I've not so secretly always wanted to go to the Arctic Circle. There's something quite strange, or eerie about a place that can be so far north, the trees are stunted and the land is a rocky place with few plants growing. This has been a year of extremes for me: living in one of the coldest countries, traveling the longest by land, going the furthest east...And then a final superlative for my students: to travel to the furthest north in Europe: Nordkapp. Now that's extreme.
As we drove our rental car (once we found it, which is another adventure you can ask me about), one desire came to my mind, stronger than any other. "Hey Fredi," I called out, "When are we going to see a reindeer?" It didn't take long for him to find not only one, but 12! reindeer. The rest of us were so in awe that we stopped the car just to take photos of the nonchalant animals. Little did we realize that it was only the beginning. After the 100th we stopped paying attention. Although there were reindeer and some trees, it was hard to picture Santa setting up shop there, in that sparsely treed place. Santa would need some special importing power to get a good Christmas tree up and running.
The thing that struck us the most at Nordkapp though, was the incredible colors. If ever there were a place to see bright blue sea, spongy green moss, and the clearest sky ever seen, it would be here. As we woke up one morning at 6 AM (the sun was already well overhead, and blinding of course), we hiked to the true point and looked out over the sea. Never will I forget how clear and how crisp every inch of the landscape was, so bright that you truly had to shield your eyes. And the water, though calm and clear, was still ominously mysterious, with its seaweed slowly lapping against the cliffs. As we looked off to the distance it was as if we had found the edge of the world. the Edge of Europe at least.
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