faroe islands: eysturoy

after exploring vagar and mykines islands, we drove to a little airbnb cottage in the tiny village of gjógv on the island of eysturoy. the village is nestled into a little cove overlooking the ethereal landscape of the neighboring island of kalsoy, and it is spectacularly charming in such a unique way - surrounded in lush green mountains and filled in with colourful houses. we got to gjógv after dark the first night we stayed there, so it was exciting to wake up, head out on a morning walk and take in our stunning locale. we strolled around the village before heading off to hike to the top of slættaratindur, the highest point in the faroe islands. we had read somewhere that the hike to the top was surprisingly quite easy and didn’t take very long, so we figured we’d give it a whirl with three kids in tow.

yeah, whatever we read was wrong. the hike was hard! for us in-decent-shape adults! let alone for us with kids strapped to us; let alone for four-year-old zara! but the views on the way up were just so alluring, and the top continually looked deceivingly close, so hike to the tippy top we did. it wasn’t an easy feat, but we did it! i was seriously so proud of zara. it was a huge adventure. and the views from the top really were worth it (and cannot be captured in these photos!!).

eysturoy island is pretty rad!


^^ our airbnb, and our sweet ride. ^^





 

we asked several faroese people how to pronounce the name of this village – gjógv – but could never quite figure out how to make it sound correct in our mouths. we resorted to calling it gee-gov, which is utterly wrong (the true pronunciation is more like the name jake). unpronounceable or not, we loved this spot. ^^

^^ we had to stop to take this picture on our way to the hike. can you see that tiny village down by the water? and check out that switchback road! i love experiencing extreme beauty with my siblings – they understand and feel the total freak out with me … it’s in our blood. faroe islands with eli was awesome. ^^

^^ starting out on the hike, having no idea what we were getting into… ^^
 

^^ but with views like this on the way up, you just can’t turn around when it gets really challenging!! ^^

^^ julie is so so great. in this picture little dean is holding up a starburst awarded to him by uncle ian. there was lots of candy bribery going on during our trip to the faroe islands. it worked like a charm ;) ^^

^^ nearing the tippy top – man, it’s hard to try to represent what this looked like in real life. ^^

^^ our reward! stunning views from the top. ^^

^^ there was this little enclosure at the top of the mountain, which was perfect for a lunch picnic … and as a clear boundary for the kids among all the steepness. ^^



^^ we made the kids stay inside the rock enclosure while we enjoyed the views closer to the edge :) ^^



^^ starting our descent, which was in some ways harder than going up. keeping zara from slipping and our footing stable with babies strapped to us was quite a challenge. ^^



^^ a little break halfway down the mountain. moses was such a champ throughout all of this. ^^
 
^^ triumph at the bottom! way to go, zara!! i still can’t believe she hiked that thing! ^^

i have one more post of pictures from faroe islands to publish tomorrow. this incredible place needs to be shared!! i’d never even heard of it a year ago, and now it’s one of my all-time favourite places on the planet.