08.07.2011 – 08.07.2011  15 °C

Later start today as today is Day 1 of our Hurtigruten trip from Kirkenes to Vardo. (I still laugh every time I hear the name Hurtigruten—all I can think of is the Swedish Chef from the Muppets!!) Got on the ship mid-morning and spent the first few hours exploring the ship and reading our books on the top deck. Just before lunchtime we were able to move into our room (much smaller than the one we had on the Exhibition!) and then we went to discover the tasty treats in the dining hall.

Definitely the Hurtigruten is a cut above the Exhibition in both looks and amenities. Unfortunately it really lacks in the character and atmosphere of the Exhibition boat and the mean age of the passengers would be at least 65. This means the excursions off the boat are very tame and the key activity for most passengers is securing their deck chair or lounge chair early in the morning and then planting their bums for the next few hours!

Straight after lunch we had an introductory meeting and then stopped for our first port- Vardo. Here we decided to just go for a walk around the town. The town itself is very quaint and has the picture book “Norwegian” look. Strangely we saw hardly anybody about.. all we can think is that it was late in the arvo and they were all inside or on holidays.. We stopped at an old fort and took a look at the fortifications (star shaped) and admired the old WW2 guns.

It’s another thing I’ve learnt on this trip.. I had no idea how much Norway was impacted by WW2. I knew that there was a Norwegian resistance (and therefore Norway must have been occupied by the Nazis) but I had no idea to the extent that Norway was involved with the war. Norway seems to have been one of the key areas that the Nazis wanted purely as a staging ground for their attacks against the Soviet Union. Thousands of Russian POWs were brought to Norway and forced to build railways and road ways through the north of Norway!

Finished the day with another meal (lucky this is the last of my all you can eat trips as I will definitely be 10kgs heavier when they are both over) in the dining room and headed off for an early night.