Alta, which is as close to the top of the world as we have ever been, has restored my faith in humourless Scandinavian pragmatism. This relates to the Alta city centre. Now, before getting into the detail, it’s necessary to understand that the area in question was relatively recently rebuilt (without character or quirk) after the Nazis destroyed everything in the area except the church at the end of WW2. The church was spared because there are German soldiers buried there. Oh the humanity! None of what would be the charming olde worlde old town exists any more.
The city centre is clean, ordered, free of congestion (both mechanical and human) and entirely comprised of what appear to be relatively new buildings. No one is shouting or brandishing weapons or loitering or fighting and there doesn’t appear to be any homeless (too bloody cold I expect) or obvious sub-saharan African or Middle Eastern “refugees”. It’s the sort of boring only Norwegians, Swedes, Finns and Danes are capable of. If deadpan was a town, this would be it. The CB and I and our mate Jas got a shuttle bus (US$20 each – this cruise line doesn’t miss) for the 10 minute ride from the ship to the town, walked from one end to the other and back, got back in the bus and went back to the ship. That’s as exciting as it got.
Fortunately you don’t have to go far out of town to find a pulse and a personality. There’s a husky farm where dogs are trained for sled races like the 1600km Iditerod in Alaska. If they knew what they were in for, I’m sure they wouldn’t be so enthusiastically friendly and seemingly happy. My favourite touristy spot was a slate mine where they make roof tiles that the Iranians should have utilised to protect their nuclear facilities. It would take more than a bunker buster to break those suckers.
The indigenous Sami people add a splash of colour to fairly drab (colour-wise) but scenery-spectacular area. Admittedly, there are autumn colours where there are trees but trees are like swimming pools up here – rather scarce. The Sami breed reindeer. Reindeer can now be added to a list that includes the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and Stonehenge in that they are much smaller than you expect.
And of course there’s the Norther Lights or Aurora Borealis which this part of the world is famous for. We heard a story about a couple who’ve been coming here for 16 years and haven’t seen them yet. I assume they are blind because we’ve seen them in Trondheim, Tromso, Alta and from the ship. It’s a good year and a good time of the year to see them so all we needed was a clear sky which we got. We’re on our way south now and the weather has closed in and the boat’s doing a bit of rockin’ and rollin’. More on that in #6