Bodo

We splurged on Komfort Class for the 10-hour train ride from Trondheim to Bodo (pronounced boodah).  It is indeed very comfortable with lots of legroom, free coffee and tea, and of course the food and bar car.  The further north we go the more the landscape looks like Canada.

Out the train window:

We are excited to pass the Arctic Circle marked by a pyramid and the Artic Centre:

Our Airbnb host kindly meets us at the train station then goes and stays with friends so we have time to settle in.

Photos of street art in Bodo:

Artist: Dzia

This is a sea eagle

Artist: Phlegm

We imagine this to be a troll

Artist: SinnSykShit

About big cities

Artist: Millo

Explores urban surroundings with friendly inhabitants

Artist: Animalito

Showing how the indigenous people in the Andes and the Sami (indigenous people of Norway) have many common features.

Artist: David de la Mano

His paintings are influenced by monochromatic colours & the build-up of human figures.

Artist: Rustam Obic

Painting the northern lights

Artist: Atle Ostrem

This artist explores 'beauglyful' or where ugly & beautiful meet.

Walking the waterfront in Bodo we see a traditional Norwegian boat from this area. Note the curved bow and stern.  It has square Viking style sails.

A cute wooden boat

Unusual sculptures on the pier

Looking across to Nyholmen Bastion.

"This bastion on the isle of Nyholmen was erected during the war of 1807/14 to protect the factory and settlement on Hundholmen, which later was to become the town of Bodø, against attacks by the English warships that were blockading the Norwegian coast. There was significant export of fish products from the Hundholmen factory, and Hundholmen was important as a storehouse for grain on its way to Russia. Construction of Nyholms Skandse, as the bastion was called at the time, was planned and directed by engineer captain Friis and completed in 1810."

This sea eagle is taxidermy in the Visitors Centre in Bodo.  We hope to see some on the ferry crossing; although we see lots of them in Vietnam.

Kirsten our lovely host is a professor and she loves to share her knowledge of all things Norwegian.  She loves Bodo and the Lofoten Islands and is filling us up with wonderful stories.  Today she took us on a hike to the top of Keiservarden Mountain.   It was typical weather cloudy and rainy but it was a lovely hike.  If the day was clear we could have seen the Lofoten Islands.

This is a special place for Kirsten.  When her son died everyone who knew him donated money to build this hut on top of the mountain.  We escape from the rain, sign the book, sit awhile, enjoy coffee and a snack and a memory of her son, Torgeir.

Local people after they sign, put a number after their name - how many times they have done this hike.  We meet a woman who does it every day.  She was telling her friend the story of how the hut came to be and our host introduced herself.  The woman was thrilled to meet Kirsten with her connection to the hut...a magical moment and love was shared

Here we are with Kirsten.

A couple of markers along the trail:

On the hike, we see lovely white flowers only a few inches from the ground.  Kirsten explains that they will become delicious berries to eat, ripe in August.  At home later she brings out her book to show us, then opens her fridge to feed us:

Kirsten takes us to another of her special places...the community garden where she has 2 plots.  How anything grows here is a mystery with cool, wet summers and a very short growing season.

By the end of our last evening here over shared dinner and multiple glasses of wine, we have recognized kindred spirits in each other and are becoming friends.  Kirsten who has come to North America twice to participate in climate change protests; who has taken responsibility for two refugees from Afghanistan that her country has denied and who takes her grandchildren to protest oil drilling off the Lofoten Islands makes us feel so inadequate with our current life of 'travel'.  She has our hearts.  

We will be staying with her one more night on our return to Bodo.  It will be like coming home to an old friend.