July 17 - Alta, Norway
We're still in the county of Finnmark which covers most of Northern Norway. The whole county has a population of around 75,000 and covers an area the size of Denmark. There isn't a stoplight in the whole county. Alta is a very new city, having only been declared a city in 2000, and has a population of only around 18,000. However, it has a long history and much of that is based on the slate industry. Our tour today was to the Paeskatun Slate Quarry and for the first time, Jan and Tom were on the same tour. The bus ride to the quarry took about 30 minutes and went through some gorgeous countryside. Gas is about $2 per liter, or $8 per gallon which surprises me since we're in oil country. Another beautiful, warm day. The quarry is in the third generation of family working it, but it ran into some hard times around the recession of 2008. Consequently, they added tours and have survived. They've done a nice job of showing the little huts that t...