My September 2022: A return to the Faroes and back to Lolland

September saw my last few weeks of summer travels come and go before returning to Lolland for a cozy autumn season of digging.

Destinations visited in September 2022

Hungary

• Budapest

Faroe islands

• West (Vágar)
• Central (Streymoy, Eysturoy)
• East (Borðoy, Kunoy, Viðoy, Fugloy)
• South (Sandoy)

Denmark

• Copenhagen
• Lolland (Rødby, Rødbyhavn, Maribo)
• Falster (Nykøbing F)

Top 3 favourite new destinations

1. Fugloy, Faroe Islands
2. Vestmanna bird cliffs, Faroe Islands
3. Eiðiskollur, Faroe Islands

I got in to the University of Aberdeen!

By far the biggest news of the month was that I got an offer to study a Master of Science in Archaeology of the North at the University of Aberdeen!

That means I’ll be moving to Scotland’s third-largest city in January. There’s so much to do until then. I need to apply for a bunch of scholarships to pay the tuition fee which isn’t exactly cheap but I’m off to a good start already and feel hopeful that I can collect the money in time.

I found out about the offer while sipping hot chocolate with my boyfriend at a café in Klaksvík, Faroe Islands. I think the whole café heard my shrieks of joy. This is a dream come true for me!

Daily life

I was happy to return to “normal life” on Lolland in mid-September. Cozy time was upon us and the autumn chills had set in, so I wrapped up well both at work and at home on the farm. I had missed wearing warmer clothes!

I joined a team of seven for a six-week excavation a kilometre south of the farm, the last of the excavations for the Fehmarn tunnel project! I enjoyed being back at work and felt like I was on fire the first week. I don’t think I’ve ever worked harder or faster in my life! I love this job so much. Being out in the fresh air all day (even when it rained for a whole week!), getting lots of exercise, digging up the past and being with wonderful colleagues. I’m certainly going to miss this life when I move to Aberdeen.

At home on the farm, I spent the evenings cuddling with the dogs, cooking delicious meals, watching How I Met Your Mother (I have one episode left as I write this…), sending out scholarship applications and working on the blog. I was invited by my host family to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) with them, which was a wonderful and enlightening experience – as are our traditional Friday night Shabbat dinners.

Unfortunately, life wasn’t completely smooth back on Lolland. My computer screen gave up after a few months of working on and off so I had to pay 2000 DKK to replace it. A few days later, my phone started playing up and my headphones broke the same day. I fixed the latter by buying two new pairs, but I still haven’t found a solution for my phone. I love my Fairphone 2, but maybe it’s not worth spending more money on fixing an old phone. I might just upgrade it to the Fairphone 4 instead… Still trying to decide! Thankfully, those things are just material. Life goes on!

Travels and local adventures

The last few days in Budapest

Rewind to the beginning of the month, and I was spontaneously in Budapest for the annual EAA archaeological conference. August ended with me leaving the excavation in Slovakia a few days early to join some friends at the conference, and I then spent the first day and a half of September in Budapest.

I didn’t do much sightseeing at all, but I did hear some interesting talks, eat some incredible vegan food, party a lot with the other archaeologists and surprise my colleagues and best friends. It was a great way to begin the month!

16 wonderful days of travels on the Faroe Islands

On September 2nd, it was time to say farewell to Central Europe and head off for my last destination of the summer, my beloved Faroe Islands. This was my thirteenth visit, and it was special for many reasons. First of all, my parents, grandmother and younger brother joined me for the first week, and secondly because I got to show my boyfriend around for the last ten days.

The first week was heartwarming and cozy. My family and I roadtripped through seven islands, visiting those highlights that you can reach by car, as well as many lesser known spots. We went sailing with my “adopted” Faroese dad and shared two dinners with his family. My mum, brother and I hiked from Skarvanes to Dalur on Sandoy – in thick fog. We experienced car problems and had to change our rental car not just once but FOUR TIMES. We visited Felix the Cat at Giljanes Hostel. We had sunny days, cloudy days and no rainy days (we got lucky!). We played yatzy in our cozy airbnb and watched football at a pub in Tórshavn. We went thrift shopping. We saw dolphins (twice!), highland cows, cuddly kitties and lots of posing sheep. The whole week was wonderful, and it went by way too fast.

