Thursday, July 21, 2011

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...

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