Lofoten is full of cute little rental fishing cabins. Some are rustic, and some, like ours, are very modern. We had a full bathroom with a washing machine and a full kitchen with a dishwasher. Both rustic and updated cabins all boast gorgeous water views!
Lofoten is known for torskfisk, or dried fish. Here are a bunch of them hanging up in a shop (the same shop where we rented the car). I didn't enjoy the look or the smell of them so I didn't try any, though I was tempted to buy a doggy "snack pack" for Kermit and Honey. I decided it wasn't worth stinking up my luggage, especially since the dogs would be just as happy with Milk Bones!
Here are tons of the fish drying on racks in the sun. We asked a taxi driver how they manage to keep the sea gulls away...he cheerfully answered, "We shoot them!" 
And here are yet more racks of fish drying on the remote island of Vaeroy:
We took a ferry bright and early on Friday morning from Moskenes to Vaeroy in hopes of spotting some puffins and other sea birds. Vaeroy is gorgeous, and we took a wonderful hike on the seaside cliffs. 
We also suited up to go on a spectacular raft trip to see the famous "bird cliffs." Our guide was just wearing a sweatshirt and jeans, so I thought maybe our heavy flotation coveralls were a bit much, but oh my, it was crazy cold out there! Who knew I could be so happy to be dressed up like a dirty, fish scented, orange Pilsbury dough boy? 
We saw tons of birds: razor bills, sea eagles, seagulls and even a couple of puffins. Unfortunately, when you are in a raft going 30 knots through choppy waters, it is very difficult to get good photos of birds soaring overhead. The ride was amazing, it really felt like we were flying with the birds, but I have very little photographic evidence to show for it! Here are a bunch of, hmm, I'm not sure what, let's say they are some type of duck, okay?
And here are some nesting kittiwake seagulls. The sea eagles have eaten most of the kittiwake chicks and eggs, and our guide said that so far this year, only about 45 of the chicks have survived. 
This would be my one and only photo of a bird in flight which turned out at all. 
I'm so bummed out that none of my puffin pictures turned out--they are so cute, like fat little penguins with bright orange beaks. If you want to see one, you can go to this site: http://www.audubon.org/bird/puffin/puffins.html It's nice to know that there are people out there who are even MORE excited about puffins than I am!
After our raft ride and our lovely hike, we still had about 10 hours to kill before the ferry back to Moskenes. Vaeroy is pretty, but 10 hours is a long time to spend on a very isolated island with one small cafe and one convenience store. Luckily the convenience store sold decks of cards, so after wandering around some more and hanging out on a beautiful beach, we ended up back at the ferry terminal with a bunch of junk food and played cards for the last couple of hours. I taught Michele and Victoria how to play blackjack--just in case our next vacation together ends up being near a casino, we'll be prepared!
11 comments:
The trip sounds awesome!! And your pictures are beautiful and makes me want to go to the north of norway.
It's strange how we're seldom doing the tourist in our home country.
As always, your pictures are AMAZING!! Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing.. :)
Great pics, if definitly not a destination for me - glad you guys enjoyed it so much though!
Emily, your pictures are gorgeous and your blog is bringing back tons of happy memories for me! I still haven't tasted the dried fish I brought home... I'm scared of it. :-) I miss you.
Oh, and we look absolutely adorable in our orange suits. Totally adorable.
So who is who in the orange suits?
Astrid, I know, I've never seen the Grand Canyon or the Statue of Liberty (except from a plane), but I'm hoping to see a bit more of America soon, starting with a trip to Las Vegas in July!
Rosemary, thanks, it was a wonderful trip!
Liz, it would definitely be difficult to live there, but it was a fantastic place to visit.
Michele, I can't wait to hear about the torskfisk...if you don't like it, maybe your cats will? I can't wait to start planning our next adventure!
Joanne, from left to right, it's me, Michele and Victoria--we're way cuter when not swaddled in huge orange jumpsuits, really we are! Emily
Tørrfisk (torsk = cod, tørr = dry :) tastes mildly salty and pretty chewy. It's not scary really, but not very good either. But if you let it soak in water first and then make stuff with it, like bacalao, then that's a whole different ballgame!
Emily thanks for posting all of these pictures! It is nice to see it all laid out. You did a really great job and your pictures are really good.
The dried fish of Northern Norway is what made Bergen a rich port city.
Your unidentified bird is a skarv or cormorant. Definitely not a duck. :-)
Michele, if you like tomatoes, try the bacalao that Liz mentioned (bacalao is Portuguese for cod). You might find Italian recipes using dried fish, too, since Italy is one of Norway's largest markets for the stuff.
Wow, Norwegians know everything. It's the most amazing thing.
Liz, after reading your not so great endorsement of the dried fish, I'm glad I didn't try it!
Victoria, thanks, I'm glad I didn't procrastinate too long, as it was very tough to remember all the place names. It is a nice little souvenir of our wonderful trip!
Keera, thanks, I'm very glad to know the real name of the not-a-duck birds! They're very cute, whatever they're called!
Michele, I know you and Victoria joked about me being "Cliff Claven" with all my random trivia that I peppered you with all vacation long, but yes, the Norwegians put me and my knowledge to shame!Emily
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