We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world and the beauty of the Lofoten Islands comes in a very close second. The landscape just begs to be explored. How could we refuse?

First up – a hike to a breathtaking viewpoint. The cloud cover foiled those plans (shoot!) but at least the hike itself was fun and interesting. Until we got our feet wet in the boggy areas. Oops. No matter, even though we only got halfway up, we still got treated to some amazing sights. We were very happy with our 7kms and were ready to see what the town of Svolvaer has to offer.

Ready for a drink, we were intrigued by the local ice bar. Of course we would like a local drink served in a custom made glass of ice. Sounds great! We also get to walk around and be amazed by all the Viking ice sculptures? Yes, please. Just make sure to lend me a winter poncho and some gloves.

Wouldn’t you know it, the sun came out. Now we have to make a decision. That is how we found ourselves on yet another hike. This one must be done in dry, sunny weather and well…you can’t predict just when that is going to happen. We trekked up, up, up all the Sherpa steps (505 of them) and then if that wasn’t enough, we transitioned to regular boulders, sheer rock and mud. Yep. 600 meters of elevation in 1.8km.

We endured and persevered, sweated and grumbled, all because we knew the reward at the end would be fantastic. And it was. We even had a nice young lady offer to take our picture. She did. We were grateful. It wasn’t until we were looking at the pictures that we discovered our bodies are completely covering up the amazing view.

Hmmmm…I wonder if the weather will cooperate again tomorrow??? Shhh…don’t tell Jason.