June 20
Today at 7:30am we crossed the Arctic Circle which is at 66 degrees above the equator. It is marked by a steel globe on an island. Abovr the arctic circle the sun does not dip below the horizon at all during 24 hours for at least one day. Thus the name, Land of the Midnight Sun. We made it up to Deck 7 on time but Les and Barb did not. However they did get up to meet King Neptune to have him dump ice water down their backs!
Today we will disembark from our cruise boat at 9pm. It has been enjoyable and a chance to relax and watch the scenery. But we are glad not to continue the journey North another 3 days to Kirkenes at Russian Border. Boat is noisy at night because it makes several stops and we right above the stern thrusters.
We were able to get off the ship at Bodo for 2 1/2 hours. There was not much to see but it was a pleasant day to get out and stretch our legs.
We started our boat trip in Bergen and three days of continous travel disembarked in the Lofoten Islands.
The view of the Lofoten Islands from the sea looked very mountainous and uninhabited. We wondered where the roads were. We arrived in Svolvaer at 9:00 pm and our rental car was waiting near the boat dock. Thanks to Google Maps and email we had no trouble finding our cottage in the fishing village of Henninsvaer. There are lush green valleys that traverse between the mountains. Bridges connect the many islands and tunnels cut through the mountains and occasionally go under the fjords.
We were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was and how spectacular the location was. The Tobiasbrygga apartment is a 2 bedroom duplex and it sits on the main canal of this little village of Henningsvaer. Fishing boats and sail boats are lined up on both sides of the canal. There are views of snow covered mountains in one direction and the sea outside a breakwater in the other. And racks of dried codfish everywhere. This is a real working fishing community, particularly in the months of Feb to April.
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