Day 13 of our trip. Apparently a bad omen. Because although we were in Gryllefjord in time at the departure point of the car ferry and had booked tickets online, we did not get on the ferry. There had been a long queue of cars waiting to get on the ferry. And when there was only one car left in front of us, we were told “nothing works – the ferry is full”! Well, that was of course bad luck for us. Because the ferry leaves three times a day, but we didn’t want to wait until 3 p.m. to possibly not come along on this tour either. Later we learned that some are even 3 hours before departure there to come yes on board. Remember: just-in-time is not an option if you want to take the car ferry.
Instead of complaining and lamenting, we simply decided to drive the distance to our destination overland by car. Yes, a long way over roads that we in Germany would rather call paths – single or double lane. And you can drive a maximum of 50 – 60 km per hour. More would be much too dangerous, because the paths are just not paved and well-developed highways, but rather naturally kept paths. Lofoten is a very elongated area – unlike Senja. Senja is rather a compact island. That’s why it took us many hours (about 9 in total) to cover the 450 km to our hotel. With the ferry we could have crossed quickly in 1.5 hours. But instead we saw again beautiful and bizarre landscapes with mountains and lakes, which every fantasy location scout would be very happy about.
Despite this bad luck, the mood within the family was very good. There was neither grumbling, nor bickering or even quarreling among the children, which was pure relaxation.
Our accommodation then surprised us a little. Because before we had lived in a modern hotel with large rooms on Senja. Here in Ramberg, the hotel is rather small and the rooms rather sparse. The house must be around 200 years old and is apparently built of thick oak logs. The furnishings look rather spartan and as if put together from an IKEA catalog. But it is cozy. We adults have to duck our heads and make ourselves small when entering our house, because the doors are rather carpentered for very short people. The children have fun teasing us adults that we are too tall and stand in the door frame, the upper edge of which they can touch with their heads. An eleven-year-old girl, of normal height, mind you!
After so much time in the car, we were completely exhausted and glad to be able to move a little outside again. We didn’t do much, though, because driving is also pretty exhausting. But tomorrow we want to go on a tour. Thought are a glass blowing and a Viking museum.