No Northern Lights last night again, according to Nicole’s app, the activity level was low plus it was cloudy.
We followed our usual routine with a climb up to the open decks before breakfast which coincided with our first daylight stop of the day which was Vadsø.
From the ship, it looked very grey, bleak and flatter than the landscapes we had experienced over the last week. Breakfast itself was very busy this morning with many people getting off to do excursions at Kirkenes. As I mentioned yesterday, ours was cancelled and we didn’t fancy anything else on offer so made the decision to get off and use the ‘The Coastal Ferry Guidebook’ as a loose guide to navigate our way around Kirkenes. As so many people were getting off, we hit on the idea that the laundry would be quiet and we assumed correctly so put a wash on and went to the Havblikk Lounge to wait until the cycle had completed.
The laundry room is a nice little set up on Deck 4, it’s all Miele appliances, tumble dryers stacked on washing machines. No detergent required as it’s all included, self loaded and free.
We arrived pretty much bang on 9:00 and once all the tours had departed along with the disembarking passengers we made our way off too. We took the 20 minute walk to the town square and wandered around what appeared to be a very quiet place.
I photographed a few things of interest before walking back to the ship. There were the usual culprits such as a church, a few monuments and the Russian Consulate which had a van with Pro Ukraine slogans decorated over it parked across the street along with a shrine to Alexei Navalny, the poisoned opposition leader opposite the main door on the opposite side of the street.
On the way back to the ship we passed the Monument in honor of the Soviet Liberation, this is to commemorate the soldiers of the Soviet Union after the liberation of Kirkenes 1944. From a time when it seems their close neighbours were slightly more favourable than they are now.
It was nice to get off and walk but also nice to get back to the ship just in time for our lunch. The stop was for 3½ hours which turned out to be more than adequate if you didn’t do an excursion.
We departed on time and set off for our next stop which was a 55 minute one at Vardø. We read on the The Coastal Ferry Guidebook ,(CFG) that there is enough time to get to the Vardøhus Fortress and back in the time we were in port so that is what we did.
We even spotted the Steilneset Memorial in the distance which was erected in memory of the 91 victims who were convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake in Finnmark in the 17th century.
It was an exciting race against the clock and we were glad we made the decision to go for it. We even made it back to the ship with 15 minutes to spare.
It’s very windy and cloudy tonight and I doubt very much the Northern Lights alarm will go off.
Fitbit Steps – 16,272