Bronnoysund to Svolvar– Sunday 6 March 2016

 

 

We saw something strange in the sky this morning. It’s been a long time, but it think it was called the sun or something like that. Or maybe it was the Norway groundhog predicting more winter, because it was just out for a very brief time and returned back to hiding from us again.

 

 

Arctic Circle marker compliments of Linda. Last time we passed this place I was out early. This time I stayed inside. My position on the subject is that once you’ve seen one Arctic Circle you’ve seen them all.

 

 

View from above the Arctic Circle. Interestingly enough the landscape way up here on the north side of the circle doesn't look any different from the landscape on the south side of the Arctic Circle.

 

 

Turn her loose on deck with a camera and it seems like almost every photo she takes has a red building in it.

 

 

Turn her loose on a deck that has food on it and you will find her sitting at a table across from a plate that is filled with fish and liver pate. The wonder of it all is that she can still smile as those delicious aromas fill the air. That’s one tough woman for sure.

 

 

With the snow of last night, the snowy coastal mountains are snowy right down to the coast. Happy Linda.

 

 

I was reminded by Ms. Snowy Coastal Mountain Lover that I hardly posted any Snowy Coastal Mountain Photos yesterday. You’d think she thought readers would stop reading the blog because of the lack of SCMP’s. I don’t think so, but you might just want to be prepared for a healthy dose of SCMP’s today.

 

 

SCM’s with non-S C non-M’s in the foreground. Wow, Bob’s getting pretty good with this shorthand stuff if he does say so.

 

 

For those of you who have had your fill of SCMP’s, a SCM with something different in the foreground.

 

 

Continuing to break up the SCMP monotony. Nice Bob.

 

 

It’s the Richard With, the ship we were on the last time we were here.

 

 

This is the Norway Linda was looking forward to seeing, and as we sailed along the coast this morning it was either SCM’s or red buildings contrasting against the snow much of the way. Very Happy Linda.

 

 

The marina at Ornes. It sort of reminds us of the wonderful places we visited in France, kind of, at least a little bit. Just like that old saying, the more things are the same, the more they are different. Or something like that.

 

 

Not sure what they called these mountain peaks, maybe the Grand Teton’s with a bit of sag. Bad Bob.

 

 

I tell you, Linda was in seventh heaven what with all the red buildings.

 

 

Getting ready for the crossing of the circle ceremony.

 

 

He was called something that neither of us can remember, but he was part of the ceremony.

 

 

We weren’t going to go through this again, having done it in 2014. But there were so few people who were doing that I thought, what the heck, it’s only water and ice. I did remember enough from the first time that I untucked my tops before going up, hoping the ice cubes wouldn’t get caught on my back. Wuss Bob.

 

 

It was seriously cold, the Ship’s Captain and the Norse what-ever-he-was, having done the dousing to perfection.

 

 

So much for my plan to have the ice cubes slide down my back. I pulled out two handfuls like this and and then several more cubes as I wiggled a little to shake them down. It was cold, but all in good fun and I was glad I did it. Non-norseman Bob.

 

 

Linda was happy to pose for a photo with the norsewoman who blew the horn to summon the Norse what-ever-he was.

 

 

Lest you think I could eat a meal without fish, there is orange herring caviar and fish  soup. But just to add a bit of variety, the meat was reindeer. Oh, and I also had some of the wonderful brown cheese we get in Norway and this was the best we’ve had to date. Unfortunately is was made from goats milk, so Linda was a non-taster.

 

 

With a stop of three hours at Bodo, we left the ship to take a walk around the town. It was Sunday afternoon and all I can say is that there was virtually nothing open in the town.

 

 

This Subway was one of the few places that was open. Looking back we should have stopped in to see what was on the menu. I wonder if they have a reindeer sub? Perhaps it is just reindeer and catsup and they call it The Rudolf. Bats in his Belfry Bob.

 

 

We now know what this sign means.

 

 

A display of all the different devices and shoes with built in studs to keep you from falling on the icy sidewalks.

 

 

It is seriously icy ahead.

 

 

Linda chaining up.

 

 

Solid ice and not one slip.

 

 

Selfie of the day.

 

 

Definitely not your typical church architecture.

 

 

Stained glass window detail.

 

 

A beautiful setting for the pipe organ.

