Europe

To the End of the Earth

Posted by Jim St. George on August 13, 2022
Posted in: Europe, Norway. Leave a Comment

Arriving in Solvær a little after 10:00 PM, just in time for a nightcap. Way above the Arctic Circle, this little town was really charming.

OK, we didn’t actually get to the end of the earth. With three more days sailing north and then east along the northern edge of Europe it felt like the end of the earth. There’s not a lot more to say about the boat trip. As we moved further and further north the weather seemed to get ever more gray, the settlements got a little more remote, the sun rose ever earlier. When we finally turned southeast on the last day en route to Kirkenes – just a couple miles from the border with Russia – it seemed likely that I would never be further north than the 71 degrees latitude we were at then.

After six days we were decidedly ready to get off the boat. There’s only so much of the coast line that you want to see and only so many villages and towns that you want to spend a couple hours in. One of our stops – Tromsø – is a city that could be worth spending time in, but we’re coming back there on our own after the boat trip is over.

Mark in Tromsø. We’re a little concerned about the two days we have here after the boat since it doesn’t seem like there’s much here.

And then there’s the food. To their credit, the food was often surprisingly good. But while the menu changed a little over the six days, we were getting pretty tired of the same options over and over again. And then there was just the weirdness of the food service. For one, they had obviously just implemented new technology, where the waiter would come to your table with a smart device of some sort and enter your order there. Sounds like it would make things a lot more efficient, right? Oh God no. It was painful – and painfully slow – watching them try to figure out how to enter all the right information. I’m sure ordering took four or five times longer than if they’d just written the order.

On top of that, there was just random weirdness. Maybe to make the menu look bigger they would have the same item listed in different sections, often with a different name. But exactly the same dish. On the breakfast menu, “Eggs, over easy or sunny side up” translated as one egg, always sunny side up. One day the egg was genuinely cold. Another day, without warning lunch was served an hour earlier than normal; we got there two minutes after it closed (early) but they served us anyway; others who arrived a little later were turned away. On two occasions they substantially reduced the dinner menu without explanation. And though they claimed to offer a fancy dinner option, and told us when we checked in they just didn’t know what nights it would be offered, it just never appeared.

There was lots about the ship and the cruise that was wonderful, but the food service was weird.

As we got way up north we noticed that the remote farming settlements were now down on the coast rather than up in the mountains. Seems to make more sense, but these places are still really remote.

So that was it: six days up the coast of Norway. Lots of great scenery, a few beautiful fjords, enough rain and drizzle to last a long time. And always the question going round and round in my brain: why do people live this far north? It’s strange enough in the cities but when you pass these utterly remote residences you just wonder. Why do they live there? At least during our week the summer is cold and rainy, while in the winter it’s colder and dark. What is life like up here then? Not sure I’ll ever find out.

Mark in the very cute town of Svolvær

The bartender in Svolvær pours a little Aquavit

And Jim enjoys it in this cute little pub

Departing Svolvær after a fun late evening stop

Just before midnight in the Lofoten Islands

Sun breaking through as we enter the Magerøya Strait. Don’t worry: it wouldn’t last.

Mark as we’re leaving the Magerøya Strait. There’s a long tunnel from the mainland out the island behind him that carries traffic out to the North Cape tip of the island. That makes it the northernmost point in Europe accessible by car.

A brief late night stop in Skjervøy

At 10:30 PM the slowly darkening sky is beautiful

Passing another ship near midnight

At the farthest point north in our journey, the weather got a bit colder, grayer, and rainier, as witnessed from inside the cozier lounge

In Honningsvåg, the northernmost port of call on our journey

Cute front porch in Honningsvåg

Seems like the loneliest picnic table in the world outside of Honningsvåg looking out into the Barents Sea

We hadn’t seen white caps for most of the journey but here the weather was definitely starting to act up

Islands in the Barents Sea a little before 11 PM

Here we are in Troll Fjord just before midnight

North to the Arctic Circle

Posted by Mark Sullivan on August 9, 2022
Posted in: Europe, Norway. 1 comment

Entering Geraingerfjord, the most celebrated of Norway’s famed fjords

The 13th century Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim is the northernmost Gothic building in Europe — and Scandinavia’s largest medieval building

We left Bergen on the MS Havila Castor, sailing our way to the far north of Norway. It’ll take six days to reach Kirkenes, at the very top of the Norwegian mainland at the border with Russia.

More of the stunning cathedral interior

A waterfall in Geraingerfjord

Two companies — Havila and its older competitor Hurtigruten — today run ferry services that shuttle people, tourists, mail, and freight along this extensive coastline. The fist steam ferries began running between Trondheim and Tromsø in 1838. By 1908 service covered the whole route from Bergen to Kirkenes.

Today, these companies feel like a cross between a ferry service and a cruise line. Some passengers travel short distances, while others spend a week or two going up the coast, down the coast, or even round trip. The boats offer comfortable accommodations, tasty Norwegian cuisine, shore excursions, and plenty of clean Scandinavian design.

Early in our journey we sailed deep into Geraingerfjord, the mother of Norway’s spectacular fjords. The next day we spent a few hours on shore in the elegant university town of Trondheim (which we will return to after the boat trip). And this morning, halfway into our trip, we crossed the Arctic Circle. And with three more days to go!

