Beyond the Polar Artic Circle

It is a bit difficult to write these days about Norway, but one does not choose what happens around him. As a Spanish politician once said, we cannot leave terrorists to define what we do and what we do not do. So, let's write today about our last stage in our trip to Norway: from Leknes (in Lofoten) to Tromso.

Our stay in Leknes was very short and limited to its airport. The airport is extremely small, so after walking five metres we got our luggage, five metres more and we got our rental car. Finally, five metres more and we were in the parking! This time we got a Toyota Verso, quite a big and complicated car, with a lot of lights in the dashboard. After driving just 50 kilometres, we arrived at Henningsvaer, our first destination.
Henningsvaer is known as one of the most beautiful villages in Lofoten by every travel guide in the world. Bridges connecting it to the other islands were only built in the eighties, so one can say that it has been isolated until recently. As we drove through it, it was completely full of tourists, out of control, going from one side to the other of the road. It was quite an stressful drive of just two kilometres.

Our accommodation was used during winter by some fishermen and the smell of fish could be really felt there (so much that I had to throw away some shoes for the shower because the smell they got was unbearable). That evening we decided just to go for a walk and to sit in front of the sea and relax. After some minutes, we saw something bright under the water and we thought it could be some kind of plastic sunken buoy under water. After some minutes, we realised that it was a medusa, approaching us with only God knows which intentions... It was really big and scary: a very persuasive invitation not to swim there.

The next day, though, I managed to get my legs into the Atlantic Ocean, in a beach on our way to Andenes, the most northern village in Andoy island. I have to admit that the water was not so cold as I expected (remember we were around parallel 68º North), maybe less cold than in Iceland, two years ago.

The trip to Andenes was quite nice, crossing a lot of islands and with always scenic landscape. In Andenes, we rented a very nice apartment, for our own use for two nights. It was an invitation to be at home as much as possible, and we enjoyed our days there a lot.

In Andenes, we could feel the fact that there was no darkness in the whole day: there is the same light from 8pm till 8am. It is quite a strange sensation, the mind (at least, mine) knows that something is not normal, it keeps on like waiting for darkness to come, but... Thanks to the mask that I took with me, I could sleep during our days in Norway.We had also booked a whale watching trip in Andenes. When we went there, the crew was hesitating about the conditions of the sea but they finally decided to sail. Bad decision, since soon more than half of us were vomiting (I was one of the tough guys there) and one man even had to be taken to the hospital in ambulance. In the end, the majority of us just wanted to come back, without caring at all about whales. The crew should feel they did something wrong because they gave our money back without any question. This is the second time I try to watch whales (first one in Iceland) with limited success, will there be a third time?

On the way to Tromso, final destination of our trip in Norway, we took a ferry to Grellyfjord (the ferry was moving also, but the situation did not reach the critical levels of the previous day with the whale watching), which turned out to be quite a nice fjord, whose water is of a beautiful colour turquoise (see picture below). From there, we drove through forests and hills to Tromso, with a lot of traffic signs warning drivers against mooses, but we did not meet any. In this area you can really find that nature is really hostil to the human being.Tromso was our final destination in Norway and we did not make much there. Honestly speaking, the city has not so much to offer (somebody called it "Paris of the North", probably one day he was totally drunk). It is a starting point for further expeditions to the North Pole, but in our case it was the starting point to the way back to Frankfurt, via Oslo. As final picture, you can see a Hurtigruten boat going under the bridge in Tromso, probably the most interesting attraction in the city.

Getting to Lofoten

So, once we have visited the fjords, the next step of our trip through Norway consisted in making our way to Lofoten Islands, up in the North. According to Google Maps, starting from Alesund (we were sleeping just ten kilometres away), the distance was 719 kilometres. We did it in three stages: firstly, driving to Trondheim; then, taking a night train to Bodo; and finally, flying to Leknes, in Lofoten.

