Honningsvag

We woke up to the Captain announcing that we would be passing the North Cape, the northern most spot in Europe, and we would have a nice view up on deck. It was the opposite side of the ship from our room, so we threw on jeans and a jacket and charged out the door. It was beautiful and invigorating.  We got a lovely view of the North Cape visitor center and the little fishing village of Honningsvag as we pulled in to the dock. 

 

We signed up for an afternoon excursion into a couple of neighboring fishing villages for the afternoon. We thought it would be good to get out into the countryside. As we relaxed in our room, we watched from our balcony and noticed reindeer grazing on the side of the mountain in front of us. It was a fun photo opp. as we played with our cameras.

 

At breakfast we heard how fortunate we were to see what we were seeing. One man we talked to had been here several times before and he had not seen the North Cape as it is often socked in with fog.

We got off the ship and had a great walk around town. There were interesting little shops and even the grocery store was fun to see. There were a couple of older Sami ladies selling reindeer antlers and skins. There were also many beautiful, thickly knitted Norweigen sweaters, gloves and socks. I did buy a book of Troll stories to share with the grandkids. Trolls in Norway seem to be like Leprechauns are in Ireland. King Crab is also a common local dish and we hope to try some soon.

We returned to the ship to get ready for our afternoon and ended up talking to the security guard at the pier. He was a Sami who had grown up on a farm the next fjord over. He was a huge man and so interesting. He told of his parents experiences in World War II. The Germans occupied the area and the Russians were advancing. The Germans didn't want the Russians to have facilities and supplies, so they burned all of the farms and villages to the ground. They put the local people on a ship headed to the south. This man's parents sailed off watching their village and farm burning. How awful! They did come back and rebuild after the war as he was born and raised there. Fascinating!

Meanwhile, he talked about the winters and how inland the snow will be five meters deep with wind and temperatures of more than fifty below zero, so he now lives in southern Sweden. Our conversation took a quick turn and he was full of more good advice for our upcoming trip in Sweden. He told us what highways to use and to have our cameras ready. What a delight our time was with him. We hated to leave, but now had to rush to make our bus for our excursion to the fishing villages.

We had a young tour guide from Estonia who said she moved here as she found a job and then a boyfriend. She had a cute sense of humor and was very informative and kept us entertained. We stopped first at her home fishing village (which she pronounced willage) and saw where she lived with her two huskies out back and then the wharf. It was all settled in a pretty valley. We were given an hour to just wander about on our own. It was perfect. 

 

We saw racks of drying fish and men cleaning huge cod. 

 

We even walked up to say hi to the huskies who really tried to talk to us. 

From there we drove off to another fishing village and had fun taking pictures of reindeer grazing in a field. The weather was great and the air felt wonderful.

The drive took us over barren mountain tops with patches of snow. There are no trees as it is too windy. It reminded us of some of the landscape in Scotland. There were rushing rivers and many sparkling lakes and fjords. We stopped to take pictures of the view of the North Cape. We felt like we had picked the perfect excursion.

We continue to meet the nicest people. Walking around the village, a cute little lady warned me about a step and I missed it anyway and we had a good laugh. Then we found out she was traveling with a group of eight ladies who had all lost their husbands. She was from, Sidney, Australia. We were walking and chatting so much she suddenly realized she had become separated from her friends. She turned back to find them but first took my chin in her hands and said, "Enjoy life while you can, duck, as you don't know what's around the next bend." I said, "Can I keep you?!" She choked me up and....there is that theme again. I hear you, God!

We got back in time to hurry up to the usual delicious dinner and then a fabulous show with the Royal Caribbean singers and dancers. They are an excellent crew and so talented! We walked around the ship listening to the bands till the 10:30 show with the comedian we had seen the night before who was now doing an adults only show. We sat with our dinner mates and had some great laughs.

This is an oriental trio that can play any kind of music that really pulls people out to dance. You wouldn't think by looking at them, that they could do such an excellent, surprisingly perfect rendition of a Patsy Kline or Neil Diamond song as well as many others.

Then, you won't believe this, but we made it to stay up to see the Midnight Sun. What an opportunity! It was lovely soft light with snow patched mountains all around. Everyone was in awe. Choked again. We are so blessed!