Anniversary Cruise--Faroe Islands

The biggest surprise of our trip was our stop at Klaksvik in the Faroe Islands! Voted the most "authentic, unspoiled, and likely to remain so" island by National Geographic Traveler magazine, this group of eighteen mountainous islands surpassed all of our expectations! The Faroe Islands are a self-governing country within the Danish realm whose inhabitants are of Scandinavian origin, descendants of Vikings who came from Norway.

We had wanted to make the most of our day in the Faroes so we booked a "Scenic Faroes and Pancakes" tour through Royal Caribbean. We had some time before our tour left so we took the free shuttle into the town of Klaksvik, where we checked out a craft fair that was going on and Wayne visited the Føroya Bjór brewery, which brews the most popular beer in the Faroe Islands. He was even able to bring some home to England! I would recommend booking a tour through Royal Caribbean or the tour company 62N (which we heard was good) while making sure to leave some time to explore Klaksvik before your tour...we wish we had disembarked sooner!

The girls posing with a Viking Ship in Klaksvik

Then it was time to board the bus for our panoramic tour of the Faroes! Some people were tired right off the bat...

Snoozing through the beautiful scenery!

But they woke up when the bus went through a very cool subsea tunnel between Klaksvik in Bordoy and Leirvik in Esturoy. The tunnel is 6.2 kilometers long and is 150 meters beneath sea level. The Nordoya Subsea Tunnel is a single tube dual-lane tunnel which opened in 2006 and is the longest in the Faroe Islands. This tunnel made it possible to quickly visit multiple islands without relying on ferries....awesome! The girls were very impressed driving through it and decided it might be worth staying awake for a bit!

We then drove along some very windy roads through the mountains before stopping by Funningur, a beautiful village located next to Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands. It was really the definition of unspoiled beauty!

So unexpectedly beautiful!

The roads leading to this spot overlooking Funningur were very very windy and we were told they were nearly impossible to navigate in the winter. I can't imagine living here but the views sure are fantastic!

A quick pic!

She woke up happy and approved of the views

The bus then continued on torwards Gjógv, a tiny village (population 53!) located on the northeast tip of the island of Esturoy. Once there, we stopped for a yummy pancake snack and some more beautiful pictures. We had plenty of time to explore there, although I could have stayed all day. Despite these gorgeous sunshine-filled photos, it started raining the minute we reboarded the bus!

Gjógv, Faroe Islands

Many of the homes has grass growing on the roofs, which help insulate the house and are traditional, dating back to the Viking Age (Read more about Faroese homes)

One home had a beautiful charming garden filled with these little guys

The girls were in heaven!

I love this family photo!

Amazing views!

We couldn't resist another family photo

The girls

King of the World

More grass roofs

Taking a little walk around the village

Proof that time outs happen everywhere. ( : Lyla taking a break while Daddy and Riley check out the monument to the men lost at sea

We visited a church in town

Prettiest cemetery I've ever seen

Then it was time to say good-bye to one of the prettiest places we had ever seen and do a bit more exploring before returning to the ship. We stopped to see Risin og Kellingin (The Giant and the Witch), two sea stacks just off the northern coast of Eysturoy. Legend tells that, once upon a time, the giants in Iceland decided that they wanted the Faroes and sent the giant and the witch to bring them back. They tried pulling the islands with a rope but were unsuccessful, causing the mountain to split. They lost track of time passing and the sun came up, causing them to turn to stone.  Now they stare longingly towards Iceland for all eternity. 

Our budding photographer

The girls with the Giant and the Witch

Soon we were back onboard the ship for a beautiful, but chilly, sail away. We had most of the deck to ourselves!

Lyla enjoying the views

Lyla ran laps around the track to keep warm!

The deck was nearly empty!

Sail away pics

Riley found a warmer spot to check things out!

 Then it was time for another fun night and a day at sea to play Bingo, go swimming and relax! Iceland here we come!

Daddy time at dinner

Anniversary Cruise--Shetlands

Our third port of call was in Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands. The Shetlands are part of Scotland but are located northeast of mainland Britain. It was cold and windy while we were here and we were glad we had booked a bus tour through Royal Caribbean. There was not very much to see around the pier but our bus took us to the Eshaness Cliffs, which were pretty but didn't require very much time to visit. The Shetlands was definitely our least exciting stop, aside from the Shetland ponies, which Lyla was DYING to see. Luckily, we stopped to see some on our ride back and Lyla was convinced we had seen Socks, the moonwalking pony from the Three (a cell phone service company) commercial. Check out the commercial below...it is pretty cute! While the commercial is filmed on the Eshaness Cliffs and Socks does live on the island, we didn't find him during our visit. Shhh...don't tell Lyla!

