The next day we awoke to overcast skies and rain. We decided to visit the town of Henningsvær and the Viking Museum. As we drove we made many stops to take pictures of the beautiful scenery that was still impressive despite the gray skies and clouds. I’ve noticed Marc has stopped complaining about doing all the driving and seems quite content to be driving the Mercedes! One of the places we stopped along the way is one of Norway’s famous architecturally-interesting “rest stops.” These buildings are often just a place to stop and observe nature while some of them contain bathrooms. This one was just a lookout that was seamlessly integrated into the landscape.

**At this point, I had ceased to journal for the rest of the trip, so the rest of the journaling will be lacking detail as I’m recalling it from memory.**

The town of Henningsvær. It was hard to get good pictures as there were so many clouds. My favorite thing about the town was the glass shop. I wanted to buy ALL THE GLASS. The shop is called
Engelskmannsbrygga i Henningsvaer. I managed to buy only 3 small glass eggs that now hang in our window at home. The glass shop had an open studio and we got to watch the glassmakers heating and forming the glass. We also noticed several examples of Banksy-type art on numerous houses and buildings by an artist called “Mr. Hmm.”

After Henningsvær, we headed to the Viking Museum and stopped at a little “mom and pop” shop along the way for lunch in the Lofoten Tourist Center building. Lunch was very simple but delicious, homey Norwegian food. The sign outside translated literally to “hand made food.” It took some translating from us to the woman working the register to the cook, but we think Marc’s food ended up being dairy-free and butter-free. I had an open-faced sandwich. I also got to try a different type of lefse that was quite different from what my grandma used to make. It was more like a cake than the potato flatbread that I was familiar with.

The Viking Museum had a lot of interesting displays and information.

The walk to the Viking longships was too “long” for me, and Marc ended up doing it on his own as my feet were very sore. I perused the gift shop which had a lot of local goodies like jams, jellies, teas, homemade soaps, and other various items.

After the Viking Museum, we went back to the town of Leknes for dinner. We ate at what felt like an Americanized pizza place called “Peppes.” By now I was craving a “chain restaurant” meal where we knew what we would be getting. The pizza was good and expensive like all food in Norway. I can’t remember what Marc had.

There was also a grocery store so I took the time to check it out. Foreign grocery stores fascinate me, I just love looking at all the different types of food that I have no idea what they are or what you are supposed to do with them. After poking around the grocery store, we drove the long way back to Svolvaer to spend our last night in the rorbuer. Tomorrow we are going to Reine, and this is the part of the trip that I have most been looking forward to! If you are a freak about foreign grocery stores like I am, you can go to my super special Norwegian Grocery Store Photo Gallery here. 🙂