Bodø - Partying under the midnight sun :)
June 20, 2009
Pictures will come when I get back from vacation :)
Bodø:
Bodø is a relatively small city located just above the Arctic circle here in Norway. At first I wasnt sure wether to go or not to go to Bodø, but when my favorite football team (Lillestrøm SK) where playing the local team from Bodø at the brightest day of the year (June21st) i had no reason not to go, except that the flights where really expensive, but i did find an 40Euro train ride lasting 1day.4hours so I decided to endure the painfully long train ride to see my sporte team play under the midnight sun and do some hiking afterwards
When i first arrived i met up with my couchsurfing host Torstein. Torstein is also very interested in sports and he was also planning to go to the game between our clubs. I was quite impressed that he let me stay in his appartment even though i was a supporter for the opposite team.
In Bodø i checked out the "National Aviation museum" which is located a 2km walk from "Downtown Bodø". They have an impressive collection of both military and civilian aircrafts and aircraft equipment. Being a history buff i really enjoyed the military party of the exhibition which had several loads of interesting things from especially the cold war. Bodø is the biggest military airfield in Norway and was heavily used by NATO during the cold war due to its location near the Russian border. The Third world war was almost started in Bodø as a satelite was launced from Andenes outside of Bodø when both sides in the cold war was at high alert and the russians thought it was an nuclear attack of somekind, but luckily due to good communication nothing happened, but this is probably the closest we have been to an nuclear anhialation.
I also went to Kjerringøy which was the largest tradingpost for fishermen in the north of Norway. Here local fishermen came and got equipment and boats for going out to fish around the Lofoten islands. Fish was an important export back then and its the 2.nd biggest export even today, but in the 80's it was surpassed by oil as Norways biggest export. Kjerringøy was a beautiful place with amazing scenery and some impressive mountains. The busride is 92kr each way plus 24kr for the ferry so 116kr each way its kinda expensive. If you add the admission price (60kr) its 292kr for just transport and the ticket into the museumsground.
The guide is a local from Kjerringøy and she did a nice job telling us about the history of the place and its role for Norwegian fishermens in the past. When Kjerringøy was at its peak in the mid 1860s they had several hundred fishermen hired and Bodø was a small settlement of 17inhabbitants.
Saltstraumen is near Bodø and its well worth seeing if youre in the Area. Saltstraumen is the largest maelstrom in the world and its being created by the tidal difference and makes a whole lot of water pass through an Narrow Straight in a really strong current. Be careful to time your visit since the speed of the stream is very dependent on the time of day and its a long wait to wait for its next peak which is once every 6hour. The scenery around Saltstraumen is really beautiful and its worth the trip just by itself. There is a mountainrange (Børrevasstindene) close to the straight and I was recomended to go hiking up "Per Karlsatind" , but unfortunatly i didnt have the time.
PS: Be really careful about catching the last bus back to Bodø. The last bus left at 16:20 on weekdays and I managed to miss the bus and I had to hitchhike into Bodø again. I met this great couple in their RV which actually stopped by a friend of mine to pick up my bag and straight for the Airport. They totally made my day as I was really affraid that i would miss my flight back home. I was standing 35km outside of Bodø with no busses less than one and a half hour before my plane was departing. Panic? Not quite, but pretty close
I also played Volleyball with the supporters of BodøGlimt , partied under the midnight sun , went hikin up a small hill and just walked around the city. The city itself its short of spesific sights so youll want to get out of Bodø after your 2.nd day or something
Bodø:
Bodø is a relatively small city located just above the Arctic circle here in Norway. At first I wasnt sure wether to go or not to go to Bodø, but when my favorite football team (Lillestrøm SK) where playing the local team from Bodø at the brightest day of the year (June21st) i had no reason not to go, except that the flights where really expensive, but i did find an 40Euro train ride lasting 1day.4hours so I decided to endure the painfully long train ride to see my sporte team play under the midnight sun and do some hiking afterwards
When i first arrived i met up with my couchsurfing host Torstein. Torstein is also very interested in sports and he was also planning to go to the game between our clubs. I was quite impressed that he let me stay in his appartment even though i was a supporter for the opposite team.
In Bodø i checked out the "National Aviation museum" which is located a 2km walk from "Downtown Bodø". They have an impressive collection of both military and civilian aircrafts and aircraft equipment. Being a history buff i really enjoyed the military party of the exhibition which had several loads of interesting things from especially the cold war. Bodø is the biggest military airfield in Norway and was heavily used by NATO during the cold war due to its location near the Russian border. The Third world war was almost started in Bodø as a satelite was launced from Andenes outside of Bodø when both sides in the cold war was at high alert and the russians thought it was an nuclear attack of somekind, but luckily due to good communication nothing happened, but this is probably the closest we have been to an nuclear anhialation.
I also went to Kjerringøy which was the largest tradingpost for fishermen in the north of Norway. Here local fishermen came and got equipment and boats for going out to fish around the Lofoten islands. Fish was an important export back then and its the 2.nd biggest export even today, but in the 80's it was surpassed by oil as Norways biggest export. Kjerringøy was a beautiful place with amazing scenery and some impressive mountains. The busride is 92kr each way plus 24kr for the ferry so 116kr each way its kinda expensive. If you add the admission price (60kr) its 292kr for just transport and the ticket into the museumsground.
The guide is a local from Kjerringøy and she did a nice job telling us about the history of the place and its role for Norwegian fishermens in the past. When Kjerringøy was at its peak in the mid 1860s they had several hundred fishermen hired and Bodø was a small settlement of 17inhabbitants.
Saltstraumen is near Bodø and its well worth seeing if youre in the Area. Saltstraumen is the largest maelstrom in the world and its being created by the tidal difference and makes a whole lot of water pass through an Narrow Straight in a really strong current. Be careful to time your visit since the speed of the stream is very dependent on the time of day and its a long wait to wait for its next peak which is once every 6hour. The scenery around Saltstraumen is really beautiful and its worth the trip just by itself. There is a mountainrange (Børrevasstindene) close to the straight and I was recomended to go hiking up "Per Karlsatind" , but unfortunatly i didnt have the time.
PS: Be really careful about catching the last bus back to Bodø. The last bus left at 16:20 on weekdays and I managed to miss the bus and I had to hitchhike into Bodø again. I met this great couple in their RV which actually stopped by a friend of mine to pick up my bag and straight for the Airport. They totally made my day as I was really affraid that i would miss my flight back home. I was standing 35km outside of Bodø with no busses less than one and a half hour before my plane was departing. Panic? Not quite, but pretty close
I also played Volleyball with the supporters of BodøGlimt , partied under the midnight sun , went hikin up a small hill and just walked around the city. The city itself its short of spesific sights so youll want to get out of Bodø after your 2.nd day or something
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