Tromsø & beyond...

Waterfall on Kvaløya

May 14 & 15

Fly. Fly. Fly

Svolvaer to Tromsø on little prop planes.

Tired.

More pics of Monks Walking in the Snow Mountain.

Hungry.

Need shower & big organic salad.

Ran out of coconut Assam tea two days ago. Boo hoo.

I love the word, Lufthavn.

Prop plane rides alone are stunning: snowy mountains reaching out of sea...peaks as far as you can see - jaggedy backs of dragons. Speechless. Pink and yellow smeared sun won't set sky a gradient to open sea and mountain islands floaty float on glassy wave-free ocean.

Tromsø

Tunnels, tunnels, tunnels. Tromsø city tunnels have roundabouts!

Found a dockside deli with loose Assam tea. Score!

Drove more fjords and hiked two waterfalls on Kvaløya near Tromsø…. Bruised sky with scattery raindrops over farms -- horses and fields stretching to wide fjords that lead to sea….came upon a glass artist in the middle of nowhere…

Ready to head home… Dear Volcano, please cooperate! Thanks!

Skulpturlandskap Nordland

Dan Graham’s Untitled

May 12-13

Been driving the lower part of the archipelago … beautiful very narrow ! winding roads along ocean and mountains

Distant peaks resiting in white against watery horizon

Like clouds on Goddesses’ tabletop…

Found a completely remote cove down a dirt road. Azure waters, rocks to climb, white sand, mountains all around…found a purple star fish to throw back to sea…

There’s an incredible public art program here that marries the wilderness with international artists. Throughout Norway, the landscape is the gallery and it is a bit of a hike and hunt to find the works perched on mountainsides or resting in valleys over looking the sea. We’ve seen several pieces. My favorite is Dan Graham’s Untitled – a large curving wall reflecting the mountains. Spectacular! : check out more info about it here: Skulpturlandskap Nordland/Artscape Nordland

May 11

Lofoten Islands

Spectacular prop plane ride over the archipelago... Enormous snow covered mountains rising out of ocean...

Overnite in Svolvaer. Amazing restaurant Du Verden. Reindeer!

Drove from Svolvaer to Ramburg. Loftr Viking Museum was totally amazing...living history museum....handcrafts: weaving, woodworking, leather works...all recreated near the site of the largest Viking Age long house that's been discovered.

Staying at a beachside Rorbu. Little red cabin. Deelish dinner. Cod, scallops, white white... View over the ocean. Sun clouds on snow top mountain black rock plunging into the sea...

The sun never sets

It rests below the horizon well after 10pm...never dipping too far down, leaving lingering light all night and rising at 2am...

Spring winds twist and howl around our little cabin...

I accidentally used all the hot water showering. Oops...

Tap water is godlike. Glub. Glub. Glub...

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Glacier Goddess...maker of Heaven...

May 10, 2010

Changed all our flights around to fly from Bergen into Svolvaer. At airport. Day of flying. Organized photos. In coastal Bodø Lufthavn waiting for the puddle jumper to Svolvaer. Landing in Bodø - snow covered mountains heaving out of ocean. Every place in Norway is more glorious than the last. Two peaks rising from a large mountain look like monks walking single-file, robes covered in snow...

Love the yummy waffle snakes everywhere.

Landed at the top of the world... oh how the Glacier Goddess does leave Heaven in her wake!

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May 9

Trees budding. Budding. Budding.

Bare rock tunnels...and when the Norwegians build tunnels, they mean it

Bridges over cobalt azure cerulean aquamarine sunlit and barely clouded waters

Snow squalls hanging on to the mountain tops...

Daffodils Daffodils Daffodils

Snow covered mountain passes

Winding winding round and round roads. Frozen lakes

Peat thatch sod roofs with little trees growing out

Tan bodied black winged birds

White bodied black winged birds

Baby sheeps Old beautifully restored Bonnevilles and the like

Norwegians love hotdogs

Farm houses perched on fjords

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May 8

Train to Bergen.

Travel on the fly is fun but juggling an in flux itinerary, even with a travel agent is tricky. And iPhone travel planning is not highly recommended.

Headed to Bergen then on to the Arctic Circle: the Lofoten Islands and Tromse.

Oslo, beautiful. Cool spring weather. Kind of a cross between New England and Amsterdam. Sidewalk cafes everywhere with pillows and blankets for warmzies. Everyone is beautiful. Yum yum seafood.

Old sailing ships in the harbor. Amazing new opera house - built to walk atop of...

Gardens in not yet quite spring bloom.

Super expensivo and the Norwegians have very different concept of "luxury" travel than I do.. Getting used to the Ikea accommodations.

Taking the long train ride to Bergen - 6 hours to the coast - through hills, towns, maybe mountains.

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The train was Uh.MAZE.ing.

Glacier lakes.

Kite skiers on the glacier.

Up. Up. Uppity high mountain pass...

Followed a giant version of the Kancamagus to the sea...to Bergen.

Delicious dinner of bream. Why, no waiter. I would not like to try the whale. No, not even peppered and smoked. No, why thank you for bringing a dish of whale carpaccio for free as an amuse-bouche, just "because we're Americans", but no, I will not eat it. "When in Rome" stops for me at whale meat. Sundown well after 10pm... It's 10:21 now and still light out...

Bergen's waterfront has a string of kooky, leaning 17th century dwellings decked out in pastels - housing bars, shops and cafes... Stopped for an eve stroll through the grounds of the old fortress, Bergenhus Castle. Delight!