Norway Mailboat Cruise-1

We had a wonderful adventure in May 2019 with dear friends Louis and Sylvie. This was a nostalgic trip for Louis having lived in Denmark early in his life and traveled quite a bit so seeing this part of the world was special for him. 

We had heard about this particular boat trip for years from friends Carolyn and Bill and Daphne when she was  young. These two who have been all over the world loved it. We concur as it is the best cruise ever. 

We flew comfortably first class on Norweigian air lines to Oslo.

Then to Kirkenes and there disaster struck as we were deplaning.  Kevin in the best of health was grabbed by an old man falling. This unfortunate incident tore Kevin's right rotator cuff and caused much pain. Thank goodness we had Louis and Sylvie to help us with luggage as Kevin was not able to do much carrying.

Here we are departing the plane at Kirkenes before incident. The man who caused the accident must be the one right behind Kevin.

We spent the night in Kirkenes. Kevin was in pain and we went to a medical clinic the next morning but they were not helpful and we soon boarded the Lofoten, originally launched in 1964 and carrying an average of 100 passengers and cargo everyday since then. 

This photograph of painting shows the small Lofoten next to a Hurtigurten cruise ship.

This photo shows the Lofoten loading cargo.

This is the last season for the Lofoten as it has no stabilizers and no elevator and thus cannot be used for passengers. We felt really fortunate to be part of this cruise.

We were Southbound, beginning at Kirkenes.

Every day we received a schedule:

There were many excursions--our first excursion was for Vardo, the same afternoon we boarded.

We walked around this old fort.

It was a lovely day, sunny, bright, and crispy cold, perfect for me.

These buildings still house war equipment from WWII as this part of Norway was a big battle ground between the Germans and Russians, trying to control the North Atlantic and to load up on the iron ore found there. The town of Kirkenes where we embarked was completely destroyed during the War, except for one church. Even today, this area of the world is  important and watched carefully by both the Russians and Americans.

I love the grass on the roof--reminds me of Heidi. Inside was information about this fort.

Hot doughnuts must taste mighty good in this cold part of the world--I like that word, smultringer!

And back on the ship, we had comfortable places to hang out, like this lounge. The official languages for the ship were Norweigian, English, and German. The man talking to us was French and Sylvie and Louis helped translate for this friendly couple. 

Louis and Sylvie liked to hang out in the front of the boat.

Whereas, Kevin and I hung out on the back of the boat.

And, always, we found amazing views.

We visited Hammerfest.

A special excursion was a concert in the Arctic Cathedral in Tromsø.  

And did I mention that the service was at Midnight and that there is no night in the land of the Midnight Sun in May!

At Harstad, we got onto a bus and traveled by bus and  boat around Verterålen, an archipelego in the Arctic Circle with beautiful scenery.

On the Trondenes peninsula we visited this ancient site.

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The small chapel was elegant inside.

The toilets were in this building, graced by the cupola which had once been on the church.

A museum close by displayed interesting history of Vikings.

An early painting showing the church with the cupola on top.

There were lots of these beautifully-carved saints. I was fascinated because in UK, the saints were destroyed by  Puritans and there are just empty niches where they sat in the cathedrals. This one is Hieronyomus. The mingling of Vikings and Christianity in Norway is fascinating. I believe I need another lifetime to learn it. 

The views from Trondenes were exquisite.

I love the graceful Birch trees in Norway. They grow slowly and not so big. Birch bark is good as fire starter, probably needed a lot in this part of the world.

And at one point we had elevenses on a boat cruising Verterålen!

An exciting excursion was on a small boat in search of this beautiful eagle:

We saw one. 

But we saw many gulls. Young sailors were feeding them smaller fish and they swarmed our boat--they have a good life!

This young sailor had names for many of the birds following the boat!

We saw powerful waterfalls which carry the melting snow down the mountains into turbines which supply the electric power for Norway. Electricity is free for Norweigians and they sell it to other countries!

Another excursion was to a salmon farm and we learned so much from our attractive guide. Oil, salmon, and tourism are Norway's big industries. 

We visited Trondheim, a big city!

We enjoyed walking around this lovely city.

A big Cathedral!

Good shopping!

And back on the boat, we had occasional meetings in the suite next to us--refreshments were served. Here are our directors: