I’ve always said that cruising is a great way to see a large part of the world quickly. For us, if we find a place we really like, we will schedule a non-cruise trip back to the area or we tack on additional days pre/post cruise. We have continued with that idea on this trip as we have traveled about 2500 nautical miles aboard the Norwegian Star. We’ve had the good fortune to see Arctic villages and towns that are rarely accessible to most tourists. We’ve also attached other modes of transportation to each end of the tour. This time, we are spending about 15 hours in the northern Norwegian city of Tromso before boarding the Hurtigruten cruise/ferry line to visit the smaller fjords and remote villages as we head south to Bergen. We believe it will be a quite different cruising experience that the previous 12 days.
First, though, let me do a quick wrap-up of the highlights of our last 4 days! I won’t talk about the usual cruise stuff – food, entertainment, drinks, casinos, specialty dining, spas, and gyms. That’s all fine and good but not the reason we cruise.
The highlights of this cruise, for me, have been the fjords, and the beautiful and long-lasting midnight sun. There is a spectacular showing each night about 11:30 and sky stays fiery until about 3:00 each morning. Of course, the times vary as we travel but it is amazing to see!
We have visited the small towns of Alta, Honningsvag, and Hammerfest. Each had a unique feel. The weather has been amazingly mild, and we have been told from everyone, including the captain, that this is by far the best weather of the season. We feel very fortunate. George even ventured out in shorts a couple of days.
The best thing about Alta was the trip in and out of the fjords to the pier! Once in town, we finally mastered the local bus and toured downtown on our own.
Honningsvag was our favorite village. Friendly streets, shops and coffee shops were there for our exploration. We took an excursion to two small fishing villages where we purchased some unique art pieces and enjoyed more Norwegian waffles. You really must try one! We saw lots of reindeer as we rode over the pass to see the North Cape.
Hammerfest almost did me it. We took a tough, steep hike to the top of a small mountain. Again, the reindeer were plentiful, but the highlight was the Sami visit. The truth be told, I had never heard of the Sami people until this trip, but they are the indigenous people of the north living in Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia. Some are still nomadic and follow the reindeer as they move from the mountain tops to the valleys. Many have homes in the suburbs now but still teach the language and culture to the younger family members. We found it fascinating. We were able to learn about their culture, customs, and music. They have a tradition called joiking. Each member creates his/her own song that following generations learn to feel close to their ancestors. One gentleman sang us his grandfather’s joik. We were able to sit around their campfire, inside that wooden tee-pee type structure, covered with sod on the outside, and sample reindeer meat and smoked salmon.
On Augst 3rd, we celebrated Cindy’s birthday in the French restaurant and visited our favorite ship hangouts for the last time. Today, we said goodbye to Carlos, Helbert and Toto and made our way off the ship. We taxied to the Hurtigruten port, stored our luggage, and explored this city. I found the Arctic Cathedral beautiful and interesting, but the highlight was the cable car up to the top of a mountain. The views were spectacular, and the weather was much cooler than down below. We spent a few hours there just relaxing. Afterall, we have 15 hours – until midnight – to wait for our next boat! George decided a walk from the cathedral back to the port, across a huge bridge, would be a great idea! I don’t know why I always fall for his bright ideas. It was LONG but we finally make it back and went to a nearby restaurant, Kaia, for a reindeer burger.