 

 

Chickens always bring a smile to Linda’s face.

 

 

I can report that thanks to Ms. Studly’s shoe studs, no posterior was planted during the lengthy time we spent on the icy sidewalks of Bodo. By the way, did you know they also make these studded things with some fashion for wearing with high heeled shoes? We saw them in the window of the shoe store, the photo of which I posted earlier.

 

 

Tonight we missed dinner onboard the Nordlys, but we had an even more awesome dinner experience. The first excursion we signed up for was the Viking Feast. A reconstruction of the largest Viking building ever discovered in Norway. Great actors portraying a Viking Chieftain and members of his family and servants. An empty water glass, a glass of mead, a knife and a spoon. Follow along as we partake of a Viking feast.

 

 

Our greeting and the invitation to enter the Chieftain's dwelling. Trust me, having been here before, I was the first one through the door followed by Linda. If you go on this, be up front to get the best seats. And don’t worry about knocking any little old ladies or men out of the way to get there. Someone else will help them up while you get the best seats in the house. Bulldozer Bob.

 

 

Linda took photos while I set up the mini video camera.

 

 

The Chieftain questions these visitors from strange lands.

 

 

The meal is served as a video camera records the activities. Lamb, flatbread, lingonberry sauce, plus boiled carrots and parsnips. Linda and i traded. She got some of my carrots and parsnips while i got most of her lamb. We are perfectly suited to each other.

 

 

The Chieftain questions a fair maiden. For a moment I thought I was going to lose her, but she ignore his blandishments.

 

A Viking in training demonstrating how one eats barley with a knife. Real Vikings don’t need no stinking spoon. A knife and their fingers is all that is necessary.

 

 

This came as a surprise. The Chieftain asked something that I didn’t understand. Linda elbowed me and said stick up your hand. I did and this was what appeared.

 

It turned out that my duty was to drink a wooden bowl of fresh beer and report whether or not it was acceptable for the Chieftain to drink it. I think it may have had something to do with the beer possibly being poisoned but I wasn’t listening at that point. I was thinking about all the beer that was in this bowl and how was I ever going to chug it, as my beer chugging days were decades in the past. I guess there was at least one thing I learned in college that was going to be of use in my old age.

 

 

Going.

 

 

Going.

 

 

Can he do it?

 

 

Gone. Now you know what Linda saw in me! And the best part was yet to come. Because no sooner had I downed the entire bowl of beer and the Chieftain started to speak when I let out a Linda sized belched that got him to laughing. He turned to me and said, “That’s what a true Viking would do.” My response was to cut loose with another one even longer and louder one than the first one. Once again he came out of character and burst out laughing. Bob the Awesome. After all, when was the last time you got a Viking Chieftain to break out in laughter instead of whacking you with his battle axe. Linda might wear studs, Bob is a Stud.

 

 

Bob, the honorary Viking.

 

 

While inside the Chieftain and I were making plans for the next Viking raid, outside Linda was photographing the Northern Lights.

 

 

Lighted emergency exit sign in the great hall. At least I went outside in time to see a good Northern Lights show. It was just that I forgot which setting I had preprogramed into my camera to get super photos of the lights.

 

 

This was the best I could do in the photography department. Looks like I should confine myself to drinking and belching while leaving the photography to Linda. (It was custom setting 2 on my camera but it was so dark I couldn’t see where I was turning the ring to. Linda later pointed out that it showed what the setting was in the huge display. Unfortunately I was so intent on trying to read the ring symbols I wasn’t looking at what was right in front of me.) Blind Bob.

 

 

The ride back to the ship on snowy, icy roads.

 

 

Troll grog before heading up to the mouth of the Trollfiord.

 

 

Fish cakes out on the deck at midnight. It’s an understatement to say this was an incredible day.

 

 

Because of the danger of avalanches, the ship can not enter the Trollfiord in winter so they illuminate it with searchlights. This was far, far more impressive when were here before in the summer as the ship went into the fiord, then rotated 180 degrees on its axis, coming quite close the the rocky sides of the fiord. This time Linda watched from the comfort of the deck 7 forward lounge while I stood outside on the deck at the bow of the ship and made a video of 20 minutes of black and a minute of searchlights. It really wasn’t my day when it came to photography of any type. Still, we were there and experienced it, so there will always be mind memories. Till Tomorrow.