Before the roads were blasted, milled and poured into the Faroese landscape, it came down to the feet. And on the men who carried the mail. Because that's what this blog post is about: old postal routes, stamps and an electronic letter that arrived at my home.
Gásadalur, a village on Vágar, is a prime example of mail. Until not so long ago, the village was one of the most isolated on the islands. Rugged cliffs border Gásadalur to the sea, otherwise steep mountains surround the small village, which often disappears in clouds of mist and fog. Whoever was the letter carrier of Gásadalur had a back-breaking job to do. Three times a week, a man scrambled along the old postal route, over a mountain and to the next village - just to get the mail, medicines and small purchases for the inhabitants of Gásadalur.
Every letter a postman carried, had one or more stamps on it. The stamps of the Faroe Islands are works of art, they reflect the history of the archipelago and cover pretty much all topics: flowers, animals, vehicles, space, lighthouses, history, legends, children, ships, nature. The sheep stamps are among my all-time favorites. I got them as a gift from my friend Frida.
In my book about the Faroe Islands I wrote about stamps as well. And that brings us full circle, with an email I got from a lovely book reader; her name is Simone, here's what she wrote me: „Last year - July 2022 - my husband and I traveled to the enchanting Faroe Islands. During the travel preparations, our daughter gave me your book, which had just been published. I was very happy about that! It is written with so much love for the islands and also made them so much closer, more familiar and more tangible to me!“ And I got another gift: a lino print from Simone. Just fabulous, isn't it?!
You’ve got mail: stamps. Discovering old postal routes: walk