I let Bill sleep in today, spending the early morning curled up with a book and a view off the dock. We decided we wanted to spend today exploring Henningsvær in more depth and nothing really opens until 10AM. So we took our time getting ready, and had a relaxed breakfast of bread, cured meats, eggs, juice, and coffee.
After breakfast, we headed to the glass and ceramic shop just across the parking lot from our apartment. There were some cool bowls, and they blow the glass on site. Next, we visited Kaviar Factory, a modern art museum on the north edge of town. Yesterday, Bill declared himself done with WWII related tourism. I think as of today, he is now done with modern art as well. Though we did both enjoy the gift shop.
We went into a few more shops and found a piece of art we both really like. It's a local photographer's image of the street art we couldn't find yesterday. Bill says he doesn't usually buy photos, but I think this is about the most Henningsvær thing we could possibly get. After fishing, photography is what Lofoten is known for. We weren't able to purchase it today due to some technology related issues with credit card readers, but it's 2 blocks from here. Hopefully we'll fit it in tomorrow afternoon.
We walked out past the houses into the areas where they dry fish during cod season. This is not cod season, so there are just wooden racks hanging around. I wanted to scout possible locations for northern lights viewing that have less light pollution than our street, but won't require Bill to drive. The edge of the island we're on had a lovely view except for the radio tower.
The island across the bridge had a soccer field and then a marker for the oldest rock in Lofoten. This edge of the island dates back to the original eruption that formed the archipelago. It was fun to walk around a photograph, but would be a challenge to not twist an ankle on at night.
This island also had a shop full of interesting wool caps that we somehow didn't buy. Alabama isn't really the place to own as many warm hats as we already have.
Next, we went back into a shop we visited yesterday to pick up the best Christmas ornament ever.
Then we walked towards the large hotel to scout as it will be the meeting point for tomorrow's adventure. We also stopped in the art gallery in that part of town to check out the gift shop. I found a water resistant wind breaker that will also be handy tomorrow. The woman working at the shop said the northern lights were fairly bright last night near her home, so perhaps it was an issue of light pollution for us.
Late afternoon involved having a few drinks (Scotch, beer, ginger beer) while sitting on the pier outside our accommodations and enjoyed the fresh air for a while.
We had dinner at a restaurant called Lofotmat, which turned out to be very impressive. I got the salmon tartar starter and the bouillabaisse. Both were excellent. The waitress also told us that the red berries we've been seeing everywhere are rowan berries, and that they are edible and jams are made from them, but they aren't very sweet. So, good food and a little local information. Dinner was cloudberries soaked in akevitt with a sorbet and sweetened whipped cream. It was also interesting, with tart and tangy and creamy and sweet bites.
After sunset, we headed back to one of the locations we'd scouted earlier for aurora borealis watching. A couple of Italian tourists had made a fire in the fire pit, giving an interesting orange glow to the area without creating enough light pollution to impact viewing the northern lights. I got a few pictures with the smaller camera. I didn't have a tripod, though, so only some turned out well.
After breakfast, we headed to the glass and ceramic shop just across the parking lot from our apartment. There were some cool bowls, and they blow the glass on site. Next, we visited Kaviar Factory, a modern art museum on the north edge of town. Yesterday, Bill declared himself done with WWII related tourism. I think as of today, he is now done with modern art as well. Though we did both enjoy the gift shop.
We went into a few more shops and found a piece of art we both really like. It's a local photographer's image of the street art we couldn't find yesterday. Bill says he doesn't usually buy photos, but I think this is about the most Henningsvær thing we could possibly get. After fishing, photography is what Lofoten is known for. We weren't able to purchase it today due to some technology related issues with credit card readers, but it's 2 blocks from here. Hopefully we'll fit it in tomorrow afternoon.
We walked out past the houses into the areas where they dry fish during cod season. This is not cod season, so there are just wooden racks hanging around. I wanted to scout possible locations for northern lights viewing that have less light pollution than our street, but won't require Bill to drive. The edge of the island we're on had a lovely view except for the radio tower.
The island across the bridge had a soccer field and then a marker for the oldest rock in Lofoten. This edge of the island dates back to the original eruption that formed the archipelago. It was fun to walk around a photograph, but would be a challenge to not twist an ankle on at night.
This island also had a shop full of interesting wool caps that we somehow didn't buy. Alabama isn't really the place to own as many warm hats as we already have.
Next, we went back into a shop we visited yesterday to pick up the best Christmas ornament ever.
Then we walked towards the large hotel to scout as it will be the meeting point for tomorrow's adventure. We also stopped in the art gallery in that part of town to check out the gift shop. I found a water resistant wind breaker that will also be handy tomorrow. The woman working at the shop said the northern lights were fairly bright last night near her home, so perhaps it was an issue of light pollution for us.
Late afternoon involved having a few drinks (Scotch, beer, ginger beer) while sitting on the pier outside our accommodations and enjoyed the fresh air for a while.
We had dinner at a restaurant called Lofotmat, which turned out to be very impressive. I got the salmon tartar starter and the bouillabaisse. Both were excellent. The waitress also told us that the red berries we've been seeing everywhere are rowan berries, and that they are edible and jams are made from them, but they aren't very sweet. So, good food and a little local information. Dinner was cloudberries soaked in akevitt with a sorbet and sweetened whipped cream. It was also interesting, with tart and tangy and creamy and sweet bites.
After sunset, we headed back to one of the locations we'd scouted earlier for aurora borealis watching. A couple of Italian tourists had made a fire in the fire pit, giving an interesting orange glow to the area without creating enough light pollution to impact viewing the northern lights. I got a few pictures with the smaller camera. I didn't have a tripod, though, so only some turned out well.
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