Just a few notes here about other ship
excursions available from Kirkenes, which reveal some of its history: The Borderland Museum contains information
about the Sami culture and Norway’s involvement in World War II; a fighter
airplane can be seen here. Or, in
Andersgrotto, steep stairs can be taken into a cave that once served as an
air-raid shelter and bunker while wave upon wave of Russian bombers sought to
knock out the Nazi ore shipping facility.
Or, the Soviet Liberation Monument, dedicated to the “brave Red Army”
troops who liberated the town in 1944. Or, in Vardo, a witch monument can be
seen that was erected in memory of the 91 people, mostly women, who were burned
at the stake during the witch hunt in the 17th century. In Kirkenes, some restaurants serve king
crab, reindeer, and even whale. (All of
that could make a return trip to Kirkenes appealing!)
At any rate, at 8:00 AM we were
sitting on our bus ready to start our overland trip called “The Skolt Sami and
Finland.” Our guide was Anita of Finland;
Harry was our driver. Today our journey would
be from Kirkenes to Neiden, with 30 miles of maritime scenery along Munkefjord. Although it was supposed to be a rainy day,
it was really only cloudy, misting once or twice briefly, not enough to
interfere with our outdoor activities.
Anita said that spring/summer had arrived
early this year. Last year, considerable
snow was still on the ground in July (and one could “ski in a bikini”). However, this year very little snow still
remains and spring flowers are blooming.
In general, the climate is becoming warmer. We drove through a large military area. This is a region of Norwegians, Finns, and
Russians. The local streams contain
salmon, but fishermen must follow rules, such as fishing for only 4 hours in
the afternoon and some at night.
Sometimes herds of reindeer populate
this road, Anita said, though we saw very few today. Reindeer are very expensive, not available
when alive, and cost €500 each for meat when killed. Anita said there are 10,000 reindeer, and
three owners. [It is unknown how large
an area she was discussing.] The herders
don’t like this road, she said, because it interferes with their drive.
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| Orthodox St George's Chapel |
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| Skoltefossen Waterfall |
Near Neiden, we visited a tiny, rustic
Russian Orthodox St. George’s Chapel (established in 1565). Though so small inside this brown, wooden
structure that no more than a few people might crowd in very closely, beautiful
Russian religious paintings create a sacred atmosphere. (The paintings are surely stored away in a dry
environment during the dark winter months.)
Anita said that celebrations are held outside the church. However, the surrounding grassy area makes
for very rough walking. One wooden cross
with two horizontal bars (like the cross atop the church) caused us to wonder
if it marked a grave. From there, we
walked a short distance to admire the Skoltefosson Waterfall, a stream filled
with rapids and small waterfalls. Anita
said that some ancient bodies (or bones) were taken from the ground near here
and sent to a laboratory to be studied to determine racial characteristics, but
she didn’t know the result. The bodies had been returned and reburied in the
ground.
We stopped at the Neiden Church, built
in 1902 with materials shipped by river to its location. To Sally, this Lutheran church seems a
compromise between Catholic and Protestant customs and is also very
old-fashioned. High on the wall facing
the congregation is a crucifix (not seen in most Protestant churches). In a circular stand near the front are
candles, available for members of the congregation to take and light for a
loved one. The pulpit is very high on
the right-hand side of the front of the church.
We could see organ pipes in the rear, in a balcony, where the organ is
probably located also. Jesse noticed
that our seat had a flat, electric heater under it.
Harry, our driver, was from a village
not far from here. Although he probably
spoke no English, our guide repeated his story from when he was in elementary
school. He would ski 9 miles to school
every day.
Anita lives in Finland, where the time
is an hour later than in Norway; since she works in Norway, she needs to be
very careful not to be tardy (which she was one time!). Many people cross the international border
daily. Even though we were told to take
our passports, our bus was waved on at the border crossing.
In Finland, we stopped for 25 minutes
at a store. Like the “general store” of
former times in the U.S., it sells everything from fresh meat to over-the-counter
medications and simple hardware. Here,
goods could be purchased in Euros, whereas in Norway the currency is in Krone.
Although we (at least, Sally) expected
to see the Sami people today, Anita told us that there wasn’t enough time. (Why not, since it was she who set our
schedule?)
At about 5:00 PM, the Prinsendam left
Kirkenes, which was the most distant point of this voyage, and started sailing
back around Norway, from whence she had come.
Since we missed the Captain’s welcome at
the beginning of this cruise, we never heard the numbers of various nationalities
onboard. Tonight, we were seated at
dinner with Frank and Desire (a Dutch couple, and her name was pronounced much
different from the spelling). They told
us that about 100 people from the Netherlands are onboard (out of about 850
passengers). Of course, they could board
in Amsterdam, which was a huge advantage!
We have met several Australians, Canadians and, of course, the
ever-present Americans like us. German
and Italian speakers would have taken the Costa ship, which offers excursions
in those languages.
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