Wayfare Wednesdays! A Travelogue of Ports Unknown! Norway Day Four

Ahoy there me mateys!  Welcome to the newest installment on me Log, Wayfare Wednesdays!  As ye scalawags know, yer Captain always be spending me time dreaming of the next far off ports and searching of a good adventure.  So I thought I would give the crew some insight into the fascinating people, places, and things I saw while ye all were wallowing in port in some filthy tavern, swilling grog, and missin’ the sights.  Ye know in case ye miscreants ever get the chance to plunder visit these destinations in the future . . .

wayfare

way·​fare |  ˈwāˌfa(a)|(ə)r, -ˌfe|, |ə

 archaic : an act or course of journeying (source)

As some of ye may know, I recently had a line on a rumor of a bit of Viking treasure, Scottish ruins, and Elizabethan artifacts.  The sea was a’ calling.  So off I went.  After eighteen days of adventurin’ in Iceland, Norway, Scotland, and England, I be back to share me tales.  I shall be splittin’ these stories into several installments due to yer befuddled, swill-saturated noggins.  The first foray was Iceland.  Next stop – Norway!

If ye missed day one of Iceland click here.  For day two of Iceland click here.

For day one of Norway (Bergen) click here. For day two of Norway (Geirangr) click here.  For day three of Norway (Lofoten) click here.

Norway was the land of fjords, natural wonders, and the midnight sun.  We (me and the ma) spent six full days there with one full day at sea (Arrr!).  The fourth day was in Tromsø.  This city is considered the Gateway to the Arctic. The ma and I split up on this day.  We saw:

The Arctic Circle Monument

Passing this statue on the small islet of Vikingen signaled that the ma and I had crossed the Arctic Circle at 66° 33’.  This of course is an invisible line that goes through Sweden, Finland, Russia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and splits Norway in two.  After passing this point, we were officially in the land of the midnight sun where ye can see the sun 24 hours a day.  Arrrr!

Then I saw:

Huskies! (with some explanation needed)

This turned out to be such an odd and interesting adventure.  I may be a cat person but I knew that I wanted to do this Husky Trek through the Arctic Hills.  The Husky is me favourite type of dog.  I was so looking forward to this dog sled ride.  Only it turns out there was no sled and no glacier.  Ye attached a harness to yer hips and a husky dog pulled ye all over the place.  It was insane.  Me dog likely weighed more than I do and certainly be way, way stronger than me.  And it was sticky and muddy.  There were a lot of older, frail people on this excursion and lots of potential for falling over.  Which I did.  A lot.  Two that hurt very badly.  One where I landed and was stuck between two little hills and was wedged there.  I had to be hoisted back up by two burly guides.  And at the very end of the journey I tripped, fell flat on me face, and was dragged down part of the mountain until me very smart dog saw I had fallen and stopped to let me get up.  Many folk wouldn’t even take a husky so I had Yentes all to meself.  I LOVED that dog.  I would have stolen him if I could.  He was 9 years old and smart and loveable.  Just doing what he be trained to do.  Still thought it was horrible that the group had signed up for something different and many couldn’t even participate.  I wouldn’t do this type of trekking ever again.  But I got a weird story and beautiful pictures out of it.  And I LOVED all the dogs.  The view was pretty good too.  I did have to skip the other tour later that day due to pain though.

The View

Yentes – Me Husky Love

The Baby That Stole the Show

Words to Live By

The Ma did a Portals to the Arctic tour.  She saw:

Polar Museum

This museum be in a wharf house dating to 1837 and discusses the explorer Roald Amundsen who reached the North Pole in 1926.  The ma loved learning about Wanny Wolstad, a female trapper.  To learn more about this fascinating museum, ye can view a pdf of their English guidebook.

Tromsø Fjellheis

The ma got to ride a cool looking cable to the top of the 1,378 foot (420 m) summit of Mount Storsteinen aka “The Big Rock.”  It takes about 4 minutes to get from the bottom to the top.  Beautiful views!

Keep a weathered eye out for more of me wayfare adventures.  Next stop Honningsvåg!  Arrrr!

x The Captain

Side note:  The Wayfair Wednesday featured image (source) is of two sailing vessels “dressed overall” with their international signal flags.  Signal flags are the flags used to contact other ships.  Well unless ye be a pirate in which case the Jolly Roger and yer cannons speak well enough.  A ship dressed overall “consists of stringing international maritime signal flags on a ship from stemhead to masthead, from masthead to masthead and then down to the taffrail. It is a sign of celebration, and is done for occasions, anniversaries, and events, whether national, local or personal.”  (source)  Well, Wayfare Wednesday is certainly a celebration, occasion, and event no matter how ye look at it.  Arrrrr!