Longing for darkness!

Joe and I have been longing for darkness.   Not in the existential sense on the word, but in the "wake up at 2am and see it's still dark outside" sense!  It is amazing how hard we found it to adjust to all day sun.   But that made this latest adventure more special:  How fascinating to us to discover this part of the word where cities have bee thriving for over a millennium in spite of its extreme location.

As we flew over Oslo on our way back, we got a glimpse of completely different landscapes (rapeseed fields, providing a yellow that we did not see up north, and even deeper fjords than the ones we saw), and realized how little of Norway, and of all of Scandinavia we actually saw.  We did not see Oslo, or anything south of there.  We did not see the mountain between Oslo and Bergen, we did not thee anything north of Bodo - not the beautiful islands of Lofoten, nor the arctic cities of Tromslo, Narvic or Alta.  We did not make it all the way to see polar bears.  We saw nothing of Denmark except for Copenhangen, and none of Sweden.

Yet, I think we did get a good taste of the small part of Norway we covered because, unlike most, we drove the small roads, took the ferries, and stayed in (very) small 1-hotel towns.  I understand why most people visit Norway by boat, staying on the coast and stopping here and there at fjord or town.  It is not easy to drive in a country where what is not islands or fjords is mostly mountain, but it is a much better way to see how people really live:  Even though Norway is now a thoroughly modern and civilized country (as measured by the 2 most important features of civilization:  clean bathrooms and free wifi),  you still can see how isolated of lot of it is - how small islands with 3 houses on them still have year long inhabitants, how in many towns, people still line up for the boats to get fresh shrimp, of whale meat, and how the language varies literally every 20 miles.

I'd like to go back in the winter and see how life is then, and get back to see all these parts we missed.  However, on the plane, we also flew over the Farrow islands, Iceland, and got a great view of the icebergs of Greenland, and then over SaintPierre et Miquelon, and I realized how much more of the world we still want to see.....







So it may be a while until we make it back to Scandinavia - but we hope that our favorite part of it - our friends- will come and visit us soon!

Last full day in Norway!

On our last day in Norway, we went to the little island of Kjerringoy, North of Bodo.
It has a nicely restored museum of the estate that used to be the trading center for fishing in this area in the 1800's.

 The name of the island (pronounced Sherrinoy) means "the woman's island", possibly because for a long time, the rich trading post was run by a woman who inherited it from her father, and whose husband died early.  (she remarried a man 25 her junior a while after that, but from the description at the museum that was more of a business deal.....).  There is some debate as to whether "Kjerring" is pejorative e.g "hag", or whether it is only pejorative in the South of Norway and here in the north it just means woman or wife...  indeed it has been a lively debate at Maria's and Remi's house....
They were - by far- the richest people around, making a fortune out of underpaying fishermen and selling the very valuable fish all throughout Europe.

 The house is full a valuables which had to be imported from all over the world.

 Including pretty knick-knacks....

This is the woman in charge - you can see why a 25 year younger man would be attracted to her...

 My grandmother had a stove like that!

 This is the view to the garden- which was very fancy for the time, and for this part of the world.

 The maid quarters where not as nice.....

 as the guest quarter.....  Notice the wood floor, painted to look like knotted wood.

 This is the side of the house that faces the sea- painted white because that was expensive, and so shows of the wealth to incoming visitors.  The back is painted the traditional ocher.

Elliot enjoyed the tour and enjoyed running around the barns.

 Joe had a lot of time to wander around (because the tour was in Norwegian....), so he took a lot of artsy pictures of all the knick-knacks around the house.  

 The landscape is quite different from the area around Bodo - because the bay is much shallower, and so the colors are much brighter (the sea and fjords are very clear, but so deep that you can rarely see how clear the water is).
It is indeed a very special spot - and I could see spending summers here (there are a lot of summer cabins here, but also a permanent population of 554 people).  Indeed, this entire area looks very livable to me - but I'd have to see it in the winter before making a commitment.....

Here is a picture of the village itself.

