700m on foot back to the hotel.