July 18 - Harstad, Norway

 I forgot to add a couple of pictures to the Alta post from yesterday, so I've rectified that in that post.

Apologies to the good citizens of Harstad, but this was a pretty "meh" port.  Our tour wasn't until 3 pm and, while we had the opportunity to walk off the ship and have a look around, we just didn't see anything worth the effort.  So instead we spent a lazy day.  I really did enjoy lounging on the pool deck in 78 degree weather and sipping a lemonade and then later a pina colada that the kind waiters were offering.  This is not what I expected above the Arctic Circle.

Today's tour took us on a scenic tour of the city (nothing to see here, move along) and then to a medieval church which was rather interesting.  It was started in the 12th Century and has had some changes made to it over the years - the biggest being that it was originally a Catholic church which was blessed by the area bishop and everything.  But then after the reformation, it became Lutheran.  Somehow they managed to keep the beautiful Catholic artwork of Jesus, Mary and other Catholic saints so those are still there.  (Don't tell the Lutherans).  The Baptismal font dates from somewhere between 936 and 1120 AD (don't double-check that, but those are the approximate dates) and is still in use today.  It's just a simple stone font, but they built things to last back then.

A couple of views of town from the top deck


The windows were small and set way back in the thick walls because the building doubled as a shelter from the enemy.  It was a bit like a fortress.

A wealthy family donated a lot of money to the church at one point and as a gesture of appreciation, they were allowed to bury family members in the little room you can see off to the left side.  In those days, the women sat on the left, the men on the right.  After a while, the women objected to the smell eminating from the burial room so the bodies were moved into the crypt area below.

Except for the typical gaudy gold statues and paintings at the very front, which are barely visible, the church is pretty simple as was typical of the times.

You can see the small windows again which are similar to those put into castles for defense.


Next we drove to a couple of forgettable viewing spots.

Most homes have 5 garbage cans color color-coded for recycling and composting purposes.  I think it's paper, glass, plastic, food, and one for what doesn't fit into one of the other 4 categories.  

According to our guide, it's Norwegian law that children inherit 2/3 of their parents' estate, whether the parents want that or not.  Parents can do what they wish with the other 1/3.

We missed Trivia, but Jan and Tom told us they got 10/15 so no points today.  I knew one of the ones they missed, but that still wouldn't have been enough for points.  


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