Faroe Islands
We begin in Copenhagen, a city that treats design like a civic duty. Who knew Copenhagen was the design capital of the world? And chairs, they love designing fabulous chairs. You start noticing them everywhere: in cafés, museums, even on hotel stair landings.
Copenhagen is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, with more bicycles than people in some areas. It also serves as a major Nordic hub, making it a natural gateway to the Faroe Islands.
The Faroe Islands feel like the edge of the map: green cliffs, black rock, and seas that look permanently restless even when calm. I made it to Kalsoy and the lighthouse near the James Bond filming location from No Time to Die. To get there, you have to pass through an 11-mile undersea tunnel, and halfway through there is a delightful light installation so you do not get bored or disoriented.
The Faroe Islands are an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with a population smaller than many towns and a sheep population that far exceeds it.
My guide was helpful in explaining the ways of fairies, trolls, and seal women. She was also friends with a sheep named Marguerite, who for half the day I thought was a human until I met her later on a hike. Despite her best efforts to keep me from being pulled into the underworld, the fairies still got me, or at least my expensive Shinola watch, which I had owned for years. C’est la vie.
And then there are the puffins. I could watch them all day.
