Helsinki in Jail.

We bought the tickets for tomorrow’s ferry with the Viking Line. That leaves us stranded for the night in Helsinki. We checked hotel rooms near the Viking Line and the rate is 132 Euros per night. We found a Youth Hostel for 60 Euros with a bathroom down the hall to be used by all. And then we found… a converted jail. Yes, we are sleeping in jail tonight. It was built in 1937 and closed as a jail in 2002. Best Western bought the property and converted it into a 4 Star Hotel while keeping much of the original architecture, the original red brick façade and enclosing wall. Two to three cells were used to make one guest room and the door to each room is the original size – SMALL. Yes, I know it is not cheap but when will we ever sleep in jail? The price is a staggering 121 Euros, which included breakfast, internet and secure parking for our bikes. After all of this I land us in jail. It is elegant, too. Tomorrow we are off to Tallinn, Estonia.

Lapland

The northern part of Finland is very sparsely populated if you do not count the reindeer; vast areas of scraggly wooded, sandy soil does not lend itself to anything but herding reindeer. The birch tree, which normally loves poor soil, has a hard time growing here. We took the highway going south because there is really nothing to see but small fishing camps and lakes galore. If you love to fish, this might be the place for you. This is not exiting motorcycle country. Well, almost not exiting. The roads are straight and go on for miles and the highway we were on consisted of ‘whoop di doo’ hills. Given the right speed you can skip along the road. There is a speed limit of 100 KM per hour but I have not seen one policeman. So, if you are into speed on a straight away, this might be your place. Watch out for reindeer, though.

Western Finland.

We wanted to find Amber on the Baltic Sea. Mistakenly, we thought the beaches are like most beaches we know with sandy patches and a walk along the beach would yield some amber. I know that amber can be found lying about. I heard the stories over and over that people really found amber on the 3 Baltic Beaches. As we learned, we have to go to the Baltic States in order to do that. Finland is not the place, but we tried. We took a hytte on the beach one night for 40 Euro and ate some smoked fish we bought at the store. Yesterday, we bought some pork chops and again found a hytte with a stove. This time the cost was only 30 Euros because it was off the beaten track. It was the last weekend in August and it is tradition to celebrate the Saturday with fireworks. So all along the shoreline fire crackers went off and the night sky sparkled with colors. Life is good.

Nordkapp --- 710 10’ 21” --- The North Cape

It rained all day. Not only that, fog set in as thick as pea soup. Reindeer made driving hazardous; the wind keeps our bikes leaned sideways. We have as many layers on as we had packed. It seemed so easy to get to the Nordkapp the last time I was there, which was in the middle of July. Now, at the end of August, everything changes. The weather is a big factor this far North. There are no trees to break the wind and only lichen covers the rounded, rocky hills. It is a barren, empty, forbidding landscape. There are definitely more reindeer around; these beasts love this kind of weather. The fog and the rain together make the whole situation a little scary and dangerous, too. The visor fogs up so easy. Yes, we apply anti fog stuff but we need to wipe the rain off and so wipe off the anti fog stuff, too. It is so cold that riding with the visor open is not a good idea.
We did the best we could and now that it is over, all is well. Yet, for a while it was a little tough going. The wind was the biggest obstacle. At too slow a speed the wind pushes you over too far. There is not much to see this far North. The Sami, the original people who lived here, considered the Nordkapp a holy place. Maybe their god was not happy with all the tourists that come by car, RV or bus. We, the motorcycle folks, earn our badge and we fight the elements when visiting this late in the season. Most of the tourist shops along the way are already shut down. The road crew was putting on markers so that the road is visible in snowdrifts. There were no more birds to be seen, they were smart enough to have gone south already. Only we, the bikers have to try it in almost winter.
Well…. We made it but I would visit next time in June or July, it is better that way.

Viking Longhouse.

