FROM BODO TO NARVIK - JUNE 1981

BY BOAT AND BUS TO GET TO THE NARVIK RAILWAY

NARVIK LIES 210 KM NORTH OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE, 1453 KM NORTH OF OSLO AND IS 2420 KM FAR FROM THE NORTH POLE




"BOAT TO NARVIK - From Bodo to Narvik there was a nice bus trip. However, several fjords had to be crossed by ferry. The landscape was beautiful"





"FJORDS on the way to Narvik - Located at 68º 25' N and 17º 33' E, between the Beisfjord and the Rombaksfjord, at the foot of the Fagernes mountain (1200 meter), Narvik benefits from the Gulf Stream which provides her with a mild climate throughout the year, i. e. just below freezing from mid-November until Late March... The blue of the sea was much nicer than it shows on the scanned photos"


"BUS - Sometimes there were some segments of road between the fjords for the bus driver to show its competence, and for the passengers to take photos during the technical stops"


"BED AND BREAKFAST at the Breidablikk Gjestehus in Narvik. The sun is below the horizon from late November until mid-January, and the snow melts in lowland areas in April. "


"TROLL - Many people has taken photos with this Troll in front of a souvenir shop in one of the main steets of Narvik; One was found in the Net". In Internet slang, however, a troll is a person who posts offensive messages on online discussions, to disrupt them or to upset participants. Troll can also mean the message itself or the verb meaning to post such messages. Poor Scandinavian Trolls who are only the members of a mythical race whose role range from fiendish giants to a devious, more human-like folk of the wilderness, living underground, and inclined to thieving and to the abduction of humans. Tororu seems to be the Japanese equivalent for troll!"


"NARVIK - Preparing to go up the hill"



"FJELLHEISEN CABLE CAR - The old cable car brought us to a magnificent view over Narvik, the fjord and the mountains. It was too cold to wait for the (midnight) sun. The sun is above the horizon from May 25 to July 18, the period with continuous daylight lasting from May 10 through the end of July"


"FJELLHEISEN - the snow stays in the mountains for several months. In June we had this magnificent spectacle"


"FJELLHEISEN - The view over the fjord and the mountains on the opposite side is gorgeous"


"RIJKSGRÄNSEN - Ofotbanen is the northernmost railway line, always above the Arctic Circle; it links the port of Narvik to the town of Kiruna in Sweden, famous for the iron ore mines, and is connected to the Swedish railway system. The line was opened in 1902.
Riksgränsen means International Border in Swedish; it is a ski-resort in Lapland, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle"

THE MIDNIGHT SUN - JUNE 1981

FROM TRONDHEIM TO THE ARCTIC CIRCLE AND BODO


"SUMMER SNOW - From Trondheim, home to the Rosenborg Ballklubs - traditional winner of the Norwegian football league - the train heads north to Bodø passing through snow-capped hills"



"TRAIN - From Trondheim to Mo I Rana the train runs 480 km, sometimes remembering the railway line from Oporto to Régua, except the snow"


"ARCTIC CIRCLE - one of the 5 major latitude circles. The position of the Arctic Circle depends of the axial tilt of the polar axis of rotation of the Earth on the ecliptic, an angle which is not constant. Due to nutation the tilt oscillates over 9" in a period of 18.6 years. The main long-term cycle has a period of 41000 years and an amplitude of about 0.68º, or 76 km on the surface. Currently the tilt is decreasing by about 0.47" per year, so the Circle is moving north by 14m per year. The stone pyramid marks its location"


"BODO, latitude 67°17'N, at the mouth of the Saltfjord, is the administrative centre of Nordland county. On May 20, 1816 the Norwegian parliament formally granted Bodø township status, but on May 27th, 1940 a German attack destroyed most of the town. Bodø received unwanted international attention in two other situations: in 1818, the so-called Bodø Incident, a smuggling case created diplomatic complications with England, ending with the Norwegian/Swedish union having to pay a sizeable fine; on May 1st 1960, the world became aware that the American U2 spy plane headed for Bodø never arrived, but was shot down over the Soviet Union"


"SAS HOTEL - Though it was freezing outside (3º/4º centigrade), men needed a tie to get into the bar on the top floor..."


"HARBOUR - Vital spot for the Bodø economy. Catch a glimpse of the place with the harbour web camera"


"WIND - Bodø is one of Norway's most windy cities"


MIDNIGHT SUN - In Bodø the sun is continuously visible from June 2 through July 10. The further north one goes, the more days the midnight sun can be experienced. At Finland's northernmost point, for instance, the sun does not set for 73 days during summer. The opposite phenomenon, polar night, is observed in winter when the sun is below the horizon, so that there is no sunlight at all"

BERGEN, NORWAY - JUNE 1981

BERGEN - UNESCO'S WORLD HERITAGE CITY!


Bergen was founded in 1070, when King Olav III Haraldsson Kyrre, nicknamed Olav the Quiet or Olav the Peaceful, sailed into the harbour. The city grew up around its harbour to become Norway's first capital and the seat of royalty, its most international town, and a melting-pot of cultures. In the 13th century, it was the largest of all the towns in the Nordic countries, and the German Hansas opened one of their four European offices on the wharf called Bryggen. When we disembarked the Oslo-Bergen train, we realized that there was a huge difference between Oslo and Bergen. In 1981, Oslo looked a real rustic town, while Bergen was much more cosmopolitan. The airports showed the difference. After Norway became hugely rich with the oil production, things seem to have completely changed...



