This document provides a summary of the author's trip to Suðuroy, the southernmost island in the Faroe Islands. Some of the key places visited include Tvøroyri, the largest town on Suðuroy, and Fámjin, the smallest village. In Tvøroyri, the author explores an old harbor general store that is now a museum, café, and pub. In Fámjin, the author learns about the history of the first Faroese national flag, called the Merkið flag. The trip concludes with a foggy sunset ferry ride back to Tórshavn from Suðuroy.

1. Suðuroy, Føroyar
(Faroe Islands)
September 2011

2. Ferry from Tórshavn to Suðuroy, southern-most island of the Faroe Islands
Tórshavn from the ferry

4. Nolsoy ferry

6. Fog quickly rolls in…

15. Emerging out of the fog into Tvøroyri

16. Tvøroyri – population 1,156

17. The whimsical, mysterious personality of Faroes fog

18. Ferry dock at Drelnes

23. Tvøroyri’s harbor – looking across the fjord to Drelnes

28. Krambuðin hjá Thomsen – old harbor general store and warehouse

29. Inside T.F. Thomsen’s
Krambuðin
Once the harbor’s general
store and warehouse, the
historic 1836 building is now
a fascinating hybrid of
museum, café, and pub. The
original cash register rests
among cozy tables and if
you’re lucky, you’ll be
allowed to browse the old
shop ledgers, letters, and
family photos.
The shop has been in the
Thomsen family for 5
generations.

30. I was privileged to look through the correspondence of T.F. Thomsen, mostly letters to other
merchants in multiple languages to secure goods for his shop and sell Faroese salted fish.

32. Drive to Fámjin

35. Fámjin – population 108

39. The Merkið flag
The first national Faroese flag,
now housed in Fámjin’s church.
The flag was invented by local
students in 1919 and became a
symbol of the independence
movement in the 1940s.
During WW2, when Denmark was
under Nazi occupation and the
Faroes aligned with the Allies,
flying the Danish flag was
dangerous in the North Atlantic
waters. A Faroese ship captain,
Hans Mikkelsen, suggested using
the Merkið, leading to its
widespread use. Winston Churchill
formally recognized the flag on
April 25, 1940, the day the Faroese
celebrate as National Flag Day.

41. Grave of Jens Oliver
Lisberg, one of the
students who created
the Merkið flag and
died tragically young
at age 26 of
pneumonia.

42. Fámjin fishermen
prepare seabirds
for cooking – first
pluck the feathers,
then boil the meat
off the bones.

45. Back in Tvøroyri…

50. Guiding the ferry as it backs into Drelnes

51. A foggy sunset ferry
ride back to Tórshavn

57. Slumbering Tórshavn