As we awoke early this morning, anticipating our arrival in Kirkenes, we peeked out our window to see our arrival into Vadso, a village of 5,000. Originally it was a major fishing village, but now the service industries and public administration are the primary employers.

We headed down for breakfast, as we shortly arrive in Kirkenes.

A colorful and picturesque sight, entering the harbor. This was followed by the observation of a Russian fishing trawler in the harbor.

For many years the Norwegians and the Russians have had a thriving cross-border trade between the neighbors that are only 15KM (9 miles) apart. Because both sides of the border up north have closely relied upon each other, Russian fishing trawlers still come here for maintenance. Up close and personal, livelihoods depend on this trade. So, in spite of sanctions on Russia, each small parts of the two nations still trade; tied at the hip by the fishing industry.

Finally, we dock and are able to walk out of the port. We will be ashore for three and a half hours. We plan to go for a good walk. I notice the scooter beside the sign. With as little vehicular traffic around, he pretty much can drive where he wants!

I ask the first “person” we meet for directions to the “city center.” He said: “just hoof it.” I got a dirty look when I asked where we could get a good reindeer burger. (All the reindeer in the Nordic countries are only owned by the indigenous Sami people.) They can track them with the attached devices they wear. It is most common that this far north they walk right by you, with no concern or fear.

I guess this one forgot the pass code to get through the gate.

On the way into the village center, we passed some of the homes of locals. This one clearly states it is the residence of a ship’s captain.

At the heart of the village “center” is the local parish church. The “downtown” was about 2 blocks long. After meandering around the village, enjoying the unbelievable temperature of 25 C (77F), the highest in Norway today(!!), we took the coast road back to the ship.

And now we see what the main industry is here in Kirkenes. This is the main harbor where crab trawlers head out to sea.

There were literally thousands of crab pots all over the place. The Red King Crabs originated in the Pacific Ocean. Fisherman brought some to the Soviet waters near Murmansk in the 1960’s. For the past 40 years they have migrated across the border thoroughly populating the northern waters of Norway. Although considered an unwanted species in Norwegian waters, the red king crabs are now an expensive delicacy and an important part now of the Norwegian fishing industry.

I can personally attest to the fact that they are very tasty!

Too soon, the whistle blows and it’s time to head back down the coast of Norway. We are at the halfway point. Our next stop, before dinner is Vardo. This is where the mind can really play tricks on you. As you all know, Norway is west of Russia. Or is it? Vardo is Norway’s easternmost town. And yet, it lies EAST of both St. Petersburg and Kyiv! It is on the same longitude as Cairo! 2,000 people live in this village. This is the only town in Norway with an Arctic climate. The average daily temperature never exceeds 10C (50F). But today, for us, it is about 20C(68F). And you will see fishing boats all over the harbor.

At the harbor entrance, the ever-present lighthouse.

In this sunlight, the harbor is so bright and brilliant. One important reason is that the air is so clear here, free of most pollution that surrounds us all on a daily basis. No doubt, during the dreary winter with its long days without sun rising above the horizon, having brightly colored houses can cheer you up, and help you find your home! And they are pretty too.

Have to appreciate their sense of humor.

For a post office, the MS Ricard With turns out to be an excellent cruise ship as well.

Hey, what’s going on here. I didn’t notice this coming into the harbor! I must have been on the other side. I thought this was a fishing village. Well, it is that, too. But it is also a radar system, called GLOBUS-III, established by the U.S. and Norway, less than 40 miles from Russia’s Kola Peninsula, where a series of Arctic naval bases host nuclear submarines that serve the strategic Northern Fleet. Guess there are all kinds of fishing!

Well, with all the activities of the day, we have worked up a good appetite. Time for dinner.

The appetizer we choose for tonight is Sami Laibi. This is a traditional Sami bread. It is topped with marinated herring, whipped sour cream, boiled eggs, potato and pickled onions.

I may kid around, but we got our reindeer for dinner tonight. It is Finnmark reindeer, along with reindeer sausage, mashed potatoes with celery root, fried broccolini, red wine sauce with finely chopped mushrooms.

And for dessert, we went our separate ways.

The better half had Raspberry mouse, with blackberry couli and almond brittle.

Since we are near the Russian border, I chose to have the Russian honey cake with butter cream and salted caramel sauce. The entire meal was excellent!

A spin around the deck, with the background of the most spectacular sunset at 11PM . Tomorrow will include Hammerfest, the most northern town in Norway.

Welcome to the North Cape. Harsher weather the year-round. While fisherman live throughout Norway, this far north it is almost exclusively the domain of the fishermen. These lonely cabins, here and there, are probably summer homes, most reachable only by boat. And when we speak of fishermen, we are not talking about subsistence -level.

