Blogs from Northern Norway, Norway, Europe - page 16

Today was going to be about exploring the area around Harstad….umm…..until we walked outside and noticed one of the rental car back tires was very low. Brian inspected and sure enough, there was a screw. Screwed seems to be the operative word. We called the closest rental outlet at the airport who gave us the “It’s not our problem, call the guys you rented from” so we tried that. They were far away and told us to use the Fix-a-Flat and the portable compressor. We learned all about how that little gem of a kit works and we were on the road in a few minutes. However, you shouldn't drive fast or far with a screw still in your tire so we didn’t want to go as far as we planned. We explored just an hour ... read more

It was our first full night in the land of the midnight sun. It's daylight 24/7. After a light breakfast of eggs, bacon, muesli, bread, and cheese, we hit the open road. We visited one of several white beaches that look very much like the Caribbean. It's still only about 50 deg F, so we weren't fooled too much. Next stop, the government liqueur store. Success after several failed attempts! We loaded up on wine for future wine-thirties and Amy got her much-loved pistachio ice cream with a new bonus - dipped in dark chocolate. (Brian likes it too!). After a 3 hour ride through the snow-capped mountains of Bardu, we arrived at the Polar Park. It's a combination wildlife preserve and zoo. The enclosures are huge wooded areas (acres and acres) fenced in but house ... read more

Mein erster Monat im hohen Norden. Mein erster Moant in Vadsø. Es ist wunderschön hier. Vadsø liegt direkt am Varangerfjord und hat um die sechstausend Einwohner. Wie sich die Leute hier über Wasser halten, ist mir noch fraglich. Ein Teil ist Fischindustrie, vor allem werden Krabben verarbeitet. Seit ein paar Jahren haben sie kaum noch Fisch, dafür kommen immer mehr Königskrabben von Russland her ins arktische Meer Norwegens. Ein Grossteil der Menschen hier arbeiten für den Staat oder im Fachhandel. Doch die Arbeitsplätze sind rar. Darum ziehen die jungen Leute oft in grössere Städte wie Tromsø, Bergen oder Oslo. Dadurch stehen viele Häuser in Vadsø leer, die nun für Flüchtliche gebraucht werden. Mehr als zehn Prozent der Einwohner sind Asylanten, was das kleine nordische Städtchen sehr international macht. Wir lernten schon auf unserem Flug von Oslo ... read more

We arrived in Hammerfest this morning at 6:00am, earlier then planned as our next stop is Murmansk in Russia. Yesterday we were advised that in Murmansk they are holding a naval parade and if we are not in the harbour before 6:00am tomorrow we will not be allowed to enter. We are not sure what this parade involves, whether we will see it, whether it will mess up our tour plans, or what. It could be a fun day. As everything had been bought forward we had to leave the ship at 7:30am if we wanted to do or see things in Hammerfest. It is a really lovely small town and they claim to be the northern most city in the world. However Honniingsvâg disputes this as they are further north but they do not have ... read more

NORVEGE 11 – une toute belle journée... - NORRUEGA 11 – un dia muy lindo Texte français après l'espagnol... No hay foto del dia porque fue un dia de lluvia... Nada particular para sacar pero lindos paisajes para ver... A veces uno se pregunta si no esta en Suiza... pero mas ordenados porque los norruegos tienen un desorden tremendo en todo lugar... Bajamos hacia el sur ahora y este 22 de junio estamos en Trondheim, ciudad que vamos a visitar maãna. Volviendo al 18 de junio, fue un dia maravilloso y tuvimos hasta 22°... En otro blog vieron la foto de nosotros dos donde hablabla de la playa que una guia de viaje francesa compara con una playa de Tailandia... nada de acuerdo con ellos pero si les conviene soñar asi yendo mas cerca, lo puedo ... read more