Rica Vadso Vadsø

... of Russia in this region. Initially one is struck by the Russian trawlers tied up in dock. Many of he signs are bilingual: Norwegian and Cyrillic. Traffic seems to be to and from the border. And, right in the middle of town is a large statue and war memorial featuring a Red Army soldier.

Kirkenes took a real pounding during WW II when it was a major base for German military operations targeing the Murmansk region of the Soviet Union.. After ...

I have stayed in this town several times and always start in this part of the country when I shall visit my customers in this part of our long country.
The city is very close to the Russian border and you can go on a trip to Murmansk. You also have the possibility to visit Grense Jakobs Elv (the river between Norway and Russia), where you can se beautiful beaches. The temp. is very low and you can't go for a swim unless you like freezing water.

... years ago when he was 15 to work for the fish factory. In Kirkenes we did some shopping. I can recommend second hand shops. And in the Sparland they sell nice shoes. You can also here lots of Russia there. When we came back to Bugoynes we took a kick sledge and did our last tour around the village. We stopped for awhile to collect shells from the beach and listen to the impressive sounds of the waves of the ocean. Tomorrow we have to go.

As I mentioned earlier, the house Mäksä is renting includes also a cottage. It's about 15 minutes drive from the house to the cottage. However, the last 400 meters we had to walk through the fells; there is no road. It was exciting, because it felt like we really were wanderers in the wilderness. The cottage is located on a wonderful place next to a lake. The lake was completely frozen but we could take water from the stream. We used candles for ...

It has been a nice relaxing day. On the morning we drove a little bit backwards the road we arrived yesterday. (Well, there are no other roads to take but anyway.) The scenery is fantastic. Everything else is white but the ocean. Even though it's cold in here, the sea never freezes on this coast. We stopped the car and walked down to a beach. The taste of the ocean was salty and fresh. Darkness comes here even sooner than in Helsinki. But it feels good somehow ...

We woke up early today, at 8 o'clock. It was a little pity to leave our hotel Lapinleuku, which is located in a very nice place next to Inari lake, when it was still dark. However, we had a long drive ahead. However, first we bought some Finnish food from the S-market in Ivalo. Food is much cheaper in Finland than in Norway. Our next stop was Siida the Sami Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre in Inari. The land of Saame reaches over North of Finland, Sweden and ...

... in utsjoki, which is at the very tip top of finland, the furthest north you can go. i am in utsjoki because, due to the russian visa difficulties, i had to leave the calotte academy early. we were in kirkenes today, which is at the northeastern tip of norway, and pretty remote - the only buses from kirkenes to finland don't start running until june! so, needing to come back to finland before june, i had to get a ride with a professor who lives ...

(Jim) Our Norwegian cruise is over, and we are flying south. We don't even have time to make a quick detour to the Russian border only twenty or so miles away, though some highway signs are double-posted in Russian (Cyrillic characters) and Norwegian (Roman). "Murmansk this way." According to Travelpod, we've traveled only 1% of the world. I think we'll be pretty tired by the time we break 50%, if we ever do.

If you are planning a journey to Norway and Nordkapp, i'll suggest you to take it easy and follow your day by day inspiration. One of the most beautiful things in Norway is to "get lost" and just follow the road and you'll always end to a beautiful places. Take with you some maps and guide so that you will know what is ...

We toured the Kirkenes area with a stop at the Russian border. We learned a lot about the position of Kirkenes during the war. Because of their proximity to the Russian border, they were actively occupied by German forces for most of the war. We heard horror stories of what happened in the area during that time. To this day munitions are still being found. As recently as last year two six year old boys brought a bucket of live ...