Bodø!

Now we're north of the Arctic circle, and the first thing we do is explore the nearby Lofoten islands...by ferry. This isn't your ordinary tourist ferry-this is a commuter ferry with cars and trucks on the lower deck (whoops, no pictures). We boarded the ferry near the train station and the lady selling the tickets was a little confused as to why we were taking a round-trip from Bodø to the Lofoten islands and back (apparently the tourists that go out there camp there for a while before returning)

Seats


Seats in the "VIP" section-anyone could just sit there


We headed out around 4pm, and the entire journey would take around 8 hours while stopping at several destinations. There was a cafeteria on board, and I had an early dinner consisting of cod and some sides


Røst, our first destination


Værøy, our second destination


Word had reached our ship's captain that there were some (probably crazy) people on board making the entire round-trip from Bodø back to Bodø on a commuter ferry, so we were invited to the control area (or whatever a cockpit is on a boat) and spent some time there on the way back to Bodø before arriving after midnight.


Kjerringøy is a former trading outpost near Bodø. Back in the day Kjerringøy was a stopping point for fishermen before they went to the Lofoten islands to catch fish and was a flourishing town. These days it's a museum and not really a bustling town

Getting there requires a ferry that crosses a gap in the highway along the coast. This time I did take a picture of the car area


The house of Anna Elisabeth, the richest person around in the 19th century


This room features hand-painted wallpaper, which was really expensive and used to flaunt one's wealth


One of the fish that was (and kind of is now maybe?) is stockfish, and when it is dried and pressed, makes an interesting snack. If it's not pressed enough to break all the fibers, further action is needed


Resulting snack:

It didn't have too much flavor, though if you eat enough of it it starts to get really fishy...

Since fishing is important here, seeing this shouldn't be too big of a surprise:


Did I mention how beautiful this country is?


There are even places on the highway where you can stop and just walk around:


Near Bodø at Saltstraumen you can also check out the notable maelstrom, and you can see some nice whirlpools form when the tide is changing