Lofoten Favorites

Favorite thing: I liked the strange architecture of the houses (at least strange to the unaccustomed eye!), with the high poles stuck in the sea bed carrying the house and the fairly large decks. The houses built 'on water' reminded me of Amsterdam, while the elegance of the windings decks and of the thin poles, recalled a Japanese garden.

Fondest memory: Reaching the little town of A.

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Favorite thing: One of the most beautiful things in Norway, and therefore in Lofoten too, is the light and the amazing feeling one gets just by watching the sky. The light changes colour and intesity so quickly and is so different throughout the day - absolutely unbelievable!

The rainbows are a rare sight too. We have been in the Lofoten Islands for less than a week and still managed to see three beautiful rainbows. Of course, we wondered how many tresures are burried where the rainbow drinks its water from in the Lofoten...

Fondest memory: The fondest memory must have been waking up close to the sea and seeing the sun up in the sky after a heavy rain and a thick rainbow running across in front of my window.

Favorite thing: The Lofoten are a group of islands in Northen Norway. Their economy is based on tourism in summer and on cod (stockfish) in winter. From December to April cods leave the cold waters of the Barents Sea in millions to come to the Lofoten Islands more temperate shores to spawn: at the same time fishermen from all over Norway move temporarily here to fish them. What about summer? I believe it‘s the dramatic way the sea meets the mountains that attracts visitors here. The peaks are high, rugged and rocky, steep, barren, grey: little grows on them, other than saxyphrage and the occasional patch of green grass. They are like solitary sentinels looking out towards the sea. Where the mountains finish, the sea starts abruptly unexpected. The waters are crystal clear and painted in all possible hues of blue and green, interrupted only by the occasional deserted beaches or coves, of immaculate white sand. Beaches like one would not expect to see here... beaches that would look appropriate in the tropics only. In between mountains and sea human kind struggled to conquer a place to live on and to inhabit. Often people could find no appropriate ground and had to settle for the rocky shores, building their red Rorbus on precarious stilts, like the racks where they used to hang their cods to dry before selling them as stockfish.

Fondest memory: Many - Stamsund with his great hiking opportunities - A i Lofoten for the general charm and the excellent outdoor museum - Steine for great scenery and food, Kabelvag for more amazing landscapes and museums - Ramberg for its perfect crescent beach... and all the wonderful locations in between and around. There's perfect beauty in the Lfotoen islands

Favorite thing: I picked up an excellent and informative guide to Flakstad and Moskenes, the southernmost islands of Lofoten, It was interesting in the guide to read about the efforts of local people to maintain the integrity and viability of their lives and communities. Cod fishing is on the decline, has been for a long time, and will probably only get more difficult in the future as the local fishing stock is further depleted and IF (or WHEN) Norway joins the European Community and become subject to a completely new set of environmental and economic regulations. As in so many other places in our globalizing world, the local population here is turning to tourism - however warily - as a response to the erosion of their economic base. Yet mass tourism would destroy the very character and essence of Lofoten which is worth preserving. "The struggle for fish resources has been going on for a long time. It started 1000 years ago - concerning to right to export, and later process the fish - and it has continued over the past 50 years with the right to catch the fish. . . Fishing has always formed the basis of settlement here. The struggle for this resource will determine the continued existence of our small coastal communities. We ask visitors to help us take care of our settlements and our environment."

Favorite thing: This is pretty much the center of Reine: grouped around the village green are a gas station, the post office, a hostel, a guesthouse (which is where I stayed), and a restaurant. Of these places, the most active by far was the gas station (shown here), which also doubled as a general store and an ice cream parlor. It was open all the way till 8 p.m., and it seemed to be where young people gathered in the evening. I wonder what it would be like to be a young person here. There was also a small grocery store in Reine, but it was on the other side of the bay - not far if you went by boat, but a good 35 minute walk around the water. (That grocery store had the only ATM machine in this part of the islands.)

Favorite thing: There's a big festival "Lofot-eventyret" going on every year in Svolvær, throughout the last days of March.
All kinds of fish and fishery related events, music, cafés, entertainment, exhibitions. The programme for 2003 looked really fun and creative. I also noticed that the Svolvær hotels lowered the prices for accomodation, while the festival goes on. So maybe a great time to visit Lofoten, check out the dates for next year.

Link to their website, but unfortunately only in Norwegian:
http://www.lofoteventyret.no/no/index.html

Immediately after this festival, the annual
World Cup in "skrei" fishing is held, also in Svolvær. The skrei is the special, famous kind of cod which every winter comes in flocks into Lofoten, and which has been the reason of the big, legendary Lofoten Fisheries, which gave life to the whole region through generations.

Favorite thing: Cycling Lofoten is a great way to see the island. The pace is relatively slow and, as is typical of Scandinavia, there are many bike paths that parallel main roads.

Favorite thing: The interior is dark and rather Bergman-esqe (originally constructed in the 16th century), but the exterior is bright, and a focal point of interest in Moskenes harbor.