The Faroes Are Far Out

   Welcome to Friday with Chairman Joe.

    On this day in 1946, the Faroe Islands had their referendum vote for independence annulled by King Christian X of Denmark. The vote held six days previously had been very close, and there had also been a large number of abstentions. The king thought the Islanders maybe didn't know their own mind so the Danish parliament granted them home rule without complete independence.
   For such a small country, Denmark used to control quite a large swath of land. Up until 1814, Denmark controlled Norway which included the Faroes. Norway went to Sweden in 1814, but Denmark retained the Faroes along with Greenland and Iceland. Iceland gained its independence in 1918.
   After WWII, the people of the Faroes had their shot. After annulling the referendum, the Danes gave the islands lots of independence in their affairs as well as a healthy annual subsidy. There is still an independence movement and it probably will happen some day in the future. The current attitude in Denmark is: when you're ready, go for it.
   St Brendan stopped in the Faroes on his way to North America in the fifth century and Irish monks settled there around 750 and named the place Island of the Sheep which is what Faeroe means in Old Norse. When the Vikings arrived 150 years later, the monks were gone.
   Isolated as the islands are, halfway between Norway and Iceland, the settlers developed a unique culture which the present day islanders work hard to preserve in the face of globalization. There is no McDonalds on the island but, there is a Burger King in the capital of Torshavn.
   For centuries the islanders lived a hardscrabble existence, raising sheep and a few vegetables on their thin-soiled hills, fishing off shore, and harvesting seabirds and their eggs. Since there was so little fuel on the islands, fish and meat was "cooked" by hanging in open sheds exposed to the never ending wind.
   Once deep sea fishing developed in the 19th century, the Faroes had something the rest of the world wanted. The population shot up from 5,000 to its current 50,000. People are still outnumbered by sheep (70,000) and seabirds (two million).
   There was a crash in the fishing industry in the 1990s and many young people, especially women, left the islands for Denmark and other European countries. The men left behind began importing wives from the Philippines and Thailand. Lately though, young people are staying on the islands thanks to the abovementioned globalization. They can work in other industries from home.
   In the last twenty years the Faroes have become a bit of a tourist destination. Gourmets drop in to feast on fermented lamb, roasted puffin or salted whale blubber. Those who have been there describe the rocky coastal cliffs and treeless green hills as eerily beautiful. They also describe the weather as cool, cloudy, and windy. Sunny days are rare and there's rain on 210 days a year on average. The Faroes are a a kind of an anti-Hawaii. The warm North Atlantic Current moderates temperature summer and winter. The average high in July is 55, the average low in January, 35. There can be snow year round in the mountains, while some sheltered coastal areas may not see snow for years.
   Sound like the place for you? Cheapest flights are out of Copenhagen, $150 round trip. B&Bs on the islands cost about the same as at home. But those gourmet dinners with wine pairings can run over $200. Have a Whopper instead.

The witch and the giant were towing the Faroes from Norway to Iceland when the sun came up and turned them to stone.