Tuesday Aug 15, 2023
Hi Folks! We are docked in the port of Hammerfest today. They claim to be the world’s northernmost town (but I thought that was Longyearbyen?) so we’ll go with it. It is one of Norway’s oldest towns but it feels more modern. On Salen Mountain you get a nice view of the town and the two islands near it, Hoja and Hjelmenout. The indigenous people here, called Sami, have a camp nearby called Mikkelgammen where they reenact how they lived hundreds of years ago. Another interesting site nearby is called the Meridian Column that is recognized as the place where the Earth’s size was first calculated. And last but not least is their real claim to fame which is the exclusive Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Club!
We did an excursion that went to several different places. We first stopped at a quaint little fishing village (as you’ve read recently, there’s lots of those in Norway!) called Forsol. There was a nice little beach area there too. It’s where many of the indigenous Sami people lived. There’s still currently a part of the Sami people that migrate with wherever the reindeer travel since that’s one of their main sources of food. We saw several reindeer and I got a good pic of one fairly close. They said in the next few weeks the reindeer will begin moving into the mountains since the Fall storms will come and soon after the cold winter months will settle in. We also learned that during the winter months all the reindeer shed their antlers except for the ones that are pregnant. So the guide said, Santa used all pregnant reindeer to deliver our Christmas presents! Lol
We then went up to Mount Salen which had a nice view looking down over the town, the fjord and the surrounding islands. We could even see our cruise ship from up there!
We then went to the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society Club. It showed the history of Hammerfest and lots of info on polar bears. We became official members and we should be getting our certificates thru the mail after we get back! How cool is that?
We then walked around town, bought some souvenirs and walked back to the ship. The late afternoon we just chilled and relaxed onboard.
We had another great dinner, this time with a Brazilian theme. And the show afterwards was our piano playing friend Chase performing a multi-instrumental medley of songs that were really good.
So I got asked by a couple people why I stopped posting pictures of the menu and food. The reality is, as part of our free wifi package, they only give us a certain amount data to use and uploading my pictures uses lots of data so I figured I’d show more scenery than food. But I guess others may want to see the food instead! Lol.
Hope everyone had a great day. We have a sea day tomorrow then two more days of expeditions. Can’t wait!
The Wandering Italian 