June 26
Lofoten (Leknes)
This place looked spectacular on our pre-trip YouTube studies. Unfortunately, we encountered really cruddy weather . . .
[Arriving on a rainy morn . . . ]
[Leknes is a town in Nordland county. The town is also the administrative centre of the municipality of Vestvagoy (with 10,764 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality in Lofoten). Leknes was designated a “town” in 2002. The 2.52-square-kilometre (620-acre) town has a population (2018) of 3,556. The town is situated in the geographical middle of the Lofoten archipelago on the island of Vestvagoya. Leknes is one of the few towns in Lofoten that does not depend on fisheries and does not have its town centre by the sea. Because of this, and because of its rapid growth in recent years, it does not have the same traditional wooden architecture as most other towns in Lofoten, and may thus not be as picturesque as its neighbouring fishing villages. However, the natural surroundings are among the most stunning in Norway, with mountains, peaks, cliffs, and white sandy beaches. The town’s harbour Leknes Havn is one of Norway’s most important and visited harbours for cruise ships. The old school in the Fygle neighborhood has been converted into a museum. Hol Church is located on the eastern edge of the town. In Leknes, the sun (midnight sun) is above the horizon from May 26 to July 17, and in winter the sun does not rise from December 9 to January 4 (Wikipedia).]
[And before we go anywhere . . . ]
[Buksnes Church in the photo center is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vestvagoy Municipality in Nordland county. It is located in the village of Gravdal (the twin village to Leknes) on the island of Vestvagoya (Wikipedia).]
[On to Leknes . . . ]
[And here it is . . . ]
[In port . . . ]
[On the bus for our tour of Panoramic Lofoten, Majestic Mountains and Fising Villages of the Lofoten Islands . . . ]
[So we remember where we left the ship . . . ]
[Mountain mist . . . ]
[Sheeps . . . ]
[Even more sheeps . . . ]
[Not exactly a nice beach day . . . ]
[My Norwegian is rusty, but this was at the beach . . . ]
[This is Uttakleiv Beach, the most romantic beach in Europe per the British Times . . . ]
[Sheeps at the beach . . . ]
[No sunbathers . . . ]
[Apparently rock stacking is not always looked upon favorably (in lots of places) . . . ]
[To the beach . . . ]
[The weather was not letting up . . . ]
[Picasso?]
[The harbor . . . ]
[Fish processing company . . . ]
[Our bus, we did “sightseeing” from it . . . ]
[Cod drying rack . . . ]
[Buksnes church again, so we must be in Gravdal . . . ]
[The driver gave notice there was a photo op up the driveway as we drove along . . . ]
[Back to the Sun . . . ]
[Cod . . . ]
[Bad looking dudes (and dudettes) . . . ]
[Have you kept track of the number of troll pics with the Super?]
[Back on the ship for a lecture on Norway’s big three: Munch, Ibsen, and Grieg . . . ]
[Having worked up an appetite . . . ]
[Mmmm, good!]
[Mine too!]
[Now on to the really good stuff!]
[We subsequently “sailed” to Tromso on full stomachs . . . ]
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. ~ Mark Twain
Up Next: Tromso?
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