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Round trip
Scandinavia, August 2010 Heavily pregnant I
made a round trip through Scandinavia with boyfriend Jan.
Ultimate goal was to get to the North Cape, the most
northern point in Europe. |
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| We took a boat from Rostock in Germany to Helsinki in
Finland, which appeared
to be a rather boring city. |
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| Our home during the three week trip: an improvised
camper with three-quarter bed. |
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| Mosquito net an absolute necessity. Even with mosquito
net the sum of bites after 1 night was 150 for Jan, 80 for
Petra - I used insect repellent too. |
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| Rovaniemi in the North of Finland is said to
be the home of Santa Claus. It is nothing more
than a bunch of souvenir shops. I could not
resist buying some Lapp clothes for our future
son. |
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| These mailboxes are typical of
Lapland. |
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| Supporting the Finnish economy by buying a felt
hat. |
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| Reindeer all over the place. The
first time they crossed the road our
mouths fell open, but seeing these
animals on the road is so common
that we lost count. |
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| Lacking a shower
in our improvised
camper we were very
happy to find saunas
everywhere. |
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Birds
fleeing
for
a
storm
we
didn't
know
was
on
the
way
to
the
North
Cape. |
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| On 14 August, which is the birthday of Jan, we finally reach our destination. Too late for the midsummer night, but it is still pretty light for 23.00hrs. The moment we get outside a heavy wind starts to blow. |
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| Just before we're blown away we manage to make the ultimate shot: a picture with the symbol of the North Cape. |
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| Pretty steep rocks. It is only decades ago there was no road to the North Cape. At that time the only way to get to the North Cape was by boat and on foot: climbing the rocks. |
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| Our camper was almost blown off the cliff. Dead slow we
drove back to the civilized world. |
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| No civilization yet on the morning after the North Cape
visit as it gets really cold in our improvised camper. We're
fed up with the camper for now and long for a 5 star hotel. |
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| Summer in Norway... |
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| Clear blue skies on the Lofoten but it is freezing
cold. |
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| Half way the Norwegian coast is the largest Viking
settlement ever found. |
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| A replica of a Viking ship. |
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| Salmon cultivation in one of the many fjords. |
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| Crossing the Arctic Circle for the second time. Back to
warmer weather and more civilization - which is very welcome
one month before I am about to give birth to our first son. |
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Bergen is said to be the most beautiful city in Norway.
We agree with that. |
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| The original vessel of Roald Amundsen that he used in
1903 to sail the North West Passage is now exhibited in
Oslo. |
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| Bridge from Sweden to Denmark. |
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| We made it back the to the Netherlands just in time for
the delivery of son Oscar. We thank the sofa bed for its
services - we only slept in a hotel 5 out of 23 nights. But
now dump it on the scrapheap - it wasn't that comfortable...
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