I am writing this from a hotel perched above Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands. In almost any other place, it would be just a fishing village. Here, it holds just under half of the population. The Faroes are part of Denmark but are more-or-less autonomous. If you’re wondering where and what they are, the Faroe Islands are a striated archipelago of volcanic rock in the North Atlantic between Scotland and Iceland. The economy is built on salmon farming with some wool production and a budding tourism industry thrown in. It never gets hot here, which is a big part of why I came, and the weather’s defining feature is the wind. Most people risk sunburn on their summer vacations; I’ve been windburned on mine.

Why would I come to a place like this? Several people have asked, so these were the and somewhere I hadn’t been before. There are other places that meet those criteria, but this is the place I chose for this summer. There was also a draw for me in the desolate, wind-swept landscapes that mark this place.

There are almost no trees here. There are also sheep that eat any little seedling they can reach, so it’s not easy to tell if that is entirely the result of weather and wind. There are no land predators on the islands as all mammals were introduced. Naturally, these islands are sanctuaries for seabirds. That is actually one of their main attractions in summer. On Saturday, I took a ferry out to the westernmost island in the archipelago specifically to see the puffins that nest there in a huge colony. The little birds look similar to penguins but can fly, fast if not exactly gracefully, and spend their days this time of year catching fish out at sea and bringing them back to feed their chicks. Watching them might end up being the highlight of the entire trip for me. It was on the way back from Mykines that I got windburned when I calculated that a little sting on my face later would be much preferable to throwing up now on the boat. Later today, I’ll be back on a boat taking in views of sea cliffs on another island. The weather looks calm this morning, so I hope that the seas will be smooth and that I will enjoy it as much as I have most of the other places I’ve seen.

Despite its size, Torshavn packs a culinary punch. I suppose that is to be expected as it is ultimately governed from Copenhagen. All of the restaurants definitely have Copenhagen prices. I’ve had really good food at a few places; I’ve also had to eat two dinners, but I’ll reflect on the food more once the trip is finished. Culturally, the place is more like Iceland than Denmark (I haven’t been to Norway to make that comparison) and the language isn’t Danish at all. According to what one of the guides said, the islands were given to Denmark by the king of Norway a few hundred years ago as a dowry for his daughter. That historical quirk explains those differences so I have little reason not to believe him.