Posing with the Eshaness Cliffs

Riley was a good sport even though she was freezing!

Wayne and Lyla waving from afar

You could see a few puffins over the edge of the cliff. Cool but nothing like out trip to Skomer Island

Riley playing photographer

Family photo with the Shetland Ponies

What are you staring at?

These guys are cute!

Lerwick was a tender port which means we did take small boats ashore, which we heard took a very long time for some passengers. We generally try to avoid doing Royal Caribbean tours as they are expensive and can be impersonal but at a tender port I highly recommend it. Those on RC excursions tender first, which means you avoid waiting in line for tender numbers and avoid any delays that may arise. Our tour was not the best but it maximized our short time in Lerwick, which turned out to be plenty. I don't think it's a very popular cruise destination so there were not tons of tour options...I recommend seeing the ponies and some of the countryside and then heading back to the ship. We were back in time for the girls to go for a swim in the pool...it was cold outside but the pool was heated and the girls didn't seem to mind! That night was a fun disco party onboard the ship and the girls loved showing off their dance moves late into the night! Then it was time for some rest before our next stop, the Faroe Islands!

Lyla was as big as the ponies!

Anniversary Cruise--Geiranger, Norway

Our second port of call was Geiranger, Noway, which is right in the heart of the Norwegian fjords. Geirangerfjord is a UNESCO World Heritage Site  and is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. This stop was our favorite of the cruise and definitely the highlight of the trip. Sailing in and out of the port was GORGEOUS and I may have gotten a little carried away with the photos. ( : I've posted a bunch but none of them really do it justice.  

We woke up early and went out on deck to get some photos of the sail in. It was chilly but absolutely stunning. I wish we had woken up even earlier. 

We may or may not have forgotten to comb Riley's hair in our haste to make it outside.

Sigh.

Windy!

The pathway seemed too narrow for the cruise ship to navigate. So gorgeous!

Our ship docked in Geiranger, which was a pleasant surprise since we were originally told we would be tendering because the port was very small. It turned out that Geiranger had just debuted a floating pier about a week before, which saved us the time and hassle associated with taking small boats the short distance ashore. I had prebooked a combination boat and bus tour in an effort to make the most of our short time in Geiranger. The pier was right in the heart of the very small village so we had some time to look around before our boat tour began. It was actually not necessary to prebook as tickets were sold at the Tourist Office at the pier but it was nice to save time waiting in line. While the boat tour was beautiful, I wouldn't recommend it if you're cruising since you can see the same views during the sail in and sail away (for free and with less crowds). The girls spotted Viking Ship Tours in the water, which looked much more exciting...the guests even got to wear costumes! In hindsight, I think this would have been alot more fun! Nevertheless, we enjoyed the beautiful views from the boat and the bus trip took us up to a few lookout points high above the village that were truly beautiful. The roads leading up to the lookout points were completely crazy....hairpin turn after hairpin turn...so we were definitely glad we booked a bus tour rather than considering renting a car.

Norway loves its trolls! 

Our ship with the SeaWalk, the brand new floating pier

Another troll! The girls got a kick out of its pickle nose!

Ready to board our boat trip!

The Viking Ship we wish we had known about!

The Seven Sisters Waterfall

Hugs!

I love these guys' expressions while Riley posed as King of the World! (We do this same pose everywhere we go!)

So pretty

From the lookout point above

Family photo!

Wow...

Wayne's self portrait

Lyla was wiped out after all the fun

Geiranger is gorgeous and my advice to everyone is to go, go, go! It was a very small village so one day was sufficient to see most everything. We did see some abandoned farms that are along the mountainside that you could visit if you were there longer. My favorite part of visiting Geiranger was the sail in and sail out. After we had reboarded the ship, we took the girls to an early dinner at the buffet and then sent them to the Kids Club so we could enjoy a leisurely dinner and check out the views. We ate at the informal Mexican restaurant onboard and sat outside, where we had virtually the whole deck to ourselves with amazing views. I had left my camera in the room but couldn't resist taking some iPhone pics. Some look blurry because we passed through a sun shower, resulting in a beautiful rainbow!

Heaven!

Rainbow! Imagine living in that little village...

Amazing!

I want to live here!

Another picturesque village

And a self portrait. Look how light it is out and it was probably 9:00 at night!

After our dinner and drinks, it was off to pick up the girls and get ready for another big day tomorrow. Next stop: the Shetlands!

Cool hat!

The girls loved returning to the cabin each night to find their towel animals!