So far this has been a great way to see Norway. We spend a lot of the days and evenings sitting on our own balcony just watching the landscape glide by. The scenery includes mountains, islands, pretty harbors, little towns, and no end of isolated houses that you can’t even imagine how people get to.

It all sits under moody skies, patches of fog, occasional wind and rain, and sudden bursts of sunshine. And the long summer days seem to get noticeably longer with each northbound day. We love watching the landscape slowly darken between 10 and 11 pm. But not for long: Sunrise tomorrow is scheduled for 3:12 am.

Steep cliffs and lots of waterfalls line Geraingerfjord

More waterfalls

Approaching the town of Gerainger at the far tip of the fjord

Our boat in Trondheim

This crown was traditionally used for the coronation of the kings of Norway. But the last couple kings pared back the celebration from a “coronation” to a simpler “benediction,” so now the lovely crown just collects dust in the museum near the Trondheim Cathedral.

Posing in pretty Trondheim

Norwegians seem to love classic American cars. This 1956 Buick Roadmaster was in mint condition.

We loved watching the landscape slowly get dark between 10 and 11 pm

This monument welcomed us across the Arctic Circle this morning

Bergen

Posted by Jim St. George on August 6, 2022
Posted in: Europe, Norway, UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1 comment

Beautiful, moody Bergen, snuggled in between the sea and the mountains

From Finse our next stop was Bergen, over on Norway’s western coast. The second largest city in Norway (after Oslo) and Norway’s capital in the 13th century, today it is an important commercial port and major tourist destination. The historic buildings on the eastern side of the old city harbor known as Bryggen form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

One of Bergen’s picturesque streets

First though, we had to get here from Finse. We’ve traveled by train a lot in Europe and we’ve come to expect reasonably timely service, reasonably comfortable service, a reasonably easy trip. OK, not so much in Norway. Our train was some 45 minutes late getting into Finse, it stopped a few times en route to Bergen due to technical problems, there was no café car, and we’d been warned that at the penultimate stop we would have to get off and transfer to a bus.

OK, things go wrong. But when we got off the train to finish the trip by bus … there was no bus. The signs all pointed to the place to catch a bus, but there was no bus. I just assumed they would have that all arranged but … not so much. Now eventually we only had to wait 10 or 15 minutes, but then the bus didn’t have enough seats for everyone so some people had to stand the full 30 or 35 minutes it took us to get to Bergen. Not exactly what you expect for Europe’s train system.

Eventually, though, we got to Bergen. The first thing to note about our stay here was that the weather was not normal. You know those European heat waves you’ve heard about recently? Totally missed Norway. Mark was here 36 years ago in August and he remembers normal summer weather. Our three-night stay was all rain and fog and cold and more rain. You’d look at the forecast on your iPhone and see that there was a high chance of rain, and sure enough it was raining. You’d look at your iPhone and see there was zero percent chance of rain and … it was probably raining then anyway.

Three American tourists, three new raincoats!

One result was that the tourist stores along the harbor were full of tourists buying rain coats and rain pants and sweaters and coats and gloves. And when I say “tourists,” of course I’m referring to Mark and Jim. And Bart and Ann, who joined us here for the three days. And as you walk around the city you can see all these tourists who, just like us, have the nicest, cleanest, newest cold wet weather gear on. Quite the sight.

What’s to do in Bergen? Parts of it are really beautiful, you’re surrounded by water and mountains, and with all the precipitation the greenery is practically exploding. So you walk around (in your rain coat and rain pants, maybe an umbrella) and enjoy the moody beauty. A funicular takes you high above the city where there are great views and beautiful trails.

Bart & Ann enjoying the views from above the city

But there’s only so much of that you want to do in the rain. So there’s always laundry to do. Mark had done the research and found the service where you can drop off your dirty clothes in the morning and pick up clean, folded clothes in the afternoon. Sadly, though, the owners were on their summer holiday so instead I had to schlep some two miles north of the city center to a laundromat. Not ideal, but there’s little that makes us happier than a suitcase full of clean clothes.

Mark, Ann, & Bart getting high

And then spending time with Bart & Ann. Walking around, laughing, joking, finding places to eat. Talking politics and catching up on stories of the people we know but don’t see anymore. And playing Hearts. Lots of playing Hearts. Mark was the big winner if you’re wondering.

Now the sun is trying to poke out so it’s time to get the heck out. From here we board a boat and will spend six days sailing up through the fjords, up past the Arctic circle to the very northeast edge of Norway. Despite what one might think after reading about our two weeks on a boat in Croatia and now this trip, we’re honestly not cruise or really even boat people. But I didn’t want my first fjord experience to be some cheap day trip, and the chance to get that far north just seemed too good to pass up. So here we go.

More moody Bergen

Cozy streets

Cute houses

Historic wooden buildings in Bryggen

There’s a lot of green in this city

Oh right – history and culture. This was the King’s Hall next to Bergen’s old fortress. It is still used sometimes for events and concerts.

Political street art

Mark is always making new friends

A trail up above the city

Another pretty, wet street in the old town

Hard to believe that 25 years ago Bart was building our condo in Cambridge. A quarter of a century later there’s no couple we enjoy traveling with more.