A lazy morning morphed into a glorious afternoon walk. We headed to the waterfront  to explore the town.

Norwegian Rose marble is everywhere!

They have so much of it they can use it for erosion control along the waterfront!

Out on the water the large bird taking off might be a Sea Eagle that just tried it’s luck at fishing! Norway has a good portion of the world’s Sea Eagles, relatives of the Bald Eagle!

Along the waterfront we came upon the Fauske Folk Museum, an open-air museum with period buildings in a wonderful wooded park.

The log buildings have sod roofs, there is even a two story house with a sod roof!

A slate roofed house looks rather small.

But when you peek in the windows the rooms seem much larger and well furnished!

The Boat House is right at the waterline, at low tide the art installation sculptures look like hybrid stone and steel water creatures climbing out of the sea onto land!

And finally, at the far end of the park we found a patch of raspberries in the woods and picked as many as we could and ate them on the spot!

A travel day today, heading south by various transportation methods! We walked to the main bus station in Narvik, only about 10 minutes away, to wait for our bus. We had a one hour ride to the airport, crossing the Ofotfjord on the Hålogalandsbrua, the bridge we saw from the train as we approached Narvik on August 9th.

Being on the bridge wasn’t as impressive as the view of the bridge from the train!

We arrived at the airport with enough time to go through security check which was surprisingly crowded.

That must be our plane, I think I see my bag on top of the luggage cart!

We’re heading to Bodø, named European Capital of Culture 2024! A short 35 minute flight away to the second largest town in northern Norway, and it’s just above the Arctic Circle! The largest northern town is Tromsø, almost 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle!

Shortly after takeoff, before we went above the clouds, a brief view of the Ofotfjord.

Another view with some aquaculture pens on the lower right.

As we approached Bodø, at the entrance of the Saltfjorden. The Bodø harbor opens to the Norwegian Sea east to Greenland.

The airport seems about as big and as busy as Redmond-Bend airport. Bodø (pronounced sort of like ‘Boo-Doe’, but with a Norwegian accent that I can’t get right!) was just a short stop for us, we caught a public bus to go across town to the train station where we caught the train to Fauske (pronounced ‘Faoos-Keh’).

The train follows the shore of the large Skjerstad fjord. Fauske sits at the end of a small finger of the fjord.

Our host picked us up at the train station and drove us the short distance to the house where we dropped our luggage then he gave us a ride to the town center so we could do some grocery shopping. We also did some sightseeing since the shopping area is on the waterfront!

Fauske has it’s own little “Jet d’eau” fountain!

Walking along the waterfront we found information about Fauske and what it is known for, which is marble! Fauske has the largest marble quarry in Norway and produces the Norwegian Rose marble that has been used in buildings all around the world, including the UN Headquarters in New York!

Information and samples of the marble quarried around Fauske.

We walked back to the apartment with our groceries along the quiet streets in the warmth of the day, the clouds dispersing and a cool breeze helping us along.

Rain squalls today, but in between we each ventured out to stretch our legs. Robert explored the waterfront.

Scenes from the active fishing and pleasure boat docks.

I explored two museums. The Narvik Museum is housed in the original administration building of the Ofoten Railway, the line that extends from the border with Sweden to the dock in Narvik for the transport of iron ore.

Built in 1901, the building looks across the fjord to the dock where the ships take on the loads of iron ore.

The second museum is the Narvik Krigsmuseum, the Narvik War Museum. The first floor describes the circumstances of 1940. Norway declared neutrality when the war was started by Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1940. But due to the continued shipment of iron ore to Germany by Sweden (also a neutral nation) through Norway via the harbor at Narvik, Norway was targeted by both Germany and Great Britain. Narvik was bombed, invaded by Germany, bombed and retaken by the Allies, then lost again to Germany, and ultimately almost totally destroyed. The exhibit then descends to a lower level, the Zona.
In this exhibit space you are challenged to look at all perspectives. Who is a Terrorist? What choices do ordinary people have when war comes to them? What choices would you make? You then enter an exhibit about the ongoing war in Ukraine. It makes it real with stories of real people who made hard choices, the outcomes of which we will not know.

Remember, it can happen anywhere under certain circumstances. Will we be able to recognize those circumstances in time?

Outside the War Museum are two iconic Narvik structures, in the background is the Scandic Hotel, and in the foreground is the sculpture Trinigon 3, The National Freedom Monument, installed to mark the 50th anniversary of Norway’s liberation in 1945. We sure were glad we went up on the mountain yesterday because today the mountaintops are covered in clouds!

We have a nice day ahead, with a chance of rain tomorrow so we want to take advantage today! We caught the local bus that took us up the hill past the Arctic University of Norway to Narvik Fjellet (‘mountain’, pronounced fee-yell-ah), a ski area overlooking town.

A gondola takes you up in about 4 minutes!

There’s a small restaurant at the top with outdoor picnic tables.

An expansive view over the fjord.

And a view to the mountains with glaciers to the east.

And underfoot there are wild blueberries everywhere!

We took a short walk on a narrow trail looking for a place Robert could fly the drone, but there were too many like-minded people walking the trail, many with dogs. We decided it wasn’t the best circumstances for drone flying!

We thought of hiking down the mountain, but we bought a round trip ticket, so we enjoyed the view as we descended!

Our short stay in Sweden was coming to an end as we boarded the train in Lulea to take us to Narvik, Norway, north across the Arctic Circle. The train route was begun in 1884 to haul iron ore from the rich deposits in north-central Sweden to the ice free fjord in northern Norway. After many hiccups, bankruptcies and hardships the line was completed in 1903!

We stopped in Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, built in 1890 to service the Kiruna Mine, currently the largest and most modern underground iron ore mine in the world!

Just before crossing the border into Norway.

Still in Sweden, we traveled along the bank of Torneträsk Lake, passing through Abisko National Park, about 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle now!

Across the border into Norway!

This lonely outpost is in the permafrost area before we begin descending to the fjords of Norway.

Gorgeous scenery!

As we approached Narvik we had a view of the Hålogalandsbrua, a suspension bridge which crosses the Rombaksfjorden in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway.And finally, after we disembarked, walked to our Airbnb and settled in, and walked to the grocery store, we got this view of the ice-free harbor of Narvik, Norway as the sun lit up the mountains surrounding the small town!