Little Red Houses and Vikings

We were pleased to find that our hotel carried on the tradition of a bountiful breakfast that we found in Oslo with the addition of a pianist entertaining us during our meal.  The downside was the popularity of the hotel which often meant fighting your way to the buffet.

Boarding the bus mid-morning we drove along a stunning coast line with snow covered jagged peaks and clear green waters.  It’s hard for me to think these peeks are at sea level and that the water is not an alpine lake.  The next corner tops the first and so on and so on.

There’s a famous photo of Norway with a row of red houses and a beautiful mountain providing the background.  Black rocks surrounded by ice waters are in the foreground.  We drove specifically to the Reine to take home this shot.  However, blowing winds filled with snow partially blocked the mountain and made the photo a little less than ideal.  We hung around hoping for it to clear but we finally boarded the bus for our next stop.  Ta da, the skies opened just long enough for us to hop off and get the shot and oh what a shot it was.  Thanks to the weather gods for accommodating us!

During our journey to the Viking museum we made a couple of stops along the beaches.  The contrast of the crashing waves and the rocky peaks is quite dramatic and very picture worthy. It’s always interesting to later see how everyone can be dropped at the same place and take pretty dramatically different photos.  

Our afternoon found us at Lofotr Viking Museum to photograph character actors both outside and in the Viking long house.  They were great!  we had full on Vikings with swords, hatchets, shields and capes. One woman definitely has dragon blood (shameless Game of Thrones reference) with stunning white hair and creamy complexion.  Hard to take a bad photo here.  After a brisk outdoor session, we headed in to break into groups for environmental photos.  

Our dinner was a Viking feast with our character actors serving and entertaining us .  At one point they involved the group in a simple dance and there were plenty of toasts throughout the evening.  A buffet of lamb, fish, vegetables, and barley stew was quite satisfying.  After dinner we went to the visitors center to watch a quick movie, shop in the gift shop (never miss an opportunity!) and have a delicious dessert with hot beverages.  Perfect ending to a beautiful but somewhat challenging day.

Tomorrow: Horses