Chasing the midnight sun in Norway
Sailing northern waters, from the Shetland Isles to Norway
T he ponies, shaggy and barrel-belltied, came up right to the car window. They seemed to be welcoming us but were probably expecting a treat. They were Shetland ponies, which made sense: We were in the Shetland Isles, on the largest island of the archipelago, the third destination on a Viking ocean cruise that took us from London to Norway, with plenty of midnight sun on the way.
Viking is best known for its river cruises (hello, “Masterpiece” fans); the company has added ocean cruises and does them very well, with new, comfortable and relatively small ships. They carry a maximum of 930 passengers and have witty lectures by academics in place of casinos.
Viking offers lots of excursions, but for Shetland, we hired a private guide. One of my ancestors, Charles Edmondston, emigrated from the Shetlands to Charleston, S.C., in the
late 18th century, and I wanted to see — and learn — as much as I could.
Shetland is part of Scotland, but culturally it’s more like southern Scandinavia; the local summertime celebration is called “Viking Days.” It’s almost equidistant between northwest Scotland and western Norway.
On an unusually sunny morning in July, the Viking Sky docked in Lerwick, the capital of the Shetlands, on the largest island, known as Mainland. We met our guide, Jeff Goddard, and headed south. Our immediate goal was to reach Jarlshof, at the southern tip of the island, before the tour buses did. The site has archaeological remains from Bronze Age inhabitants in 2500 B.C. up to the 17th century.
Goddard took us where we could see seals basking in the sun and to a bird sanctuary rich in puffins, to historic lighthouses and the north coast. We learned about the island’s geology and history, drove past the Broch of Mousa, the bestpreserved example of those mysterious round Iron Age stone towers, and saw the tiny island of
Dore Holm, which looks (if you squint a little) like a horse taking a drink.
Norway
After sailing up the Vestfjord into the northerly Lofoten Islands, we visited a charming old fishing harbor called Nusfjord; its banks were lined with traditional red-painted cottages (red paint, derived from copper and blood, was cheap; the wealthy bought white paint) called rorbus.
The next day brought us to Honningsvag, the northermost city in Norway, and the departure point for North Cape, or Nordkapp. It’s where the Barents Sea meets the Norwegian Sea, a little more than 1,300 miles south of the North Pole, located on an impressively steep cliff.
Remote though it is, it’s a tourist magnet, with campers, cars and motorcycles (some with Russian plates) parked alongside the coaches; some passengers from our ship skipped the bus ride and arrived by helicopter.
Heading south, our next stop was Tromso, the “gateway to the Arctic.” Tromso became a sealhunting center in the 19th century and was the jumping-off point for many polar expeditions; the Polar Museum attests to both. It’s the home of the world’s northernmost university, Europe’s only continuously operating cinema (101 years and counting) and the “Arctic Cathedral,” a striking church with soaring roof lines.
We were pining for the fjords; next morning, we arose early as the Sky glided through the towering peaks of gorgeous Geirangerfjord. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the year-round population is about 250, with close to a million tourists every summer.
There are ample reasons for that. The fjord’s rocky walls are steep and decked with scenic waterfalls. We stopped at the most famous, the Seven Sisters, and at other photogenic spots on our way to the top of Mount Eidsdal. At 4,500 feet above sea level, it had snow in mid-july.
The cruise ended in Bergen, but our final day in Norway was in Oslo. After a tour of playwright Henrik Ibsen’s house, we strolled through the gardens of the royal palace and back to the harbor to the Opera House, a massive white structure on the waterfront, with a unique design that invites passersby to ascend from ground level for several stories to enjoy a grand view of the harbor, and a perfect place to end our tour.