Lyngseidet has chosen to honor its proximity to the North Pole with an enormous fiberglass statue of Santa Claus (Julenissen in Norsk) overlooking the harbor.
It's unbelievable ugly up close, and has apparently been named one of Norway's worst tourist attractions (it's said that only the giant fiberglass reindeer a couple of fjords away is uglier).
I've been joined for the last couple of weeks at the lab by Beau and Sophie. Beau is an American (Coloradan, to be specific) who's been in Sweden for about 6 years. He and Sophie, a Swede, are in Lyngen for the summer while Beau works on a couple of projects at the lab. It was such a beautiful day yesterday that Beau and I rode into Lyngseidet to pick Sophie up from work, grabbed a 6-pack of Mack Pilsener, and hung out under Santa Claus soaking in the rays. It was exceedingly pleasant.
The ferry coming into the harbor and some kids swimming off the pier was the big action for the afternoon. After we rode home, we got a call from some friends who were hanging out a beach down the road a ways. After a false start (wrong beach) and some pretty technical mountain biking, I arrived at this picturesque little farm.
And a short walk down the shore, the destination.
Pretty great. We might return this week for some fishing (fishing is one of the major topics of conversation around these parts). After the ride home, I was tired and a little sunburned, and just in time for a dinner of Reindeer carpaccio, homemade lutefiske, and stewed rhubarb. I'll post about the fabulous local food some other time.
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