As I said, we are cruising further north, which accounts for the change of scenery. Note the latitude.

The sign reads: “Mehamn, the world’s northernmost Hurtigruten port.

When you get this far north, everyone cashes in on Santa. The sign indicates that this is Santa’s house. My better half scoffs, saying Santa actually resides in Korvatunturi, Lapland in Finland.

No matter where you go in Norway, every town, village or City has at least one church. In Norway they are more ubiquitous than McDonalds!

I had a funny thought; we haven’t seen many restaurants. Passing through these latest villages, no more than 2,500 people, I wonder what they were eating for dinner tonight, fish or pork maybe? Probably not likely a gourmet feast, as we had onboard, while traversing the North Cape.

For our appetizer tonight, we both had the Pork Terrine, with pickled red onion, crisp bread and pea puree.

For our main course, we both chose the Pork Neck Confit, with parmesan cheese, roasted broccoli, and port wine sauce, topped with raw marinated red cabbage.

I’ll skip mentioning the dessert, as it was truly decadent!

A nightcap, and a walk around the ship, prepared us for sleep. When we wake up, we will have arrived in Kirkenes, where will stop for 3 1/2 hours, before heading back down the coast. This time we will visit the towns that we slept through on our way north.

Slept in this morning. It felt good. After a great breakfast, we casually walked down towards the stern, and sat down and watched Norway unfold. The ground fog was lifting, affording us a well framed series of mountains.

Just before 11AM, we entered the harbor of Finnsnes. Another beautiful small town, on several islands, connected by the usual architecturally stunning Norwegian bridges.

The local townspeople arranged a very short concert for the passengers at the local library, which is located just above my left big toe, towards the end of the dock. It had to be a short concert, as our stop was to be exactly 30 minutes. We were too comfortable to head on over. As the departure whistle blew, three passengers dawdled, and had to run before the gangplank was raised. This ship stops for no one! The next stop, Tromso, at exactly 14:15. It would remain until 18:15.

Tromso is considered the gateway to the Arctic Sea and the North Pole. It is a town of about 40,000 people, with an additional 35,000, living on adjacent islands. It is the most northern town in Norway not to have been destroyed in WWII. Like most locations on the route of the Coastal Express, Tromso is a concoction of multiple islands, connected by bridges and ferries. The small dark orange (next to T) on the map is the heart of the town, where we docked. From there, we went by bus through the town, much of it still original buildings, until we got to the Polaria, a very modern-designed building, inspired by the Arctic ice floes. In there we saw many live species of fish, seals and other animals.

After all too short visit, it was back on bus, and heading across the bridge, to take the cable car to the top of the mountain. And some spectacular views of the town, the harbor and the bridge. And if you look closely, you will see the Arctic Cathedral from the cable car as we descend.

And now the highlight for most tourists to Tromso, The Arctic Cathedral. (The official name is the Tromsdalen Church. It was built in 1965. It was designed by the architect Jan Inge Hovig. When it was completed, everyone was amazed at the beauty and strength of design. In short, it was loved by one and all. Until that was when services started being held. At that point, the parish priest started wondering why his parishioners all took to wearing sunglasses for services. Took a while until the priest understood – the soaring glass windows behind him were clear. And the church faced to the East. So, the sun shined through, blinding the parishioners, while the sun was behind the priest. It was decided that the clear glass would be replaced with stained glass windows (completed in 1972). That solved the problem. But the architect never went into the church again.

Time to head on back to our ship, clean up and have dinner. A special treat tonight (must have been designed with me in mind). A huge seafood buffet with all the crab (four types) I could eat, along with shrimp, clams and mussels, and as much smoked salmon I could eat. (King crab to come on southern leg.) My only concern was that the plates were too small.

By now you know that we can’t disguise our complete enjoyment with this cruise. And much more to come. Hope you enjoy it, too, as we head to the top of the world, by cruising in the Arctic Sea.

And late breaking news. We were just informed that we would get our money back on our cancelled flight from Helsinki to Bergen. Nice!

Have to admit it. We slept through crossing the Arctic Circle. Hey, it was at 7:30AM, somewhere between Nesna and Ornes. (But we made up for it by being awake when we crossed it coming back a few days later.) To be precise, it is at 66°34′N 12°3′E (where we crossed it). There was a pool to guess the actual time. It was 7:30, and a couple of seconds. The winner got the Norwegian flag, with the Norwegian Post logo, signed by the captain.

Just to give you an accurate understanding about what the Norwegian coastline is like, check out this chart image. We kept going in and out of the fjords and around many, many islands. The only time we were in the open sea was when we traversed part of the Arctic Sea.

