Tromsø to Bergen

On Halloween of 2014

I flew from
Reykjavík, Iceland
to Tromsø, Norway.

"At a latitude of 70 degrees north, Tromsø is often referred to as the capital of the Arctic, being the largest city above the Arctic Circle. The city is surrounded by majestic mountains, fjords and a stunning archipelago."

-tromsoadventure.no

Tromsø was lovely, and snowing.
The first snow of the season.

I made a friend there
(my first Norwegian friend!).
His name is Truls Tiller
and he is a world class photographer
of the aurora,
as well as all around really cool guy.

The snow prevented any possible aurora
sighting the nights that I was there...

But Truls takes photos like these:

As you can see, he's a true master.

He's out hunting the aurora with his camera
nearly every night.
What a medium to work with.

Here he is in his native environment.

It was so arctic and wintery in Tromsø,
two things that I really love.

The view from the bridge by which one goes to visit
the Arctic Cathedral,
gazing down into the turquoise water.

Ishavskatedralen, literally

The Cathedral of the Arctic Sea, built in 1965.

Norge Bank

Tromsonian 'person-hole' covers.

I boarded the Hurtigruten

at the Witching hour

and traveled for 4 days along the coast

to another favorite city in Norway, Bergen.

This was the view through my port hole when I awoke my first morning on the ship.

O my god! It's the land of the Norse Gods.
I can see why they live here.
I felt REALLY lucky to be here,
in Odin's hood.

In early November, the Sun rises around 9

and begins to set around 15:30.

Not a very long days, but they more or less went like this:

Wake up and eat from the highly pleasing classic

Norwegian breakfast, get out on deck as early as possible, all rugged up for the cold, and watch the dramatic golden rays of light of the Sun emerging from behind

the vaulted and dark horizon.

Eat a sandwich and then watch the twilight commence as the hammered golden coins of the autumn sunlight dance across the water and the Sun goes down.

All the while drinking in the rich, cold arctic air.

We passed under many long and elegant bridges, sounding our horn each time. The first time I heard it, I was sitting up on a cat perch quite near to the horn itself.

Was not expecting that.

Hurtigruten: 120 years of coastal voyages

The coastline between Bergen and Kirkenes
is over 1,490 miles long and in the 19th Century
almost all of it was home to rich fishing grounds.
The maritime maps were unreliable and there were only a few lighthouses, especially in the north.
This important seaway was lined with perilous reefs,
small islands and narrow inlets,
and it was essential that a safe trade route be established to link the southern and northern regions
of Norway.

When the Norwegian government decided
to create a connection between the north and the south, Richard With and his friend Anders Holthe
took on the challenge of thoroughly mapping the seas along the coastline.
In 1893, Captain Richard With’s steamer, DS Vesteraalen, was brought into regular service along the coast of Norway, and Hurtigruten was established.
The service offered several weekly departures,
first from Trondheim to Hammerfest
and later from Bergen to Kirkenes
in only seven days.
He called this important connection
‘Hurtigruten’
(the fast route).

120 years later, they still carry freight and passengers,
at an average speed of 15 knots.
Their captains use their extensive maritime expertise
to ensure that guests and goods
are safely carried from port to port.
Today, as then,
the Hurtigruten ships are a part
of Norwegian coastal life.
-hurtigruten.com

I got off on almost all of the port stops,
(except for the ones in the middle of the night),
just to see what I could see.

Such as old propellers...

...Or old turf roofed cottages.

I'm always fascinated by local building materials,
and how they are applied.

But most of the time was spent aboard the ship,

bearing witness to the exquisite beauty of

Northern Norway's rugged coastline and

mouths of the fjords.

The ever changing moods of my porthole.
It was a multi-faceted gem.

The onset of night was dramatic.
They could have chosen any color of light for their evening lights on the ship, I love that they chose blue.

The full route of the Hurtigruten.
Next time I want to start in Kirkenes
and take it to Svolvaer and then kick it for a while
in the Lofoten Islands.

A photo in a gallery, ashore on a brief port stop.

Svolvaer

Norwegian holiday magazines.

Here are some of the ways that the
building materials are applied.

The last day aboard the ship was really clear and beautiful.

This was my glass palace on the upper deck,
for when the weather was inclement or at night.
I had no competition for it.
I was the only one who stayed out on deck all day
during the daylight hours
(and many of the nighttime hours as well),

no matter what.

Turns out Che was also a Viking.

A November afternoon at sea,

glancing out of a porthole.

The dance of sunlight on the sea was pure Rhinegold.

It was kind of like being on an Ocean Spaceship.

Yes, that's my finger in the corner of this photo.

It's a miracle that it's not in all of them considering

I took all of these with an iPhone 6

in close to freezing temperatures.

Approaching Bergen now.

What a gorgeous Scandinavian port city it is.

Enjoying looking for the hostel.

The view from my divine hostel room.

I'm such a fan of European chandeliers.

This one inhabited my room.

I was there on the witchiest

Full Moon of the year,

Scorpio/Taurus.

Downtown in the City Center.

The Opera House

In the hostel lobby

Norwegians have taken the humble hot dog to epic gustatorial proportions. They love themselves a gourmet dog.

"The Norwegian icon ‘pølse’ is just sausage

similar to a Hot Dog or Frankfurter, however, at least 45 million kilograms of pølse

(that’s 100kg of pølse per person)

is eaten every year.

Norway is the biggest sausage eating country per capita

in the world! They are sold at service stations,

news agents,

corner stores and fast food outlets.

Pølse are also eaten on special occasions.

Even though pølse is considered ‘lolly-meat’, there are strict requirements by the Food Safety commission for traditional ‘pølse’ to be of the highest quality and they have even set requirements for what types of ingredients

are allowed to be used."