Here we are at the end of our journey north. This morning we arrive in Kirkenes and will be here for 3 1/2 hours. Some people terminate their journey here and other people will come on board to go south.
We are only 7km from the Russian border so most of the street signs are in Norwegian and Russian. The local Norwegians have special Russian visas that allow them to go just 50km into Russia but no one else can cross the border without a visa or risk being detained and paying a fine!
There are tours that go to the border by bus, by boat and by Quad bikes but not sure what the purpose is. We walk into the 'city centre' and could easily fire a gun and not hit anyone!
We find the shopping centre and the wine shop so will revisit that again before we go back onboard. I hate to say it but once again the sun is shining and we have blue sky. Not the Arctic weather we were expecting at all. As I'm writing this I am listening to the Crows - GWS match in Adelaide and the weather sounds terrible.
We walk back into the street and there are a few more people going about their daily business. We still have plenty of time so we stop for a nice coffee and a pastry ( just for 1).
The landscape here is very much snow country. No trees, very rocky and a moss like green covering. Would definitely be spectacular covered in snow as it will be in a couple of months.
As we start back south, first we have to go North West. We have an information session about upcoming excursions that we can do followed by a talk about witchcraft and the treatment of witches in Finnmark. Vera is so passionate when she delivers a talk, she gets quite flushed.
We have a quick stop in Vardø in the afternoon. Supposed to be 45minutes but by the time the ship docks we will have less than 40. There is an old Fort. Vardøhus Festning built in 1734 which is built in a star shape to make the best vantage points for the canons and then there is also a witch monument. We get to the Fort in record time and climb up and down and around the battlements and then head over to the Steilneset Memorial which is a monument commemorating the trial and execution between 1600 and 1692 of 91 people accused of witchcraft. The 77 women and 14 men were burned at the stake.
It's a race back to the ship and phew! We made it!
Our last session for today is the Norwegian way of life talk which today is about bears, electricity, and how Norwegians deal with the long dark days of winter. Our sentence for today is Der har vært herlig i dag ( it has been lovely today).
Time for a wine and shower before dinner.