While there is no dotted line when crossing the Arctic Circle, there is this very large monument placed on a deserted island that we passed by.

Two other things happened later in the day, after you cross the circle. For this, we were awake. There is a ceremony commemorating the event. It wasn’t thrilling. It was chilling. For those brave enough, you had ice and water placed down your back, and on top of your head. (At least I got a shot of schnapps for my bravery.)

And we each got a signed certificate.

At precisely 13:05 we docked in the town of Bodo. Having read up on this town, we headed on off to the salmon museum. (What else would you expect in Norway?) And to peek into shop windows, as most places closed on Sunday.

A model of the typical new generation salmon fishing boat. Some flying salmon. And a sign that says the Norse take care of things. Even to coming up with a new type of handbag.

We had one more stop to make prior to eating dinner. We slowly entered the very small fishing village of Stamsund, for a short 25-minute stop to deliver the mail (even on Sunday). Dried Cod, natures gold in Norway. Most fish caught wind up being dried on racks like these.

After having a relaxing dinner, we walked around the ship to find the best possible positions to watch the MS Richard With enter and traverse the Trollfjord sound. At 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) in length, its most narrow spot is about 100 feet across. It sort of resembles a tube with a bulb at the end. The Richard With is 121.8 meter (400 feet) in length. Its beam is 19.2 meters (63 feet). So, cruise ships carrying several thousands of passengers will never make this journey.

This is what it looks like on a chart.

At the bottom of the fjord, the mountain along the water is about 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) high. And you can almost reach out and touch the mountains. As for describing it, I would say awe-inspiring, downright scary, not to mention breathtaking. See for yourself. As for the captain, he told me that he doesn’t always enter the Trollfjord, if the conditions are not just right. So, on the return trip southbound, we did not enter. As a point of reference, it was about 10:30 PM when we entered the fjord. Getting a little bit more out of each time when the sun shines 24 hours a day.

In the distance you can see a very small fishing camp. About there is where the captain turns the ship, literally on a dime! From there, it’s back out to the “normal” fjords. And for a us a good night cap and a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we will visit the city of Tromso.

Our first shore excursion on the cruise started with the City of Trondheim. It is the third largest city in Norway, behind Oslo and Bergen. And the first capital of Norway. Whenever you ask an American or Norwegian who discovered America, Columbus might not be your first choice. This commemorates the historic journey of Leiv (Leif) Eiriksson (Erikson).

While we were having our first dinner the night before, we made a 30-minute stop at Molde. Took no pictures, as we would pass through it on our return trip, coming southbound. The ship dropped off mail and freight, while also picking up three Norwegians on bikes.

In spite of all the activity of flying to Norway, I couldn’t quite stay asleep. So, I looked out the window as we docked in Kristiansund at 3 AM! But it was plenty light out this far north. No Northern Lights in the summer, but plenty of light 24 hours a day in the summer. That’s why they have really dark curtains on the stateroom windows.

After breakfast, we went ashore in Trondheim. We had signed up for the walking tour of Trondheim. That’s when we found out that some of our itinerary had changed. Instead of walking into the center of the city, we went by bus. It was at that point that we met our local tour guide. A long-time citizen of Norway, he was born in the Ivory Coast. Being a tour guide was a parttime job. He was also a language instructor of multiple languages, as well as being a university professor, with a PhD. He was an absolutely wonderful person, guide, and an incredible fount of local knowledge. And he loves football (soccer). My fave team, Manchester City has two Norwegians: Earling Halland and Oscar Bobb.

He explained that today was a special day in Norway. It was the annual celebration of King Olaf II (St. Olaf), the Patron Saint of Norway. And as there was to be a special service at the Nidaros Cathedral, we took the bus to the cathedral, so that we could get in before it was closed for this service. The cathedral is also the location of the coronation of all of Norway’s kings.

Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim. Built over the tomb of King Olaf II

After about 30 minutes later, we started to walk through the city, on our way back to the ship. The streets were busy, even on this holiday. The architecture was a bit of mix between old and new, and very colorful, too. And of most interest, they managed to tie it all together.

Over 95% percent of electricity generated in Norway comes from either wind power or solar. They are one of the world’s biggest producers of both oil and natural gas. That they sell and keep the profits in a fund for all of Norway, when the day comes that they run out of oil and gas. Most new cars sold today in Norway are electric. They conserve and are quite innovative. Truly an environmentally friendly country.

The next port, heading north is Rorvik, at 9:40PM. We will stop for 20 minutes. Have to get up early tomorrow, as we will be crossing the Arctic Circle, along with a trip into the famous Troll Fjorden in the evening.

In the middle of the summer, Santa makes his reindeer work out every day to stay in shape. As you can see, we have the road to ourselves. Well, we came to Norway to see the spectacular landscapes and the fjords. (Don’t tell the reindeer that we also hoped for some more domesticated versions, for our dinner table.)

