Blogs from Northern Norway, Norway, Europe - page 12

Several years ago, Roisin and I visited Iceland hoping to see a phenomenon that is the Northern Lights. On that occasion, whilst experiencing amazing scenery, the nearest we got was a slightly green hue of the overcast skies. There was obviously some activity happening but nothing to write home (or a blog) about!! Despite driving to the edge of a housing estate where it was relatively free of light pollution and sitting, waiting for several hours, it was to no avail. I’m sure I saw a few curtains twitch. I’m surprised we never had a visit by the local constabulary as the only unusual activity in the area were these two strangers dressed in dark clothing sitting in a car, waiting…watching….The Police are obviously used to this kind of behaviour from over-keen foreigners!! We are now ... read more

Tromso day 3img=https://cid-9d90a65ee8e02416.users.storage.live.com/users/0x9d90a65ee8e02416/myprofile/expressionprofile/profilephoto:UserTileStatic,UserTileSmall/MeControlMediumUserTile?ck=1&ex=24&fofoff=1... read more

In North Norway it is acceptable for the locals to refer to the police as 'you f***ing horse d!ck' when speaking directly to anyone in the force. However, in the South this is frowned upon and will get you arrested and slapped with a fine. Unless you are visiting from the North, as it is generally accepted that the Northerners are rougher around the edges due to harsh living and so 'you f***ing horse d!ck' is known to be a friendly salutation. Apparently this has been highlighted in the press recently when a northerner visiting Oslo required help from local police due to car trouble. I'm not sure if it's OK for tourists to use this term, and so when we drove past the police station, I did not stick my head out of the window ... read more

I've finally seen the Northern Lights! Right on the doorstep of my accommodation too, impressive but they did keep me up bloody late! The trip to Tromsø was via Oslo and the airport must be the most expensive airport I've ever passed through. It's around 10 Norwegian Krona to the pound, so working out that the advertised fish and chips cost over £16 was quick. A smoothie bowl was almost £13 and the prices on the ski gear and jewellery were out of this world! I didn't do any shopping whilst we waited for our transfer to Tromsø. As you would expect, it's a fairly large airport - with staff zooming around on scooters, some pushing carts on the scooters, I wasn't expecting that. Weaving in and out of the tight throngs of people, it was ... read more

Kirkenes, Inari & Saariselka Monday 11 December 2017 After breakfast we arrive in Kirkenes, putting us at 30° East, further east than Istanbul and St. Petersburg. We disembark our cruise this morning at about 9.30am. The bus was on the wharf waiting for us, driven by a bloke from Finland which was where we were heading. We pulled our suitcases through the not-so-deep snow for the driver to store them under the bus. A short drive through Kirkenes, took us to a brief stop at the Russian border. Photos and a few souvenirs where the order of the moment. There was a little shop full of over-prices Russian and Finnish items. One in particular caught my eye and that was the Russian dolls which fit inside each other. The only problem was the outside one had ... read more