We heard about this replica of a Viking Longhouse from Hilde Stoltz. Hilde is working on a Masters Degree in Norwegian Studies and the Vikings are her forte. We just had to see how the Vikings lived 1000 or more years ago. The replica of a Chieftain’s Longhouse, built on the same spot where a longhouse originally stood, is impressive. The details of daily life are clearly shown and the guided tour can be listened to in English. The men’s meeting section reminded me of a drinking hall. The kitchen shows how limited their food sources were then. The weaving was primitive, yet the clothing made from the fabric woven was well done. Iron hand tools were used in woodworking; a primitive but effective lathe was made and used similar to a spinning wheel. Animals were kept in pens outside and the hog I saw was huge and well fed, I don’t think the original Vikings would have waited that long to eat this beast. Sheep were kept and of course a cow for milk, etc. Yes, it was an agrarian society but it was not only that. Hunting was part of their life as was gathering, since they collected mushrooms and berries. It sure was not an easy way to survive the harsh winters.
There is hardly a flat piece of ground in Norway. Any flat area is treasured and used as farmland. Most of the campgrounds, even, do not have enough flat space for a good tent spot. So farming, the traditional way, with plow and oxen was not possible years ago. Besides, the growing season was short and what little land there is is full of rocks. Is it any wonder the Vikings looked for loot someplace else? Or better farm land in Iceland? Or even Sweden? I believe the Vikings were just trying to survive any way they could.
The Lofoten Longhouse gives you a good glimpse into how it used to be.

Lofoten Islands

The Lofoten Islands form a rather large Peninsula, showing us a typical Norwegian lifestyle. It is very picturesque, covered with small harbors and old buildings stemming from cod fishing times. Cod fish were dried, salted and shipped throughout Europe, even the World. Fishermen came from all over the Globe to catch these fish. They lived in small huts, cooked their own meals and slept in bunk beds. It was an inexpensive way to get though the winter season, it was small but warm and dry. These small huts, called Hytter, (pronounced hoota) are still in use today. Ok, a bit updated, but still the same style and the same size but now these huts are rented out to tourists. Prices throughout Norway are dear. A Radisson Hotel room in Bergen was 2200 Norwegen Kronen (divide by 5 for US dollars). A hytte with shower and bathroom compares at 600 Kronen. The most common Hytte is about 400 Kronen but does not have a shower, etc. We were cozy warm in a hytte but also froze our butts off sleeping in a campground right near the ocean. (The Lofoten Islands are inside the Polar Circle.) Yes, all hytter have a hotplate so cooking can be done without visiting a restaurant. In Norway it is not so easy to find a restaurant. People mostly cook their own meals. On all our travels we have not seen a fast food place in Norway. No KFC, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, etc. No glaring advertisements, either. The whole country looks pristine and clean of Madison Avenue jargons. This is especially true on the Lofoten Islands. Many people visit the Lofoten coming south by bus from Narvik, but we rode these roads the opposite way.
We saw many glaciers and snow filled recesses in the spectacular craggy mountains and even stopped at the huge, multi-armed Svartisen glacier which is advancing 131 feet per year (no global warming here). There were spectacular waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet in multiple stages before forming turbulent, turquoise rivers rushing to the sea. The many fjords were deep and crystal clear and our road wound along the edge of many of these fjords with the steep mountain sides rising sharply on the other side of the road.
One of the main reasons we took this off the beaten track route was to visit a replica of a Viking Longhouse. See our next report.

Polar Circle

Polar Circle
I understand that anything above Latitude 66 Degrees, 32 Minutes, 727 Seconds North, is the Polar Circle.
We crossed this line going North on the ferry. Not that we couldn’t have ridden across it but taking the road less travelled, the back roads, we had to take the ferry. We were eager to see the monument Norway built to show the exact spot of the Polar Circle. Nothing magical happened, and yet, the temperature does change from now on. It gets remarkably colder. Also, and this will now be a permanent reminder, there are signs for reindeer. Yes, they are waiting for us on the side of the roads, sometimes even right in the middle of the road. Sometimes there are small herds of reindeer, too. Besides the reindeer, watch out for sheep sleeping in the middle of the asphalt. The same holds true for goats but we only saw one large herd of goats. The problem with these animals is that they believe they own the roads. Right after a sharp turn or bend in the road, there they are. Unpredictable, always there when you least expect them. Riding these roads takes constant vigilance.

After we crossed the Polar Circle we noticed that the vegetation changes. Oh, yes, there are still plenty of trees but now they are mostly Fir and Birches. Trees such as Maple and Oak are not to be seen. Also their size becomes smaller the further North we go. No, we did not see any Northern Lights. I believe these lights only show up in winter. We are now adding layers to our clothing to cope with the temperatures.
Our next target is the Lofoten Islands.