It seems like I’m back on my old informal blogging-schedule;
blogging while traveling. That’s when I
get the time to do it, when I have the evenings off, by myself.
This year I have hardly been traveling at all. Yesterday,
when I got to the airport security, I realized how much I appreciate being at
home, with just a 10 minute commute to the office (thanks to the inventors of
video-conferencing).
This week I’m up north, in the city known as The Paris of
the North, and The Gateway to the Arctic.
It’s quite some time since last time I was here for real. I’ve
been here many times in transit. This is the town were I used to board the Antonov-24for Murmansk, when I travelled regularly to Russia. This is the transit stop if
you want to experience the Arctic magic. This is where I have boarded vessels
heading for the Arctic Seas, and where I slept over when I returned.
It’s great to be here in the summer, at 69 degrees North, well beyond the Arctic Circle. The mountains are still capped with snow, and the birches have just got a slight touch of leaves. It’s not very warm, but
it’s light. The sun shines around the
clock. The last sunrise was 20th May, and the next sunset is 25th
July. Two months of continuous daylight.
My hotel (and all the
other hotels in town) are down on the harbor, with a nice view to the bridge
and the Arctic Cathedral on the other side. God present is here too, apparently.
Religion is hard to get rid of no matter how far north you go.
The north is challenging for the Muslims. They all died out
one summer when Ramadan was in the months of the midnight sun. I’m just joking.
The Muslims up here has a special permit
(from God?) to follow the clock-times in Mecca. During Ramadan, they can eat
when the sun sets in Mecca. Funny isn’t
it?
Religion (all of them) is pure madness. That’s why I stick
to science >)
(I took the picture above this morning. When I checked the last link above, I realized that I had basically the same picture 4 year ago. But if you compare, you will see that the weather is better today.)
Oh how I'd love to visit there! I remember the sun setting at around 10:30 or 11 in the summers when I visited Sweden, and of course Midsommar, when it never really did. Continuous sun like that would be something wonderful to experience, and the town sounds great. I hope you enjoy your visit.
ReplyDeleteTina @ Life is Good
On the Open Road! @ Join us for the 4th Annual Post-Challenge Road Trip!
Thanks for this one. Both the real city of Paris and the Paris of the North mean a lot to me! A very special magic, not just the Arctic magic, is connected to the later place for me. It seems to be a life-time magic; the one that the greatest writers capture in their masterpieces. It's like living the most awesome fantasy I could possibly imagine.
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