Hurtigruten recap

I read with interest Fred Steinberg’s article about cruises along Norway’s coast with Hurtigruten (June ’10, pg. 18) and would like to add a few comments. My wife and I traveled on the line’s ship Midnatsol from Kirkenes to Bergen in June 1994 and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

We spent a full day in Kirkenes before boarding, and we recommend that people do that. Kirkenes is a very interesting place, with lots of history. During World War II the Germans used it as a base to try to cut the Allied supply line to Murmansk, and the Russians bombed it more than 300 times. Many civilians lasted out the war by waiting out bombings in caves.

At the ports, we always went ashore and wandered around on our own.

There were people on our ship who had taken the round trip (Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen), and by halfway back on the return they were getting pretty bored; you can saturate on small Norwegian fishing villages.

The Bergen Food Festival in September described by Mr. Steinberg sounds a lot like the fisheries fair that was in full swing when we reached Bergen. There were lots of chances to sample all kinds of herring, which was also available in some form with every meal on board.

IRVING E. DAYTON

Corvallis, OR