DAY 3 (saturday 20 february 2010) - Svolvær - Henningsvær - Kabelvåg - Sørvågen
Our day starts early, and it has been carefully planned on the basis of the few buses travelling on saturday. The first one leaves slightly after the sunrise (which in february is about at 7am, while the sunset is at 17 pm), at 8:35am, when the fresh air combines with the wonderful colours of the sky behind the mountains. The trip takes just 30 minutes, but the ticket is very expensive, 57 nok, about 7 euro! Why? We ask to the conductor and find that the student discount (-50%) is applied only on the trip longer than 50km. Paradoxically, we pay more for a small displacement than a long one. However, the road network on the Lofoten is reduced to the essential, the roadway in many stretches is just sufficient for two cars, but everything is compensated by the sensation to drive in an unreal landscape. For some kilometres you may run on the slope of a mountain and you may believe to be on the Alps, then a wide valley opens up at your sight and after a while you find yourself on a winding road on the sea, few metres from the waves!
Our first destination is Henningsvær, called also the "Venice of the North". Well, for one who loves Venice like me, the paragon is very stretched. But while walking in the peaceful streets of the village, one can understand why someone thought about this similarity: canals, small houses on the water, and the whole village located in the middle of the sea, on a small island connected with the mainland just with a pair of bridges.
The limited size let you have an excellent view on the surroundings: at the sealine, on your back the mountains and a blue sky in place of the now gone sunset.
You can notice that Henningsvær is an important fishermen village by observing the wooden setting-up, typical on the Lofoten, used to dry the fish (on the left in the picture above). After a couple of hours the bus comes back and brings us to Kabelvåg, a bigger village and slightly more active, relatively to the Lofoten's standards. Here you can find a supermarket, a kiosk, and other useful services. After a break we head for the statue of King Øystein, who in 1120 ordered to build the first RORBU on the Lofoten. The rorobu is a small wooden house, built usually between the seaside and the land, similar to a pile-dwelling, born to give hospitality to the fishersmen during the fish season. On the Lofoten today the rorbuer (plural) are widespread as tourist accomodation during the summer. Many of them have all the comforts, losing a bit of the traditional fascination, but still being charming thanks to the wood and the unmistakable red color. The stone statue of the king enjoys a breathtaking view over Kabelvåg, with a 360 degree panorama view on sea, mountains and valleys.
We catch a glimpes of a cliff and a typical norwegian iron-lighthouse, painted in red and white. It's difficult to resist, and we go down the hill to reach it.
Before coming back to Svolvaer we cannot miss the Vågan kirke, the second largest wooden house in northern Norway, built in 1898.
In the evening it's planned a long displacement by bus which takes around 3 hours (117 nok), from the island of Austvågsøya, the northernmost of the Lofoten, to Moskenesøya, in the village of Sørvågen which will hold some nice surprises. The first is the accomodation, an amazing two-floor house all for us! Because of the low-season prices are really good, (we paid 150 nok per night per person + 80 nok to rent the linens) and there aren't a lot of tourists invading rorbuer, hotles and campings. This time we have a typical norwegian dinner, with boiled potatoes and a delicious tomato soup.
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