Hot Wheels

It's a Ford...it's old...(well, at least parts of it are old)

it's kind of cute! The back tires are oversized...and front are undersized. You 

might notice there are no doors on this rig...to get inside, you need to jump. It also has some very subtle flames and stripping. But the best part is the engine.

This is definitely not standard gear. This little rig has a local license plate so it's a street legal hot rod in every sense of the word.

Motorhomes

Since we have RV'd for over 40 years, I'm always interested in seeing RVs when I travel. Finland and Norway had a bunch of RVs on the road this summer. We also passed a number of RV parks. Roughing it gently has caught on. 

The most interesting RV I saw was this GMC in Helsinki. It had a German license plate on it, so it was a visitor. 

Why is this motorhome so interesting? Well...it's an American Motorhome, commonly called a "Jimmy" and it went out of production over 35 years ago! She's definitely not new, yet she looks really pretty. 

At the Arctic Circle we saw a "nest" of European Motorhomes waiting to see Santa. Sadly he was on vacation. European models are generally smaller than American RVs and they never have slide-outs. 

Outside of the Suomi Museum in Ivalo, Finland, there were several motorhomes all geared up to take their people on an adventure. Here you see a combination of Class A and Class C motorhomes...the class C is the third one in the line.

What you have to consider is the cost of these puppies! Fuel is close to US$8 a gallon...and on a good day a motorhome will get 10 miles a gallon. The Jimmy does not do that well. I know, as we get 14mpg on a good day going downhill with a tailwind.

In Hammerfest, Norway too. Another thing to consider...narrow streets. Driving one of these monsters in a city is a nightmare. Still, the lure of the open road and camping where you please is alive a well in the northern climes.

Mileposts

I like milepost signs...or in this case kilometer post signs. 

We were right on the arctic circle line, and this post marked distances to various locations. We were over 5000 km from New Delhi or 7000+km from Tokyo. North, south, east or west, the markers indicated world cities and their distance from a tiny Finnish town at the arctic circle. 

The first time I paid real attention to milepost markers was in Invercargill, New Zealand, as far south in NZ as you can get. There were 4 poles put up by the auto club on the last scrap of NZ land that showed distances and directions to various locations around the world. Since then I've taken pictures of them from Antarctica to Africa. For some reason I find them fascinating. Some are in kilometers some are in miles, they all convey a subtle message that we want to stay connected with each other. 

Coastline Thoughts

For some reason I was not prepared to see a very rocky coastline. I knew there were fjords in Norway. I knew about her mountains, but the rough coastline was a surprise--it seems rougher than the rocky coast of Maine, There are scores of miles of large rocks that seem to be impossible to digest as living space. 

Yet, the few places where land can be found for a dwelling, a house or hut is there. 

Don't  get me wrong, this is not a backward culture. Here's a house nestled amid the rocks with all the trappings of "modern" society...a waste collection service that makes you separate plastics from the rest of the garbage. 

While there are wild woolly sheep roaming the fields not too far away. 

The wind and rain and terrain have created a hearty group of people. 

Rørvik, Trondheim and Molde

We have passing large and small towns as we cruise south through the fjords. There are many similarities among them, no matter the size. They all have a church, a statue (or 2) and homes using the same color palette. 

Last night we stopped in Rørvik for a few minutes. It is a small town with a few shops and the now "common" statue of a woman with her child looking out to sea, hoping her husband will return. 

It's a pure guess, but I'm sure many did not return. 

Outside of town were the usual homes lining the fjord. 

A fancy white home depicting some wealth among the more common red homes, which are a sign of hard times. 

The other common color you see is "Maria Teresa Yellow" (that's what I call it). Our guide says it's the next "wealthy" color when folks get tired of white. Our guide thought this home looked like it belonged to Pippi Longstocking. I had to agree! 

There's a map of the town. The fish shape does not mean Christianity it means the town makes its living from fish. 

This morning we had a tour of Trondheim, which is a world away from a small fishing village. With a population of 170,000 souls it's a thriving city. 

