I am at the mercy of all I say, I don't give anything away.

night skiing and big city lights

Narvik, reputedly the ugliest city in Norway, is not as unsightly as I anticipated.  It seems to solely exist as a port for the iron mined in Kiruna and was of strategic value to Germany in WWII.  The town in cut in half by the rail tracks that transport the iron from Sweden.  There are only 2 bridges that connect the town.  It was very quiet when we arrived and stayed that way until we left.

sled parking

Having grown up in a depressed community, I can understand how it feels to be in a very isolated area.  It makes me wonder if kids dream of big city lights and leaving his/her shithole town.  Even though the scenery around Narvik is quite beautiful, I assume the opportunity to make something of yourself is slim.

The whole trip we joked about Ondrej's love affair with Norway.  Any quality city has hills. As an adopted son of the Pacific Northwest, I can see why he is drawn to this area.  Mountains meeting the sea is very foreign and exotic to me.  It was nice.

water and elevation

We also joked about the old woman who ran the hotel that we stayed at.  She had the most intense old lady hair ever.  And I assume she was mildly crazy, a symptom attributed to living in Narvik for an extended period.  But she was very sweet.
If I were to write her autobiography it would be depressing and sad.  I assume her life is full of heartbreak and disappointment.  But she did have several wonderful pictures of her cats taped to the wall next to the reception desk.

Directing you to the fastest route out of town.