The drive to Trondheim was special because it happens twice that the road (a highway, indeed) ends in a ferry. The first one of these two ferries was extremely nice and we could get very nice views as we were approaching Molde. The second one was not so nice because it was raining and because we were one of the last cars to enter the boat, and we were literally compressed amongst caravans and trucks. But the ferry to Molde was probably one of our best experiences in Norway.Then, we arrived at Trondheim, with some problems due to a huge traffic jam and to an airport too far from the city centre. Trondheim is the host city of Rosenborg, the best Norwegian football team. It is always very funny to see Spanish journalists complaining about how cold it is when any Spanish team needs to play there. Once they also showed a bicycle lift they have installed there and we found it (see picture to the right), but unfortunately it was not working due to some problems with the European legislation on cable cars.

But let's keep it serious: the city of Trondheim is known for its cathedral and because in the Middle Age it was a place for pilgrimage (like Santiago de Compostela). I guess that after a few years, pilgrims realised that it was too much going to Trondheim and decided to go to Santiago in the search of redemption. It was also an important city in the Middle Age and it is considered some kind of historical capital of Norway.

The cathedral is really impressive, with a façade full of saints and other religious people. In this case, devil is in the details, as there are curious sculptures there, like Adan, Eve and an angel, or a person with the heads of three monks in a tray, or a monk with a sword,... Inside, there is not much illumination and the atmosphere surrounding the temple is really impressive.Beyond the cathedral, the isle of Monkholmen also deserves a visit. According to my tourist guide, there was an abbey there, which had to be closed down by the bishop of Trondheim because the monks were drinking and taking women to the island. Nothing of this remains there, but it is advisable to go there, just for getting into a cannon from the Second World War and for going for a short walk around the island. Another points of interest in Trondheim are the fortress on top of a hill or the houses on the other side of the river, with some cosy restaurants there.

From Trondheim we took a late night train to Bodo. It was 23:35 when the train started moving and it was not dark yet... Our train compartment was really small at the beginning. We could not even get into it with our suitcases, but after some time of getting used to it and of moving our things (somehow similar to Tetris), we felt like at home. Sleeping was a bit difficult because the train was moving a lot and we could feel every curve in our beds. During our sleep we passed, unnoticed, the Artic Polar Circle, in parallel 66.Next morning, we arrived at Bodo, where we just had breakfast and took a bus to the airport. From the airport, we flew to Leknes, in Lofoten Islands, in a flight of just 15 minutes. The landing of that flight was quite direct (and a bit scary, I may add). And there, our adventures in Lofoten and Andoy Islands began...

Fjords in Norway

Today this post will mainly describe our trip through the fjords in Norway. We managed to visit four fjords in four days: Eidfjord, Sognefjord, Nordfjord and Geirangerfjord. It was probably a too demanding schedule. I did not consider, my mistake, that the roads around the fjords could not be very fast, since they are continously going up- and downhill. In addition to this, it is unavoidable to take a ferry, together with buses, caravans and trucks, what also increases the time needed to go from one point to the next.

In Eidfjord, our main goal was to visit Voringfossen, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Norway. However, some clouds were around the mountains, covering exactly the waterfall, so everything we could see of it is in the picture to the left. On the positive side, we visited Eidfjord, which turned out to be an extremely nice place where to spend a morning of doing nothing.

In Sognefjord, we had probably the best and the worst experience with the fjords. The worst was the road uphill to to a viewpoint in Aurlandsvegen, from which to admire the fjord. The road is extremely narrow, with barely space for two cars and we faced caravans and buses on the way up. The best, on the contrary, were the views from there, which are really breathtaking. Having said that, we did not follow the panoramic Aurlandsvegen road during the remaining 40 km, but, we opted for the pragmatic solution and we came downhill and took a tunnel, which may be not offer so nice views but it is more relaxing for driving.In Sognefjord we also visited the stave church of Urnes, which is recognized as one of the best in Norway. In our case, we did not appreciate it so much since it was hot, midday and uphill from the ferry. Under such conditions, it was difficult to really be in the best mood to appreciate a wooden church. Maybe it does not deserve to make a big detour in your route through the fjords.

