Final days in Norway

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We turned back south and headed back toward Bergen.

Our first stop was Vardo. There is a fortress dating back to 1737. It had been snowing heavily and our photos show how much.

We stopped at Hammerfest. It was a Sunday where there is nothing open except churches. This is a pretty town, with a lot of snow. It is reputed as being the world’s most northern town. It took a bit of hammering during WW2. During this war Norway avoided the hostilities by capitulating to the Germans. Unfortunately, when the Germans retreated they destroyed most of the buildings of where they had been. Pretty cruel actually. Hammerfest as been rebuilt and is quite a lovely sight.

Our cruise has taken us again through Tromso this time at midnight – but no northern lights in view. We woke up to magnificent scenery and beautiful clear skies in the Vesteralen area.

This part of the world is so amazing. We are now talking about coming back in the spring or autumn and having another look.

In Svolvaer we left to ship at 6.30pm and were taken to a horse farm to ride an Icelandic horse. This tour was called “Lofoten on Horseback”. Icelandic horses are quite different from others. They are born with 2 more types of gaits along with the three found in all horses. The horse is quite short but very strong. They can easily carry 2 adult men and area able to keep up this pace for very long periods.

Our horse ride was taken at night along a beach and across sand dunes etc. There was quite a lot of snow on the ground too. I felt quite safe on the horse I had. There were 6 of us in the group with 2 guides. Had a great time, even though it was cold.

Overall we had a wonderful cruise around the Norwegian coastline, in and out of fjords. The views were spectacular. It was so easy to sit and look out onto the snow covered mountains and relax.

Getting out of Norway was an experience though. We took the bus from the Cruise terminal to the airport. We got there about 3.30pm for a 6.10pm flight to Reykjavik – via Copenhagen. We managed to make it to Copenhagen after a 2 hr delay and missed our connecting flight. Had to stay overnight in Copenhagen and catch an early flight to Reykjavik (the j in this word is pronounced as a h). We went via Oslo. Finally got into Reykjavik about midday - missed our first days tours but have managed to squeeze them all in within the next 4 days. We will be busy but it is better than not being able to see the sights of Iceland.

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Photos

Walter and I at the fort at Vardos
There is more than a metre of snow on the ground

Comments

[Lisa Biddle]

Lovely photos
Hi Yvonne, thanks for all the photos. Glad to hear you are having a relaxing time. Looks beautiful with all the snow, even though it would be a tad cold!!! Take care and happy travelling. Lisa