Kirkenes

    We reached Kirkenes, the end of the line today, about half the passengers got off for flights back home, and a couple of bus loads arrived for the trip south. There's not much to the city, even the gift shop was closed today (Thurs at 10:00 am). The city is very close to the borders with Russia and northern Finland. The main industry town used to be iron ore mines, all now closed.

   You could tell Russia was closeby, it was much more grey and not nearly as clean as any of the Norwegian town we've stopped at. There's a Russian Icebreaker tied up in the port next to a fleet of rusting Russian fishing boats.

   The whole coast of Norway is ice free throughout the year thanks to the Gulf Stream which pumps warm water from Florida all the way up here. We're actually at a higher latitude than any place in Alaska, but it's all pretty much open water except around Kirkenes where the fiord goes inland and the warmer water continues to the east. There were a few small chunks of ice floating in the harbor, there's supposed to be a small calving glacier not so far away.

   All the buildings in Kirkenes, Hammerfest and most of the other towns were destroyed during the war by the Germans when they retreated near the end. I was talking to a German passenger who said they acknowledge how bad it all was, but they do get tired of hearing it, almost every tour guide talks about it. In Kirkenes, the population hid out in abandoned mine shafts for months until the Germans retreated, they say even 10 children were born in there.

   There's a monument in town for the Russians 'liberating' the town in 1944, and there were flowers at statue today. The flowers had wreaths with Russian writing, I guess the Norwegians don't have the same level of appreciation these days as the Russians.

   At the North Cape yesterday and in town today I was walking on perma-frost. The top couple of feet of soil is all that thaws in summer, underneath it is all permanently frozen. There were small flowers growing in the soil, and it felt spongy under my feet.

   Practical matter: I did find and figure out the laundry machines. They were computer controlled (PLC's) with automatic soap and softener dispensing. There were no I&C Techs nearby, so they must be reliable. There were about a dozen settings all in Norwegian, but somehow everything came out (clean) that went into the machine.