NORWAY 2019 - Part 7: The tiresome story of the North Cape

The North Cape! Undoubtedly, the idea of a dream destination, an enchanted place of longing, a spot that must still be reached in order to perhaps spice up the possibly sober life balance a little before the final departure, may haunt many minds . . .

When I arrived in Honningsvåg late in the morning, the sky had still presented a more hopeful picture. However, I was already aware in the morning that the weather would change. And that it turned out to be the ultimate disappointment with zero visibility and nothing but fog, apart from my pictures, is shown solely by the undeniably colored mood of my text.

It would have been more uplifting to be able to look out over the rocky plateau of the North Cape towards the open sea in clear weather. A little more uplifting. Because there is nothing really inspiring about this supposed place of longing, which is honored and celebrated as a top destination in the whole world.

Hordes of tourists, who are brought here in large numbers as package tourists by buses and cruise ships, or just by tour buses, fog up the atmosphere even without the existing fog. Many gap-fillers in between, who have unexpectedly made it here with their motorcycles or often very rickety-looking camper vans, increasingly thicken the atmospheric fog. Most of them perform very adventurous contortions, often in very silly poses, in order to attract attention when being photographed, often with exuberant cheerfulness and loudness. There is a hustle and bustle here at the North Cape and in the adjacent North Cape Center, which reminds me of the Viennese amusement park during the confirmation or the beer tent in the province. The victory sign made with the index and middle finger must not be missing in many of these photos, while another contemporary continuously tries to stage himself with his motorcycle helmet in front of the well-known steel sculpture. He will probably get 47 likes on Facebook for that, along with 22 comments that are certainly not very intellectual . . .

But it is still cool, I think to myself, to stand at this point here about 2500 kilometers as the crow flies from Vienna. At this point - and that is the real joke - which does not really represent the northernmost point of Europe. There is a headland nearby that extends a few meters further north into the sea. And anyway, the North Cape is located on the island of Magerøya and therefore does not belong to mainland Europe.

Hours later, after a long afternoon nap in my cozy cabin, my Hurtigruten ship passes the rocky promontory of Kinnarodden at about 6:45 pm. Kinnarodden or also called Nordkinn . . . - Hardly anyone on board pays any attention to this rocky promontory, which represents the truly northernmost point of the contiguous mainland of Europe. But for me, these are exactly the great and truly uplifting moments of this journey: with weather that has become really lousy again with wind and corresponding waves, to observe Kinnarodden or the Nordkinn up close for a long time.