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| The Northern Lights from our Reine Cabin |
The Scandinavia trip is now complete with an incredible bucket-list-satisfying return to Norway. Highlights include going to a tiny town at Europe's most northern point, seeing magnificent fjords from land and sea, surfing north of the Arctic Circle, and exploring the amazing Lofoten Island chain.
I returned to Norway by flying from Sweden to Kirkenes which is at the intersection of Norway, Finland, and Russia at 71 degrees North. Things get weird at the poles, so the town is actually east of St. Petersburg, Russia, but in the same time zone as Spain. Its latitude is the same as Barrow, Alaska which is the northernmost point of Alaska. Needless to say, it is a tiny frozen little town that is 3,000 km (the distance between New York to Miami) miles from the southern end of this deceptively large country.
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| Reine in the daytime, our cabin was the red one on the right. |
When I landed in Kirkenes I went to the hotel restaurant but they only served reindeer based dishes. Not wanting to eat ‘The Santa Special’ I wandered the one street town for a more vegetarian solution. There was a tiny pizzeria that was still open so I bundled up and trudged to its glowing lights. While waiting at the counter to order, a woman asked enthusiastically from behind me if I like to couples dance. I thought it weird, but followed her to a warehouse next door.
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| Hurtigruten near Europe's most northern point |
Instead of harvesting my kidneys, which seemed like the most likely outcome, I was taken to a dance studio where 12 people were teaching either other to dance. I was told the pizza place would deliver my food when it was ready, but in the meantime I had to dance with the natives. Not how I expected the evening to turn out, but it was a super fun twist in the road.
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| Magnificent Lofoten |
I jumped on the Hurtigruten ship the next day to wander down the northwestern coast of Norway. Originally a mail delivery ship, this cruise is primarily frequented by European octogenarians napping from recliners and dozing off while looking out the window. My preferred perch was on the top of the ship shivering in the arctic winds trying to commune with impossibly beautiful and unspoiled lands I will likely see but once in my life. I was on the ship for 2.5 days. The highlight was being woken up by a ship-wide announcement in the middle of the night that the aurora borealis (Northern Lights) were happening, and if you want to see it, you better run to the deck. I jumped out of bed, put my pants on backwards and hopped/stumbled up to see the planet’s most beautiful natural fireworks from the open Arctic seas.
I disembarked in the Lofoten Islands and met up with Matt who was also traveling in the region. We went to Reine - which may be one of the most picturesque hamlets in the world. We sat on our cabin deck and stared at the magnificent mountains ensconcing the fairytale town and took short boat trips to the surrounding fjords. We were treated to an amazing clear-skies Aurora Borealis, this time I had my pants on correctly and had a camera so I was able to capture a little of its glory.
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| If only I had more thumbs I would be more enthusiastic about this hike. |
We drove around and hiked the outdoor dreamscape for a week. Some of Lofoten was so beautiful that we just burst into laughter when we saw it. Drives that should have taken 1 hour turned into 5 hour trips when the 1000 photos per hour were included.
Being idiots, we decided to try our hands at surfing way north of the arctic circle. We rented a cabin overlooking a rugged beach in Unstad. When the rains and gale force winds died down long enough to consider going outside, we donned 6mm full wetsuits, complete with booties, gloves, and hoods, and paddled out towards our icy doom. Terror and neoprene kept me warm enough to try and catch a few waves while Matt shredded nearby.
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| Our tiny surf village in Unstad. Those little dots are the 50 houses that constitute the whole town. |
I fly back to the states on the Sept 27th to visit Boston, Austin, and my parents in San Antonio. I'll be back in California Oct 7th. After 2 months away from home, it will be great to see old friends again.
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