"BRYGGEN - The old Bryggen Hanseatic wharf is architecturally unique - a maze of wooden buildings with pointed gables facing onto the harbour. Bryggen stays the same as it was in the medieval age, and was included in the Unesco's World Heritage List in 1980"


"BRYGGEN - The wooden houses of Bryggen have been devastated by many fires, the last in 1955. However, there are still 58 buildings remaining, most of which are used as artists' studios"


"OLD TOWN - FREEZING - Bergen is the only town in the whole of Scandinavia, which has followed a classical European pattern of development. When we got there, on St. Anthony's day (June 13th, 1981) the temperature was +4º centigrade. In Lisbon, home town of the named Saint, it was recorded, for the first time since records exist, +43º Celsius.
Amazingly, today - JANUARY 29, 2006, BETWEEN 3:15 and 3:30 p.m., LISBON TIME, we had some SNOW falling IN LISBON, and melting on the ground!!! It seems to be the first time since 1953..."


"TORVALMENINGEN - A central place in Bergen. By 5:00 p. m., it seems everybody was having dinner. It was freezing outside, and we tried to enter a restaurant on the first floor of a nearby house. Crowded, no way to even enter the site. Fortunately, a nice Norwegian couple, habitués to the place, who were coming in while we were leaving, managed to get us into the restaurant and find a seat. We had a delightful meal in a fabulous atmosphere. Unfortunately, the name of the restaurant did not resist the time..."


"TORVALMENINGEN - Statues of ancient sailors"


"OLE BULL'S PLACE - Bergen is also an important cultural centre. Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), the greatest Norwegian composer, was born in Bergen. Henrik Ibsen, his greatest dramatist, entered the world of theatre in Bergen. Bergen houses also a unique collection of works of the greatest Norwegian painter - Edvard Munch"

FJORDLAND - JUNE 1981

TRAVELLING FROM FLAM TO VOSS BY BOAT AND BUS THROUGH THE NORWEGIAN FJORDS - ANOTHER UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

SOGNEFJORD

Fjordland is Norway's most important tourist destination with its magnificent scenery of high mountains and spectacular fjords.


"DEPARTING FLAM - The boat journey goes out from Flam in the Aurlandfjord into the Nærøyfjord, to Gudvangen. It's much more beautiful when the sun is shinning. Unfortunately it did not last..."


"AURLANDFJORD - Carved by glacial ice in river valleys, the fjords are diverse and each has different attractions. Sognefjord is the best known of the fjords, the longest and deepest, with charming villages, and old stave churches along its shores"


"FREEZING - The fjord is quite calm and silent. The wind, however, blows, as the ferry makes its journey through the Aurlandfjord. Even in June it's chilly!"


"WHEN AURLANDFJORD MEETS NAEROYFJORD - Prepare to join the narrowest fjord in Europe"


"NAEROYFJORD - ANOTHER UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE
The 17 km long Nærøyfjord is the narrowest and wildest of the fjord arms, and one of the most spectacular and beautiful fjords in the world. The Nærøyfjord was included on the World Natural Heritage List on July 14, 2005"


"NAEROYFJORD - Considered as archetypical fjord landscape, the surrounding mountains reach up to 1700 meters on both sides, and the fjord is no more than 300 meters across at the most narrow point"


"NAEROYFJORD - The sheer walls of the fjord have numerous waterfalls"

STALHEIM


"STALHEIM - From Gudvangen it's always up the hill to get the Bergen train again at Voss"


"STALHEIM HOTEL - The spectacular view over the Nærøy Valley from Stalheim Hotel is an absolute highlight of a visit to Fjordland"



"STALHEIM HOTEL is situated one mile off Route E-16 that crosses Southern Norway and which is the main road between Bergen and Oslo"


"ON THE WAY TO VOSS - Another beautiful lake: the Vangs Lake"


"CASCADES are always around the corner"


"VOSS - is situated on the northern edge of the Vangs Lake. From Voss to Bergen is only one hour by train, and Oslo is at 5H30 distance, as the train traversses the Hardanger Plateau"

FROM OSLO TO FLAM - JUNE 1981

AN AMAZING RAILWAY TRIP

After a regular trip from Oslo to the mountain station at Myrdal, an incredible train journey awaits you down to Flåm station, at the innermost corner of the Aurlandfjord: the Flåm Railway!
The 20 km-long train ride, in one of the worlds steepest railway lines on normal gauge (55/1000 on almost 80% of the line), provides you with a wild and magnificent scenery: snow-capped mountains, rivers, waterfalls, valleys...



"TRAIN OSLO-MYRDAL - During the stay in Oslo, the temperature was +17º centigrade. Next morning, when we took the train, it was -2º. The result could be seen from the window of the train!"


"MYRDAL STATION - It was windy and freezing, namely for a young Portuguese used to the June weather in Lisbon... The train is the 1981 version of the famous Flåm Railway!"



"FLAM VALLEY - When you start the descent from Myrdal to Flåm, you get a glimpse of the beautiful Flåm Valley"



"KJOSFOSSEN - At Kjosfossen, the train stops and you take your photos. There is no other place where a train stops and you see an impressive waterfall coming downhill to the platform. The water starts cascading up in the mountains and roars on its way down"


"FLAM - Then you get to Flåm, which is situated in the innermost part of the Aurlandsfjord, a tributary of the 204 kilometres long and up to 1308 metres deep Sognefjord"


"HARBOUR - Small cruise ships and ferries used to squeeze through narrow fjord arms to arrive at Flåm. In 1981 it looked the way you see in the picture. Now, Flåm Port is one of Norway's most popular ports of call for cruise ships. As from May 1999 Flåm have improved the berthing facilities to enable the largest cruise ship to berth alongside. The harbour basin has all the facilities for using tender boats on days when several cruise ships are in the harbour at the same time... UGH!"


"FLAM 1981 - Main rule: Enjoy..."