Twice last night -- at 11:15 and then again at 3:00 am, there was an announcement that there were some northern lights to be seen. There was still quite a bit of high cloud, so it was not the sharp dancing ribbons, but it was varying green lights. I hope that we will see them more clearly, but we have to lose the clouds. I'm sitting here at our first stop in the Lofoten Islands and it is quite overcast. The spectacular pictures will have to wait. Mind you, hauling oneself out of bed and dressing in a hurry is not the nicest activity. I will need to improve my preparation.
Our second Nordic activity took place at 07:19:56. We crossed the Arctic Circle. There was a small marker on a little island to mark the spot which a few of us noted at that hour of the morning on the deck. However, the ceremony to mark the occasion did not take place until a civilized hour when everyone had a chance to breakfast. We gathered up on the back part of deck 7, called for Neptune, and proceeded to have the 'Arctic Baptism' in 4 languages. Neptune and the captain did the honours -- pour crushed ice down the back of the neck of all the brave. Ian was very stoic and had no reaction, so they figured they needed to do it again. The cruise director, congratulated him and called him a Viking. Then he found out he was Canadian, and that explained everything. There were still little ice pieces in our clothes by the time we retreated to our cabin to change (after a shot of cloudberry schnapps). Video of Ian's adventure is on my facebook page. This picture is the aftermath in our room.
Bodo (sorry I haven't got the right letter for the second 'o') was our longer stop for the day. Here there is still ice everywhere on the sidewalks and that makes for very cautious walking. I happened upon the Domkirche -- the local cathedral -- a very different structure. From the outside it looks like an old abandoned factory, and inside it is light and wood and fabulous stained glass. Sometimes I regret that the church in Scandanavia is Protestant, I do love the catholic cathedrals with their ornamentation.
The scenery now is very bleak with only a few houses perched on little flat pieces of land at the foot of some of the mountains. Many of the huge rocks strewn in the ocean off the coast, have no visible inhabitants. The map shows roads along the coast, but they are not highly travelled.
Every evening, our dinner (served) comes with a history and explanation of the main ingredients. The food is fantastic and locally sourced. As a showcase for Norwegian Coastal cuisine, it is great. This evening we started with a special local herring, had a fork-tender roast beef for main and finished with a chocolate mousse paired with a rhubarb compote (yes, rhubarb). It worked amazingly well! I have been enjoying the rhubarb compote with cheese at breakfast and lunch and would not have believed that it paired so well with chocolate. Live and learn!
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