Vestvågøy, Lofoten ,Norway

Lofoten Islands, Norway
The Lofoten Islands are a beautiful part of Norway ,so looked forward to coming here. However this morning looked anything but, glimpses of the tiny fishing villages as we came through , a cloudy and wet start to the day.
Our tour was away early, and our first call was to a Viking Museum, quite unprepared for the scale of wonder within, not far to travel, up on a hillside is a replica of the longest Viking house ever discovered during the 1980s. 80 meters in length ,it has been built beside the footings of the original discovery, replicated as near to what they could conceivably get, but a different roof ,its huge ,and inside the various rooms, stables, carving area, weaving, and living spaces ,all their tools and equipment. An impressive lecture on the history from a local young man, they don’t say their V’s so Wikings and things ,it’s quite special..660 was the year of the settlement, how simply amazing ,they did carving that was intricate, their weaving was very good, they felted, many balls of wool featured, tanned the skins of their goats, sheep ,and cows ,and reindeer .Wooden utensils ,and milled the flour on stones, had glass that they imported/swapped things for .Good sized weapons of course , strong pine furniture of different kinds…fascinating. The Long House over looked the Fjords, which used to be connected to the sea, so they had their boats nearby .They estimate 40 or more lived there ,until about the 960’s. The artefacts were fascinating ,from the archaeology dig, so valued by the whole of Norway, people came and freely gave their time.
They had jewellery, combs for their hair, fish hooks, bangles, various implements ,their beads were coloured and maybe from clay. We had a commentary as we looked at each number ,an explanation, nests of the sea birds eggs,, they were important .Stunning wax figures of a man and women, right to their eyelashes ,and chest hair. Another room with accounts from the Farmer who uncovered the site, with his plough, and various people with such great information… so wanted more time, but loved what we saw. In the final minutes made a special purchase, and left feeling so delighted on a gloomy day…
Onward to the small fishing village of Henningsvaer, reached on a very narrow coastal road, huge mountains above and great rock falls ,over high bridges with wind warnings in neon flashing signs, to the horror of US travellers, very sheltered lives of some…several bridges.
This is where the Cod come to spawn, a warm current ,the Gulf stream ,brings them from the Barnet’s sea ,every year, so hundreds of small boats come ,from way back in time, this has been happening,11th century ,the Vikings learning the art of preserving the fish ,without salt, drying them on racks in the salt air, for months ,and it is still done here today .They traded them away back ,as they survived long voyages to Greenland and Russia ,in the years before Columbus .As many as 200 hundred boats sailed to Bergen with the Stock Fish, [dried] cod liver oil, and roe..[so that’s from whence it came… can still recall the taste…good for us of course.!] They fished in open boats, for a long time, and it all happens in Winter…sometimes 3200 boats in the 1990,s. Today bigger boats catch some of them ,before they get to the Islands ,but it is still on going today. Run by the merchants for many, many years, they were called Squires…
At a lovley Gallery we saw a very moving movie ,about the life and times of the Fishermen .It was beautifully done, from life to death, their seasons, their factories where all the Family and children worked., Family life . Parts of it were our lives ,and as Sam said, without it, we would not be here…
The Gallery had beautiful paintings and photographs of the village, and the lives within.
Time to walk through this pretty little place , built on the water in the main, with the factories just right where the boats could tie up, little galleries ,once again time was not enough ,but secure and very special memories ,for sure..the history and their lives still today.
That have Puffins here ,and they hunted them ,had a special kind of dog, almost extinct at one time, a sort of contortionist animal, able to reach into the rock burrows ,seemed far fetched.This from our hard to understand guide.. [We have sort of mastered our phones to a degree ,always a challenge for these ancient Mariners..which will be a relief for our Family… and have Data, invaluable in these cases, so I looked it up there and then, and its true the Puffin dogs exist.!.]They did graduate to nets to catch them, and say that the hunting does not go on, much now days. Hopefully true..
Starting to blow by time we headed back, the day had improved earlier, no rain, and even some shafts of sunlight. A mountainous series of Islands ,the largest one has flat land, with good soil, so is farmed, hardly an animal to be seen ,except one beautiful, small herd of Charolais’s basking in the fresh air, they are in doors for large parts of the year…
We thought that was it for our day, our guide was ITALIAN, and a lovely soul… spoke fluent French and Italian, and very hesitant English ,a bit trying at times…we veered off to a tunnel ,and towards the Coast a different route, started up a mountain ,to a safety gate that had closed the road ,with red markers, I thought to see the amazing view below, and they would turn, although a little precarious, but NO, opened the gate, and onward, to much agitation from the group ,including us, he wasn’t a confidant diver…Up and Up… sheer drop below, to a little place at the end of the road, with lots of cod heads drying, and out we got ,walked to the top, to look way ,way, down on a tiny village, in a valley, wind almost taking you over the edge, and hard to even hold the camera steady enough for a picture… So fearful, thankfully on the inside going down, after a couple of turning attempts, if you can imagine a very long bus on a single track road…PHEW…saw nice sheep and lambs, a tiny bonus. I said to our guide why on earth would you do that, it would not be allowed in most places, he said we wanted you to be satisfied…Petrified I said.!!! We passed a German bus waiting to do the same…!
I must add this village now has a tunnel….so that is why the road is closed, of course…!!
So a day of 3 different experiences, of varying kinds, and all of them never to be forgotten… They were asking us to hurry back, blowing hard in an exposed harbour, we had the dock, the huge Aida ship, was at anchor ,with passengers queued in the bitter cold, waiting for their tenders, and we were out of there smartly, Captain coming on ,saying thank goodness, there is a storm warning and I am trying to keep ahead of it, could be a bumpy night .
Thursday 26th, It was our most windy yet, but fine for us ,and a great sleep, some reckon we are like babies in car seats, off to sleep immediately…not everyone sadly, there are bags on the stairs ,and some are still in their cabins… We have had our Mariners presentations ,some having to be assisted to the stage, and many, they went to them, our Captain is the nicest man… lunch in the Dining room to follow.
Captain reported that Leknes, where we were yesterday, is in full storm warning ,with danger to small ships…wise to miss Bodo ,and head south of course…
A cooking show ,and now my writings, ever busy. Tomorrow is to be warm and sunny, and that will be nice ,in a series of Fjords for the next days.. Bye from us.Okumaya devam et