On the way back to Bodo, we stopped on a lovely cove with pink sand.  If you did not know where this was, the colors would have you think it is the Bahamas - but the water is a bit colder.....  There were nice rocky hills around the beach, so of course, I had to climb them...(I'm the blue dot on top).

 Then one last traditional Norwegian dinner: Salted and smoked lamb chops (Pinnejott), cooked with potatoes in a beer broth for 4 hours, and just crisped on the barbecue.  Served with a carrot and rutabaga mash.  Again - something we had never had, and delicious!

The weather turned cloudy and drizzly again at the end of the day - It seems we've had that impact on Norway:  we've lucked out in Alesund, Sunndelsora and Bodo - and had bright sunny days (although the weather had been very cold and rainy till we arrived), and then it starts raining again when we leave.  Maybe we should be nice to the locals and stay........

I think this is my favorite city in Norway!

It could be that we've had perfect weather, but I think it's more than that.  Bodo is just a really pretty city.  The landscape around it (the mixture of mountains and sea) is beautiful, and the city - right next to the harbor - is very pleasant:  Like every city in this part of Norway, it was almost completely destroyed during the war (bombed on May 27th 1940 leaving only a few buildings).  

 The new architecture is definitely 1960's cement - but maybe because it is so prettily set on the water, and the streets are nicely laid out with cafes and shops, it seems to work.
This is the new cathedral, with very nice stained glass windows and architecture that fits well with its surroundings.

 

 It is surrounded by residential neighborhood  consisting of pretty wooden houses that were also rebuilt after the war.

We walked around the harbor where, if we so wished, we could have bought some whale meat for diner at this boat (note the harpoon launcher in the front of the boat).   We did not, but our guide was very indignant when we suggested that it may be controversial (she said that the whales they eat are not endangered, and besides, she likes it!).

Also got a look at the remnants of the fortress built during the Napoleonic wars, when the Norwegians worried that the English would come and take their fish!  (apparently, the Brits did not care for the fish as they never showed up....).

We had lunch on top of the new Scandic hotel - 17 floors high and providing yet another beautiful view.

 In the afternoon, we took a RIB tour (because we like tourist stuff that forces us to wear silly suits..... we really need to start acting our age .....).

The boats left from the Hurigruten terminal - which I did not know about.  But Joe - who is apparently more sophisticated then me - did:  it is the cruise line that follows the old mail ship route up the coast, making the same stops as it used to - but now for tourists.  

 Here is a relatively good picture of one of the vortices.  We learned that the currents and maelstrom is created when the tide from one fjord - which is 450m deep) flows to the other fjord - which is 650m deep- through a channel that is only 26 meter deep - thus creating the fastest tidal current in the world.

On the trip, we also got to see some nesting sea eagle (not great picture because I only had the iphone with me), and the intriguing rocks on the side of the fjords (these where pushed up with the American tectonic plate clashed into the Eurpopean one).

  

  For dinner, we had another very typical Norwegian meal:  Boknasik - dried cod (boiled) served with bacon, potatoes and carrot bechamel - very unusual (at least to us), and very good!

The land of the midnight sun.... and moon

Since this is just so exciting to us, I decided to have midnight in Bodo be it's own post, rather than just tag it onto another day.

If you type "sunset Bodo" on google, here is what you get.  Note not just the time, but the day....  sunset in at 12:42am on Tuesday, July 14th......  So we had a good window of opportunity to catch it, particularly since the weather was so nice!




Maria, Joe and I went to an overlook, from which we could take a 1.5miles trail to the top of a hill with a wonderful views.  It was remarkable to me how many people are out hiking, jogging and just enjoy the weather at midnight!  No wonder the town seems so sleepy until about 11 in the morning......
So here are a few picture of the midnight sun!  (and of the moon, because it was the full moon too - we were very lucky!).

There were other enjoying the sunset (from the mid-way point, where a lot of people where taking pictures) - there were also a lot of people at the higher point, just hanging out, waiting for the sun not to set.....

And then, as an extra treat, here are picture of "the midnight moon" - when the fool moon was rising at the same time as the sun was "almost" setting.