For many years, we have thought of taking a cruise through the fjords in Norway, high on our bucket list. Which is kind of funny since we never wanted to go on a cruise with 5,000 of our closest friends. Not to mention that we are not big on floating casinos, Broadway spectacular shows, and kiddie pools. Let’s face it, aren’t you excited about cruising in an out of fjords and mountains so high and close, you can reach out to touch them. Luck came our way when the better half, The Finn, received word of a special deal for citizens of Nordic countries. I suppose we could have passed it up, but not really, since it was on our bucket list.

Unlike many cruise ships, the MS Richard With is about 450 feet (and can maneuver in and out of the fjords) and can take up to only 450 passengers. And with a crew of 71, it felt very relaxing and like a stroll in the forest. If you didn’t want to keep bumping into passengers and crew, you didn’t have to hide. The Hurtigruten Shipping Company was founded 130 years ago, to fill a unique niche in Norway. Being a country smack upside the North Atlantic coast, the Ice Age created an incredible number of mountains and fjords, limiting roads and rails. And even today, there are less than five airports in Western Norway.

Richard With, the founder, won the bid to provide mail delivery and pickup services along the coast. And the company he founded has held it ever since. That explains why the Coastal Express service stops at 17 towns, from Bergen to KIrkenes. So, it’s 17 up and 17 down. In addition, they pick up and deliver freight, as well as taking Norwegians to the next town up, since, for Norwegians, it is relatively inexpensive for them. And being a good businessman, he found a way to incorporate cruise passengers, too.

The trip is 1,089 miles (1,753 km) up the coast, from Bergen to Kirkenes, and the same back down. So, it is 12 days and 11 nights long.

So, this is the MS Richard With, named after the founder. One of the Coastal Express ships passes by each town every day. So, it’s a reliable method of mail delivery. The ship has one dining room, a bistro, a bar, and an upscale dining room. Not only does it make many stops, but it also picks up fresh food along the way. Everything from veggies to fish, to milk, to bread, to ice cream, to the most amazing amounts of shellfish (four kinds of crab, including live king crab), shrimp, clams, oysters, gravad lax (salt cured salmon), smoked salmon, and the most amazing bounty of absolutely freshly caught fish. And it has an excellent selection of wine. One word of warning. The tax on booze in Norway is absolutely astounding!

At the start of the trip. we had one problem. Our flight to Bergen, from Helsinki, was cancelled at the last moment. And the airline would not book us on a different airline. And the flight they did book us to Bergen would have arrived the day after the ship left! They did give us a hotel and dinner overnight in Helsinki. And we filled in our E261 form with Finnair to get compensation for the cancelled flight. No way to get to Bergen for the start of our cruise. (In hindsight, as newbies to cruising, we didn’t realize that we should have booked a room in Bergen the night before the cruise. Fortunately, we stayed in touch with the cruise line. Through the night they figured out how to get us to the next stop the ship made the next day. So, at 5:30 the next morning we caught a flight to Copenhagen. And caught another flight to Alesund, the first stop for our ship that late afternoon.

The flight attendants on the way to Copenhagen took pity on us and gave us this bottle of champagne to take with us.

There is an airport somewhere on the island. To get to Alesund, we had to take a taxi, from there, through a two-mile-long tunnel. As we were to find, most towns are on multiple islands. We had three or four hours to explore and sit by the water and sample local beverages.

Coming from a big city, Helsinki, it was a feast for the eyes to see Alesund. Colorful, with an apparent sense of history, everywhere you looked, water was at hand. It was like a rapid decompression.

What’s not to like? And unless you looked closely, it was hard to distinguish between old and new buildings. And oh, so colorful. It was a joy to just stroll through the town. And if you like football (European version), you can’t miss signs of the famous Norwegian son, now playing for Manchester City.

We were going to try and get a better overall view of Alesund, but we changed our minds after we saw the few steps we would have to climb to get that better view.

Better we didn’t climb up the stairs. The ship was coming into dock, and we were getting hungry. I heard that the food was quite good.

The appetizer was Dybvik dried and salted cod carpaccio. (Pickled carrot, semi-dried cherry tomatoes, crisp bread, tapioca grains in a parsley-infused oil, and sugar kelp.

No reindeer tonight. Hellessylt Salted Leg of Lamb. (Mustard-stewed vegetables, oven baked potatoes and red wine glaze.) We both gave it thumbs up. But as were fast tiring after a long day, we decided to hop into our way comfortable bed, and get a good night’s sleep. For us, the cruise will begin tomorrow.

Our adventure continues. So much more of Norway to see!