The next fjord we visited is Nordfjord. To be honest, we just slept in Stryn, without doing anything else around it (the village or town has really not much to offer). The way from Stryn to Geiranger is extremely nice, going first through a lake (see picture below), then uphill to a mountain watching a glacier and then arriving, after a tunnel, to a mountain lake surrounded by snow. It is really an enjoyable way to drive (and much more easier than the Aurlansvegen). The only negative point here is that the global warming is affecting the glaciers, whose size has significantly reduced in the last years and which are not so easy to reach now.From that point, driving four kilometres uphill, there are splendid views of Geiranger and Geirangerfjord (see the picture below). Both are among the most visited places in Norway, crowded with tourists and, in this case, I have to admit that the crowd is totally right: the place is tremendously beautiful. The road downhill is really breathtaking, but, at the same time, a real pleasure to drive.Geirangerfjord runs among step hills, with many waterfalls falling directly into the fjord, some of them thin as a hair. In this case, taking a boat through the fjord is totally recommendable. In our case, our boat also hosted a bus full of Italian tourists and that had a small negative effect on the overall impression, but not so important, after all. Hellesylt is also a very nice place to visit, with a waterfall just in the middle of the village. By the way, according to my travel guide, the fate of Hellesylt is already defined (and it is not very good, to be honest): sooner or later, a rock will collapse and fall into the fjord, producing a tsunami which will take the whole place under the water...

After so many experiences and places, we were quite tired, so we decided not to rush to visit Alesund. I know, I know, that it is a very beautiful city, but we were really running out of energy. Thus, we decided to stay in our hotel and play bowling, what gave me the opportunity to show that I have not learnt anything after years of watching Homer Simpson.

Next post will be devoted to our trip from the surroundings of Alesund to Trondheim, and then to Bodo and Leknes, in Lofoten Islands.

First impressions from Norway

The silence in the last days in this blog is due to the fact that I have spent several days in Norway. Therefore, it is easy to guess which is going to be the topic of the next posts... Yeah, you do not have to be a genious. Let's start with our first days there.Upon arrival to Bergen, in a very nice (and empty) flight of British Midlands from London Heathrow, we were received by the normal weather in Bergen: rain. Somewhere I have read that it rains something like 250 days throughout the year. I had heard many wonders about the second city in Norway, and especially about Bryggen (see above), a set of old houses in the harbour, dating from the Hanseatic days. I was somehow disappointed by it, in the same way I was by the castle, next to them. It is not that they are not nice, but maybe they are not so extraordinary.

But outside the area dominated by tourists, Bergen has a number of interesting places. Leaving aside the museums, for which we did not have time, and the commercial areas in the city centre, we decided to go the Aquarium, in Nordnes peninsula, running parallel to that of Bryggen. There, we got lost in narrow streets, amidst wooden houses and very nice views of the harbour. We even had the chance to see the Hurtigruten boat arriving at Bergen, at the very same time we were approaching the end of the peninsula at Nordnesparken. The area uphill from the Fish Market is also worth a visit, with some streets very step, looking like those we have often seen in movies in San Francisco.

The next day we decided to take the cable car to Floibanen to have a good panoramic view of Bergen, from Mount Floyen. Unfortunately, fog had different plans for us and we could not see anything. We decided not to go downhill immediately but to go for around and we found a lake (Skomakerdiket), which was looking quite ghostly with the fog.That day, in the evening, we took a rental car and drove to our next destination, Ulvik, in our first fiord, Eidfjord. While driving there, we started to realize some constants of our next days in Norway: impressive landscape, water everywhere, some houses with the garden on the roof, very high prices, narrow roads, a lot of caravans, most houses with the Norwegian flag in the garden,...But let's not anticipate it, let's leave something for the next posts.