Narvik, Norway
Aug 24 - 25, 2000
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Our Travel Experience
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We ended up in Narvik because this was the end of the train
line from Sweden. The single track line we came in on was not only gorgeous,
but had a practical purpose. Narvik is the port town where all the iron
ore mined in Kiruna, Sweden is loaded onto boats. The town has basically
built up around 20 railroad tracks that are in the exact center of town.
This was to be our last train for a while since we were planning on going
further North - to the land of busses and then Hurtigruten ships.
Our train ride was very comfortable even though there was no first class
car. At many points along the journey, Tara wanted to get off. The scenery
we were passing changed from the flat lands of Sweden into the fjords of
Norway. One particularly cute area was filled with small holiday homes
seemingly built right ontop of flat rocks. Even though the temptation to
stop before Narvik ws high, we did continue to the end of the line.
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We ended up buying warmer winter clothes the second day
we were in Narvik since we were cold now that we'd passed the Arctic circle.
Tara bought a Scandinavian sweater (just like the seven or so that she
already owns) and Seth bought a very sturdy looking Bergan's of Norway
special Dermizak Skogshorn jacket. Seth's jacket has been great and if
you're ever in Norway, we recommend www.bergans.no.
 
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Overall, we enjoyed our brief stop in Narvik. The town was very compact
and we enjoyed exploring the shopping street. Tara bought her first true
non necessary souvenirs here in Narvik. She found some very cute Winnie
the Pooh photo albums in a local bookstore and just had to have them! Our
Bed and Breakfast was also very cute and of a high quality. We enjoyed
free cookies in the main common room. Breakfast was also very yummy. One
morning we met an interesting man who was also traveling at breakfast.
He and his wife were a bit more adventurous than us. They took an endless
bus journey from Egypt to Israel! We exchanged e-mail addresses and told
us about the library in town. We were very happy to learn that Narvik also
had a local library with some English language magazines and free internet
computers. We very much enjoyed hanging out in the library in Narvik.
Our big tourist even in Narvik was to take the mountain cable car up
to the top for the view. The view across the glaciers was spectacular.
It was COLD at the top though. We decided to climb even higher than the
restaurant since we wanted to touch snow in August! Good thing the restaurant
was open for us to warm up in.
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After a quick dinner in the restaurant, we headed back towards
the cable car. It was quite a surprise when the restaurant staff (who were
supposed to work for another hour) locked up the restaurant, grabbed bags
of garbage and road down in the cable car with us. The Swedish manager
of the restaurant explained that she had closed up early because there
was a special late shopping night tonight in town. We'd seen the advertisements
for this special shopping night all throughout town, but we didn't know
enough Norwegian to translate exactly what we happening. It was nice for
her to explain to us what the big event was all about. |
Since we were in town for one of the two late shopping nights of the
year, we decided to go shopping! The atmosphere was just like a small-town
festival. A town band was roaming around the shopping mall, cotton candy
and other sweets were being sold on the streets, a group of cheerleaders
were dancing to The Eye of the Tiger and everybody in the whole town seemed
to be on the streets. In addition to all the usual sidewalk sales that
you'd expect, there was an interesting display of remote controlled airplanes
and helicopters. We figured you could never have this type of display in
America, since the liability insurance would be too high. It was an enjoyable
night.
Our one disappointment was that we had been eating the same type of
food for a while now. By now we were a bit sick of Italian food and even
though eating at the same chain we'd eaten at in Oslo in 1998 was novel,
we desperately wanted something different. Unfortunately, when we asked
at the tourist information about different types of food (like Indian or
Thai), we found out there was nothing in town.
After our brief time in Narvik, we boarded a bus following the directional
arrow toward Tromso.
FOOTNOTE ON NARVIK
When we arrived home for the holidays and were visiting Tara's grandma,
we learned that her mother had actually come from Narvik. It was very special
to think that we now know the city where Tara's great-grandmother lived.
| Category |
Rating |
Comments |
| Overall Experience |
7 |
An enjoyable two night stopover to break up our long journey Northward. |
| Ease of Journey |
8 |
The train ride into Narvik from Lulea was enjoyable and
scenic, but long. The bus ride out of Narvik to Tromso was also enjoyable
and scenic. Tara liked how the bus driver was moving packets of mail between
post offices in addition to transporting people. |
| Accommodation |
7 |
The Bed and Breakfast we stayed in was a very nice surprise. |
| Activities |
6 |
The town was enjoyable to walk around and our trip up the mountain
cable car was fun. However, by August 24th, most of the summer activities
had stopped. |
| Coolness |
7 |
We were North of the Arctic Circle, but not North enough yet! The town
history relating to iron exporting was interesting. |
Tourist Info
Narvik