In the center of town is the Lutheran cathedral. 

A river flows into the fjord affording views of homes and businesses by the water. 

Look at the traditional colors. 

These homes are in the old part of town near the cathedral and the university. 

How about a floating restaurant. Given the fact that's it's June and it's still cold, I wonder how many months such a dining room is used?

Overlooking the city is the old fort. Kristiansten fort was never conquered. Is it a typical star construction, high in a hill. 

In this study of similarities is the last town of Molde. It's not a city like Trondheim, but it's not a little fishing burg like Rørvik. 

It's has a typical Lutheran church 

On a town square, with the city hall on the other side. There is also a statue but we could not figure it it was to young women or spring.

The town is known for a rather famous jazz festival which is held every summer. 

And the statue says it best...the player feels his music. 

The houses on the hill were white, they looked like a typical "rich" home in any other town. 

Reflections (2)

Sometimes you see reflections that are too good to be true. Today we took one bus and two trains to Oslo, the capital, and largest city of Norway. Along the way we saw these reflections. 

Where's the top? The lake was so clear and so still, and the reflection was so deep, it seemed to be never ending.

It looks like a kaliedoscope. Landscape is not supposed to be that still.

To me, this looks like a piece of abstract art. Someone took a piece of paper and put globs of paint on one side of it, then folded the paper and smudged the colors together. Instead, it's a very still lake, with a large snow covered mountain in the background reflecting on the lake and in the middle back there's a little village. How does water get this still?

I'll stop at this one. As you can see, I was having a good time taking pictures of reflections. When you see still water, you have to take advantage of it.

Reflections (1)

We took an hour drive north and west of Bergen to learn about life in Norway before oil and after oil. The "learning" included a museum visit, which sadly, was not all that interesting. What was interesting was the drive!

The rocky coast of Norway is filled with tiny inlets and when the inlet is protected, people have built houses. Since this is a fishing culture, everyone has a boat. Looking at the tiny inlets with their houses and boats was something else as it was a quiet day. It was gray, but not raining.

Take a look...

As you can tell, these are all taken of the same enclave, but from different angles. The reflections are astonishing since we are right on a wicked coastline. The inlet is "behind" the knoll, so it does not feel the full force of the Norwegian wind and rain. This area of Norway gets 300 days of rain a year, and is the rainiest part of Europe.

Graffiti

It took awhile, but we started seeing graffiti yesterday in Bergen. Throughout the trip, the walls have been free from the tagger, but Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, and there are taggers.

I saw some in Oslo too, which is the largest city. Some trains had been tagged as well as walls. I guess it's a passage that folks have to go through, but it would be nicer if it was by-passed altogether.

Sunshine

As we are leaving the fjord country, we are seeing a bit of sunshine! What a treat. The downside is for the whole time we were in one of the most picturesque places in the world, we had wet, gray, cold weather. When you travel you get the weather you get...and that's just the way it is!

Yesterday .... Today!

Trolls, etc. in Hammerfest

Trolls are part of Norwegian mythology...but even a good thing can go awry. 

On the other hand, it does liven up a rather dull street. 

There was one street-side mural in town that depicted non-Norwegian kids break dancing. 

Along the shore there are always rows of colorful  houses. 

Bigger Towns

Today we crossed the arctic circle again. The sun might set now that we are farther south. We will see tonight. For the past week it's been light 24/7 making it hard to go to bed when it's still light outside. However, in the Panorama Lounge, the sleeping happens 24/7as it's so peaceful up here.  

We pass by villages and towns with little houses perched on them. The houses are all tidy. I wonder if there is a law that says no one can have a junky backyard because I've not seen a junky backyard. I've only seen one instance of graffiti! (I'm sure there is more...)

The villages are surprisingly similar. 

Some Great Scenery

The mountains jump out of the sea. The little towns are bright and Filled with color. The day is gray and cold. 

Normally a quiet place except when the ship docks. 

 Then the scene changes to a bustle of activity only to return to  quiet when we

Sail away.