Linda is saying hello to the Troll Greeter in Honningsvåg. Legend has it that if they are exposed to sunlight, they turn to stone. And even though the myths tell us they are dangerous & unfriendly, this one seems to have been happy before turning to stone.

Bamse (big boy or teddy bear in English & pronounced Bump-SA) was a St Bernard that became a mascot for the Free Norwegian Forces during WWII. There’s a fun website with his story, visitangus.com. More than 1000 people showed up for his burial.

This is an example of Flotsam Art. Erica Haugli, a local artist, wanted to bring more awareness to ocean pollution in the far north. Her idea was to create colorful art collages out of the trash deposited by the ocean currents. Her campaign, ”One Step at a Time”, is directed at cleaning up the northern coastal stretches.

On the 45 minute bus ride to Nordkapp, we drove from the fjord to a high plateau. There was no vegetation more than a few inches high, which is typical of alpine landscapes. Saw lot of reindeer along the route. In the winter, cars caravan behind a snowplow to get there & back!

Nordkapp, the furthest point that you can travel by road in Norway, is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, us included! Even though it’s far north at 71 degrees latitude, it’s ice free all year because of the Gulf stream. We had a beautiful sunny day although the wind was howling & cool!

Looking back at the North Cape, the northernmost point in Europe, a place where the sun doesn’t set between May 12 & July 31. The sun doesn’t peek over the horizon from Nov 21 until January 21. But the wind blows all the time. From the view point the cliff drops 1000 ft to the Barents Sea.

This diorama shows how the tourists in the late 1800s got to the top. Those ladies are brave, crazy, tough, crazy!!! Those dresses!!
In 1553, an English explorer trying to find the Northeast Passage (a route between the Atlantic & Pacific oceans) gave it the name North Cape. In 1873 the Norwegian King had a monument installed declaring it to be the northernmost point in the Norway/Sweden union.

We spent a couple hours at Nordkapp, thankful for the sunshine so we could enjoy the scenery! There were only 2 public buses daily from Honningsvåg. Most tourists come on excursions from cruise ships, Hurtigruten or drive. There were many campervan parked overlooking the Barents Sea.

This signpost is pointing the way to Russia. It’s about 9 miles. Too far to walk & too close for comfort. At the end of May new travel restrictions were put in place by Norway, restricting Russian tourists & shoppers. This is not expected to deter the Russians living or working in Norway from visiting family in Russia. The very close business & personal ties between the two countries makes for a very difficult political situation.

Kirkenes, the king crab city, is one of the main ports for harvesting king crabs in the Barents Sea. Crabs are harvested mostly using pots & exported live to restaurants around the world. King crabs were introduced from the Pacific Ocean in 1960. There has been a commercial fishery for king crab since 2002. King crab safaris are offered year round.

The Borderland Museum shows the history before & after the coming of borders. The milestones in the history of Norwegian, Finnish & Russian immigration, the establishment of a mining company, the national government’s attitude towards the inhabitants & WWII. It was amazing! It brought sadness for the atrocities of war, respect for the resilience of the people & awareness of how many good people there are in the world.

We found a small cafe in Kirkenes and warmer temps for a brief time. Ready to dig in to this avocado toast, it was yummy!