The day before my parents and grandmother left the Faroes, my boyfriend arrived. My younger brother also stayed for another week with his friend. The second part of my Faroe adventure was full of hikes, camping, hitchhiking and fun with friends. My boyfriend and I hitchhiked all over the country, went sailing among the Vestmanna bird cliffs, camped with a view of Nólsoy, spent two days camping and hiking on Fugloy (my first time visiting this island!), explored Viðareiði and Klaksvík, hiked up Eiðiskollur for a wonderful view of the Risin and Kellingin sea stacks, got our tent soaked (twice) and slept in a comfy sofa at the campsite in Eiði, visited my two “Faroese families” in Tórshavn and Toftir, went swimming in the cold Atlantic Ocean (ok, only one of us was crazy enough to do that) and camped next to the airport. We stayed with my friend Lucie for a few days, explored Tórshavn on a rainy day and did some more thrift shopping.

With my brother and our friends, we went hiking to the famous viewpoints of Trælanípa and Bøsdalafossur on Vágar, climbed four mountains above Kaldbak, partied and sang karaoke (terribly) in my favourite bar and baked the annual vegan carrot cake at Lucie’s place.

So many adventures and so many wonderful memories in just sixteen days! I’m already looking forward to my next Faroe trip.

An afternoon in Copenhagen

My boyfriend and I arrived back in Denmark on September 18th, and spent the last Sunday of our holiday in Copenhagen. I have lived in Copenhagen for two years so I know the city pretty well, but I didn’t need to plan anything crazy as my boyfriend had never been to Christiania despite visiting the city a few times. Well, let me tell ya, it’s a crime not to visit Christiania when in Copenhagen! The place was just as wild, cozy and charming as always.

We also paid a visit to Vor Frelsers Kirke and enjoyed a delicious meal at an Asian restaurant in Christianshavn. Unfortunately, the latter ended with a rather nasty experience when a man burst in and demanded money from the waitress. For some reason, he decided to run out seconds later, smashing glass bottles against the wall on his way out. We were sitting in the corner and were the only guests who didn’t have a chance to leave when he entered. Luckily, he never spotted us, and nobody was physically hurt. I just hope the police were able to catch him!

A photo trip through Rødby and Rødbyhavn

The last weekend in September was spent settling back down on Lolland without any major adventures but I did attend a local church service (just for the experience!) and spend some time exploring Rødby and Rødbyhavn, the two towns that are closest to the farm.

I’m planning a future blog post about these two towns so these trips were for research and to snap some photos.

New on the blog

Most popular post

• 20 amazing experiences on the Isle of Skye, including local secrets – I spent two months living on Skye in early 2020, and spent the weekends out exploring. This post is a guide to all my favourite places on the island!

The other posts

• My August 2022: Central European travels & excavations – August was a busy month full of travels and hard work!
• A short hike to Vágar’s unknown lake, tucked away below the misty mountain peaks – A spontaneous hike on my beloved Faroe Islands last summer
• A weekend on Nakskov Fjord: Camping, sailing and hiking on the edge of Lolland – I finally got around to writing about one of my favourite weekends on Lolland last year!

Most popular Instagram picture

Whoops! I only posted twice on Instagram in September, but the most popular of the two was this series from my time excavating in Slovakia!

Vis dette opslag på Instagram

Et opslag delt af Mel (@north.trotter)

Coming up in October 2022

After a busy summer full of travels, I’m excited for a quiet and slow October focusing on work and weekend adventures. I spent the first weekend of the month at home in East Jutland, and I plan on spending the next two adventuring somewhere on Lolland or Falster.

On the 21st, I’ll travel to Berlin to see my boyfriend and join him for a Foil Arms & Hog gig. I’m so incredibly excited to see these guys live – they are some of my favourite comedians! A few days after I arrive back on Lolland, my younger brother is coming to visit, and afterwards, it’ll be time for a Hansi Hinterseer concert with my grandmother in Copenhagen – her birthday gift from the family!