Kirkenes, Norway



Our final stop on our Norway Tour, Kirkenes is located way at the far northern tip of Norway, East of Finland and borders Russia.  

Audra just couldn't resist that slide

 



 

 

Wandering around the streets

 



Although relatively small their was quite a few shops and restaurants here.  Surprisingly we never went to this one

Being so close to Russia all the street signs are posted in both Norweigian and Russian

We wandered all over the city and then to help us thaw out decided to go see the museum.  It had a section on World War II, art work from a local artist and some other sections too.  It was actually very well put together and although mainly in Norwegian they had books with brief synopis on the exhibits in several languages.

That night we went and stayed in the Snow Hotel.  They explained that they make the hotel by blowing up giant balloons and then packing snow around them until they have enough to form a solid wall.  They then deflate the balloon and are left with the room. 

 

 

There were 24 rooms total all with different carvings on the wall

 

 

 

Our room. Some how I don't seem to have a better pic.  

 

 

After a yummy dinner we went and took the kicksleds out.  Which unfortunately did not provide as much glide as we would have liked

 But is was a beautiful night and nice to be out

I'm pretty sure we have the distinction of being the first people to oversleep at the snow hotel. 

 

The next day we had a relaxing morning and then went snowmobiling in the afternoon

 

It was fun! But I definitely preferred being the passenger. We had Reindeer burgers for lunch.  Was very tastey, but the food from the King Crab outing definitely looked mouth watering.

 

That evening we went and had some drinks with a couple we met during our travels Joe, the only other American we saw and Sylvia a German. Bitte!  We ended up hanging with  some locals who were singing/playing guitar in the pub.  It was a great time. 

 

Kirkenes was a lot of fun! Definitely could see how people would want to live here.

 

 

 

Nordkapp, Norway



 After a night, on board the ship, we ended up at Nordkapp or at least I thought... until talking to some locals.  I still think we were there, just confusing cause we didn't drive out to whatever marker specified the location.  and they kept asking us if we were visiting Nordkapp...Yeah I thought that was where I was at.





This is a cute town, but man, not a whole lot to do here. Lets just say there idea of a pub and ours were not the same. Their idea- any diner who happened to stop by the local store and pick up some six packs prior to opening.



 We did enjoy exploring...

After walking what seemed to be the entire town, minus some residential spots, we decided to hit up one of the "pubs" for a drink and some lunch



while there the following occurred.  The lady next to me in her broken English grabs my hand, looks in my eyes and says-

Norwegian lady: "You go...you go now"
Me: "Um, ma'am, I'm still eating my lunch I'm not sure why you want me to leave"
Norwegian Lady:" No, you need to go- he loves you and he wants you to go"
ok, turns out he is Jesus and not the local hottie : )
Norwegian Lady:"you go now... you have beautiful soul, he loves you, and wants you to go."
Seriously food in Norway is not cheap maybe "he" could at least wait for me to finish my meal

in the meantime Audra and this woman's husband are just trying to pretend that they have nothing to do with this situation.  Not that I blame them.



Ok Nordkapp you've been interesting. Now time time to head back to the boat.  Onward we go- farther north!

Tromso, Norway

Day 2 we headed back to the airport and hopped on a plane to Tromso. Located at 69degrees North or 300km (190mi) inside the Artic Circle. I was wanting to put a map on here, myself being a visual person, but couldn't find any I liked. Needless to say it's up there!

Tromso is a very cute town with a population of close to 60,000 people and is surrounded by beautiful mountains and fjords

 

 

 

We went to the most Northern Brewery in the world while there and had some Norwegian beer called Mack.  Who knew Norge beer was so tastey?

Having fun checking out the sights

And the local wildlife

 

A beautiful sunset before heading out on the Northern Lights Tour

Still recalling the fiasco of the Northern Lights tour 2012 we were much more prepared this time and brought some snacks.   We were very fortunate and were able to see them this time.  My camera was not the best at picking them, but here is one that I was able to get. 

Most people just stood there for hours staring at them and trying to get the perfect shot.  Audra and I started to get a little stir crazy so wandered around a little.  Plus we needed to keep moving to stay warm

The next morning we woke up and went mushing.  This was so much fun.We had beautiful weather

Only one rollover which resulted in the dogs sprinting away with our sled.  We won't say who was driving when this occured : )

 

 



 

A brand new pup! they say it takes about 6mos for them to be ready to pull a sled. 

 



After we got back they provided us with a tastey lunch served inside a Lavvu (indigenous house for the Sami people. basically a yurt)

Sampled some tastey eats while in Norway- Reindeer-yum, fish soup-yum. 

 



Now back to Tromso to hop on a boat and keep venturing North!

 



Oslo, Norway

Arrived in Oslo and hopped on the Flytoget train which took us right into the city center.  After dropping our stuff off we headed out to explore the city. 

This city is very ethnically diverse, has a population of about 550,000 and is amazingly clean!  I was surprised at some the chains that we saw there.  TGIF  and BK, seriously?!

Toured around the Nobel Peace museum.  Which highlighted all winners with a special focus on Ghandi although he was never officially given the award.  FYI 2012 winner- the EU

There were some interesting sculptures around the city

Look!, they have a "T" also

The architecture was gorgeous.

 

One popular street to wander in Oslo is called Karl Johans Gate.  The street is a pedestrian thoroughfare that connects the City Center to the Palace.   It used to be several streets that were all combined into one.

 

At Harald and Sonja's house : )  The Palace.

Nice view from the Palace

We enjoyed touring around this city