We arrived in Narvik, Norway on August 5th with no specific tour plans. We decided to just walk into town, although it was Sunday, and we knew there would not be much open. After walking through the small downtown area, we continued walking to the other side of town and found a small, wooded area with a trail. We walked up a small hill on this trail and saw a small boat harbor on the other side. We eventually found our way down to the boat harbor and looked around the area. There were many nice boats, but the harbor water didn’t look too nice with algae on the water around many of the boats. At the end of the harbor were 4 small buildings that appeared to be places to sleep. We assumed these might be for visitors who were passing through the area. Outside the harbor, the shoreline was area covered with seaweed. I few hours later along this coast the tide would come in and you could not see any seaweed. It was amazing how far in the tide came.
On another pier near the harbor, there were 4 or 5 fishermen throwing out long lines out to the sea far below. We have no idea if they caught anything. At the same pier an old boat was loading up with a crew of divers. As we walked past the pier, we found another trail that ended up going all the way along the coast providing us some great views of the sealine and mountains on the other side. It was a beautiful day, and we wish we had had our shorts on. This hiking trail occasionally would come back into small neighborhoods in the town. We eventually walked through one of the neighborhoods and walked over to the nearby stadium. It was a nice stadium with artificial grass and a good-sized grandstand on one side. A little further into town we came across Narvik Church which was impressive. As we walked back to the ship some military vehicles passed us with many of the soldiers waving at us. It turned out they were US Marines on maneuvers with the Norwegian army.
In the afternoon after our walk, we had a Viking tour that wasn’t much more than a visit to the War Museum. Although our guide was extremely difficult to understand with his strong accent, the Museum was clearly marked with many signs in English. There were a few interesting things we learned about Norway and the war. It is where the Allies had their first victory against the Germans in World War II. When Germany invaded Norway and started marching North, Allied troops landed further north and joined the Norwegian army to defeat the Germans and push them further south beyond Narvik. The citizens of Narvik cheered the Allied soldiers when they marched victoriously through the city after kicking out the German army. The Germans were ready to surrender when the Allied force decided to pull their troops out of Norway and put them someplace else that they felt was more strategic. Within a week after the Allied forces left, the King of Norway surrendered to the Germans and allowed the German army to move back north and recapture the land. Within 2 weeks after the Narvik citizens had cheered the Allied forces, the people saw the Germans move back in a take over their city. How depressing that must have been to the Norwegian citizens. There were a few other interesting stories about Norway and the war in the museum. We eventually went back to the ship and said goodbye to Narvik.
Regards,
Sharon and Greg
On another pier near the harbor, there were 4 or 5 fishermen throwing out long lines out to the sea far below. We have no idea if they caught anything. At the same pier an old boat was loading up with a crew of divers. As we walked past the pier, we found another trail that ended up going all the way along the coast providing us some great views of the sealine and mountains on the other side. It was a beautiful day, and we wish we had had our shorts on. This hiking trail occasionally would come back into small neighborhoods in the town. We eventually walked through one of the neighborhoods and walked over to the nearby stadium. It was a nice stadium with artificial grass and a good-sized grandstand on one side. A little further into town we came across Narvik Church which was impressive. As we walked back to the ship some military vehicles passed us with many of the soldiers waving at us. It turned out they were US Marines on maneuvers with the Norwegian army.
In the afternoon after our walk, we had a Viking tour that wasn’t much more than a visit to the War Museum. Although our guide was extremely difficult to understand with his strong accent, the Museum was clearly marked with many signs in English. There were a few interesting things we learned about Norway and the war. It is where the Allies had their first victory against the Germans in World War II. When Germany invaded Norway and started marching North, Allied troops landed further north and joined the Norwegian army to defeat the Germans and push them further south beyond Narvik. The citizens of Narvik cheered the Allied soldiers when they marched victoriously through the city after kicking out the German army. The Germans were ready to surrender when the Allied force decided to pull their troops out of Norway and put them someplace else that they felt was more strategic. Within a week after the Allied forces left, the King of Norway surrendered to the Germans and allowed the German army to move back north and recapture the land. Within 2 weeks after the Narvik citizens had cheered the Allied forces, the people saw the Germans move back in a take over their city. How depressing that must have been to the Norwegian citizens. There were a few other interesting stories about Norway and the war in the museum. We eventually went back to the ship and said goodbye to Narvik.
Regards,
Sharon and Greg
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