In Search of the Northern Lights

Our entry into Bergen harbor, courtesy of the live "Bridge Cam"  Well, inertia won the day again.  We hadn't slept that well, and were concerned to be well-organized for dis-embarkation VERY EARLY in the morning (downstairs by 7A).  So we did our last laundry, finished more book and hand-work, and got packed.  Checking suitcase weight, getting VAT refunded, and such basically ate the day.  We have no doubt Bergen is more interesting than a small town on a fjord with an old white church, but we'll have to find out in person another day. Snacks and cookies at the atrium bar

almost nothing to say today, not a bad thing for a long vacation trip.  We slept in, ate healthy, and just didn't do much (though one book was completed and a medallion on the sailing ship needlework completed as well).

We are beginning to hum (VERY softly) "Homeward Bound."  We arrive Narvik around 9AM, but only one of us can work up the energy to get moving at 11:45.  It is, for better or worse, another little town on a fjord, where the steep cliffs surrounding provide panoramic views.  It has a charming, old white wooden church (this one octagonal in honor of the eight beatitudes).  Its future was determined when the railroad arrived, bearing high-quality iron ore from nearby Sweden (where the port was NOT ice-free all year). octagonal church View of Narvik from across the fjord Route E-6, dubbed the longest road with a single route number for its entire length, runs through the town (and all the rest of the places we visited).  They  boast the second-longest suspension bridge in Norway and the 22nd-longest in the world, which replaced ferry service in 1964. There are three types of stone carving currently pursued, and Narvik is the only pl...

The boat was due to depart Alta at 1:30P.  We had some thoughts about wandering back into town, but all we managed to do was wake up before departure time.  The big goal for the day was laundry (free!), but it was a goal shared by many.  I managed some good progress on the next area of the sailing ship needlework, and assisted in getting a broken washing machine fixed again.  Finally all clean clothes were back in the cabin and stowed. Meanwhile, we had been entranced in the restaurant lobby by the large display of Armagnac, a bottle for every year stretching back for a long time.  I got very silly and arranged for us to each have a dessert dose from our birth year.  Apparently the stuff doesn't get called for very often, as we were seated at a prime table in the corner of the windowed restaurant, and when dessert came our choices were replaced with two special-occasion desserts.  One held a loose custard in a chocolate demitasse-sized cup (comple...

This was to be our longest day by far.  We arrived in port at Alta around 8A, and headed off for a home visit with a Norwegian knitting expert.   About a dozen of us arrived at a tidy home in a very residential area.  Boots off, or don "operating room booties" to keep the floors clean.  I ditched my boots promptly, as I was wearing my socks made with "Aurora Borealis" yarn to show off.  Our hostess was most impressed! Our hostess had set up china coffee cups on saucers, and little bread plates, as she was serving spicy cookies and pancakes folded over the (in)famous Norwegian "brown cheese."  We all nibbled away as she showed a wide variety of garments she'd made, with a lot of history on the popular patterns.  The biggest change in recent years has been the move from heavier-weight yarn, which made dense garments suitable for working outdoors, to lighter-weight yarn which makes more fashionable items that can be worn indoors without over...

We started our day with a 9:30 tour of "Panoramic Tromso," one of the tours included in each port.  Tromso sits along the longest fjord in Norway.  This fjord hosts many fish, two of the most popular being cod ("a lazy fish") and pollock ("fights like a salmon").  Be careful what you catch.   Tromso is the largest city north of the Arctic Circle, and again home to a very young population overall.  It hosts a university, a cathedral, and an historic brewery (which has maintained its original bar area, distinctive ambience!).  The story goes that an early settler opened a bakery, but also noticed people imbibing in home-made moonshine.  He felt that to be unhealthy, so used excess yeast from his bread to make beer.  The bakery is long gone, but the beer carries on evey today!  This area is about the size of Singapore, but has a mere 10% of that population.  There is a LOT of Nature to go around here, and those who live here are ...

