Other highlights from Henningsvaer

Hey Rachel, you might not want to read this post. It's got a whale-related paragraph that may make you uncomfortable.

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And now let me take a moment to explain this to everyone else. My colleague Rachel asked me to not eat any whale while I was in Norway. I compromised and said that I wouldn't tell her if I had. So, that said, really if you are uncomfortable reading about a whale ship and a description of what whale tastes like, you may want to skip that paragraph. :)

So, other Highlights from Henningsvaer...

Mountain Climbing

One of the days we were able to end early and take the afternoon / evening (these are arbitrary terms since it's almost perpetually light out this time of year here). On this day, a group of us went out and climbed a nearby mountain. Gotta say, that experience was wonderful and it beat the tar out of me. It turns out that Norwegians make it a nearly weekly activity to go climbing. It is a testament to their athletic nature and the terrain that presents climbing opportunities at every turn. And, my definition of a "path" is very different from the local interpretation. It seemed that, if you can get from point A to B then the route you took, by definition, is a path. Don't get me wrong. I say this with a smile. I had a fabulous time and the scenery was breathtaking, but whooo.... Halfway up the mountain is a small mountain lake and an edge of the rock face that looks out over the water and the village below. I decided that this would be my "top" and while most of the others kept climbing I relaxed by the lake, took photos, and enjoyed the moment. As I relaxed I watched the group climb progressively higher on terrain that grew steadily steeper and was very very content with my decision to chill. Shortly, three of the Norwegian students and my buddy Naddy came by. We hung out for awhile waiting for the others to return until it grew steadily chillier and started to rain. We decided that the time had come to climb back down (also a challenging experience) and hike back to our hotel.

The Lighthouse

On our last day, we went for a short walk to a nearby light house. Once again we were climbing over tall rocks and a bit of terrain to get there. The scenery was beautiful and I got a good shot of a rainbow and took a panoramic shot that included Antonina (from Russia) that I am particularly happy about.

Music Night

One evening, one of our professors (Larry Browning) borrowed the electric guitar of the innkeepers son. He and my buddy Naddy (with Fei Wei --China-- on kazoo) put on an excellent impromtu performance. Larry is a country singer / guitar player (with the song 8-minute ride now on iTunes) and Naddy is the lead singer for a local reggae band (playing Tuesday night August 25th at Momo's). So it was a fun show and a great relaxed pub experience.

Gotta love the sauna and hot tub

One evening, the innkeeper opened up the sauna for us. It was a fun night of carousing where we all got to know each other quite a bit better. One highlight was when several folks from the group ran over to the dock across from our hotel and jumped into the water for a quick swim.

But, the night after got back from the climb/hike we got to lounge in the hot tub. The tub was heated by a wood fire, so controlling the water temperature is a bit of an art form. A highlight was when groups from different nationalities sung their national anthems. Nadia from russia started off with some encouragement and sang her song beautifully with backup provided by the Norwegians. We also got to hear 3 or 4 traditional Norwegian songs. Naddy sang us the anthem of Trinidad and Tobago, again beautifully done. And finally, we Americans stumbled and hiccuped our way through the Star Spangled Banner. It was a treat to explain to the group the "Play Ball" are the lesser known last two words of our anthem.

The Whale Ship

During one of our morning sessions, Jan (one of the Norwegian professors) came in to say that if we had not ever seen a whaling ship, there was one coming in to dock. It had successfully caught a whale that was part of a school of around 200 whales that they heard about earlier that morning. So, we paused so that we could all go see the ship. The whale was in the hold of the ship and had already been butchered (I'm guessing this is the correct term) and prepared for unloading. I did get a few pictures of the ship and looking down into the hold. I ended up having whale 4 times on this trip. In a cream soup, on pizza, whale steak off the grill, and prepared in a sushi-like style (CLIFF & BILL: Disregard my earlier description of whale. That was based only on the soup and my description is very different now, particularly after the steak and sushi). I'd say whale has a taste that's different from other things I've had. It's hard to compare it to something else. It's a red meat like beef that is wetter and tastes like it came from the ocean. It is also a little oilier than beef and has a slight flavor that is part of the mix that I'd have to compare to liver.

Cloudberries and Aquavit

Turns out there is a local berry that Cliff read about called a cloudberry (klodbaer). It is has the shape and texture of a raspberry, except it's jucier and has a taste that falls between an orange and a nectarine. We had this served with whipped cream on a thin pancake for dinner one evening -- delicious. I also discovered during my time a spiced spirit called aquavit. If I read the label correctly, it seemed like it was 45% alcohol by volume. Whew. It was tasty stuff that always seemed to make me fuzzier the next morning. I guess I'd have to compare it to a strong, more high-end, smoother version of spiced rum.

Well, those are some of the highlights from Henningsvaer. There are more stories and adventures. But, I hope this gives you a flavor of the trip. Our trip ended with a prop plane ride back to Bod0, where we stayed the night and then left the next morning for Oslo. Once in Oslo, I stayed the night and left the next morning for Amsterdam. Amsterdam is phase 2 of this 3-phase trip and where the blog will pick up next.

Skal!!!

T--