The Lofotens

Å - Shortest Place Name in Norway (surprisingly...)

After several days of rain we've been treated to blue sky for our exploration of the Lofoten Islands which made the exceptional scenery of blue waters and coloured houses on a rugged backdrop even more spectacular. One thing spoilt things for us though. Fish. Specifically the smell of fish. Not just any old fish, but racks and racks of Cod hanging out to dry since some time in February. It's hard to describe the smell; imagine being in a poorly refrigerated a fishmongers on a warm summers day and run some smoked cod (preferably undyed) around your nostrils and you'll be about halfway there. So strong was the smell even the Seagulls were leaving it well alone. Apparently the fish is just about ready to be packaged and sold so we've visited it at it's most 'mature'.

Dried Fish - A lot of it.

The Lofoten's were a real treat though, we've driven hundreds of miles north in torrential rain and it was great to see the tops of mountains again. You could easily spend a week just exploring the Lofoten's on foot (minus the fish) and that's what many people do - but we're tight on time having spent approaching 4 weeks in Norway we're eager to push on and get some sun. But we've got to get to Nordkapp first! We're in Tromso tonight having put in over 400 miles today - but it doesn't feel like it. As we write this at 23:50 it could easily pass for 6pm which makes winding down on an evening a bit difficult. Thank goodness for black out blinds!