We docked at Tromso around 1P, and promptly set off for Sommaroy Island.  This is a popular summer destination, but it offers winter charm as well.  We learned a variety of things about the town and the area on the way over ... such as, the difference between a "sound" and a "fjord."  Both words have been adopted into English; a sound is open at both ends (and therefore is all salt water).  A fjord, in contrast, is closed at one end (which usually is fed by a river flowing into it from the nearby mountains).  Therefore the water varies from salt at the sea end, to brackish, to fresh at the closed end.  Just what salmon need! Tromso itself is also a fairly new-construction city; it's the largest city north of the Arctic Circle (did I mention that we'd crossed that line?).  There's a major university here, focused on aquaculture and research on astronomical phenomena (such as the elusive Northern Lights), as well as more liberal-arts majors....

We arrived in Bodo about 1PM, having sailed all day and all night and all morning.  Norway is LONG from south to north. It's also far enough north that our town tour, starting at 4PM, was entirely in darkness.  The town was hard-hit as the Germans pulled back toward the end of WWII, emulating Sherman's march to the sea and burning everything in sight (except, usually, the churches).  There is quite a large section of town that was built after the war from lumber sent from Sweden, the homes look quite similar.  What a generous donation! There's a cathedral and an ancient white church, and the remains of a fort on a high overlook.  (I lost my footing on the way down the steep snow-covered slope and wound up just pushing myself down to level ground, where anxious Viking staff were more than happy to help me to my feet.  In a weird way, kind of fun ... haven't sledded down a hill in a very long time!) Did we mention it's DARK all the time?? The...

We're having a great time but getting ourselves a bit worn out to write every day.  I have good notes.  We have a HUGE day tomorrow, then a crash day ... a light day ... and a sea day.  Will fill you in soon, just don't worry about us.  No frostbite, no disappointment.  Too many really GOOD Danish pastries!  :)

Well, we came to around 10AM yet AGAIN.  We'd pulled out of Stavanger at 4:30, and were in fairly open seas by bedtime.  Rocked to sleep again, we must be recovering from a lifetime sleep deficit.  It's all good -- rarely do we get such a free shot at extra sleep! Not much food service available at that hour, so we set our sights on leaving the room around noon when most of the restaurants are open.  It was well we hung around, for our doorbell chimed and there was ... ANOTHER happy birthday cake & bubbly, this one addressed to Carolyn.  We had somewhat expected the second cake, but hoped it might come ... next WEEK maybe?  But we will cheerfully tuck into the cake and its crown of fresh strawberries and raspberries. We decided that lunch at The Restaurant was beyond our aspirations, and headed off to the World Cafe.  This buffet-style venue curls around the entire back of the boat, offering a window wall that lets you see whatever is out there...

We set an alarm as our day in Stavanger (Stuh-VANG-er) but muffed the details, so startled awake to a lengthy announcement around 8A.  We had arrived late at the port, and all the morning tours were delayed.  We ditched the idea of a morning shower and headed up for a quick bite of breakfast, also ditching the idea of eating a hearty one as we had two tours scheduled.  Exiting the boat is a bit of a process, one's room key card is scanned to document your departure (Where'd You Go, Bernadette?).  The tour groups gather at a given place on board and the guide leads the group off together.  The day was gray and damp, but the rain had stopped.  We had a short walk to our bus, which threaded its way through the narrow downtown streets to the Oil Museum.  Seems that some years back, Danish engineers had evaluated the offshore area for likely oil deposits and found none.  American companies repeated the process and found higher hopes.  Some 7...

 (prelude:  is it even LEGAL for an airline snack to be this healthy??) Well, each of us had our personal worry about "worst case."  Angie worried about complex travel connections, and I fretted over our first day at sea in the open waters.  Turns out, each of us were correct! Angie's flight from O'Hare departed 90 minutes later than schedule.  She had only 60 minutes in Iceland between planes.  Problem!  Fortunately we'd invested in trip insurance AND she had made her air arrangements through Viking.  After a major scramble, and an unexpected assist in jumping the line at UK immigration, she arrived at the ship at 5:25 and was taken directly to the Muster Drill (lifejacket education) at 5:30.  Departure time?  6P.  PHEW! Meanwhile, I'd been increasingly worried that she wasn't here, and though the announcement was made that all passengers were logged into the meeting, I didn't see her. ...

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