Moving to Kirkenes

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Herra Gautason
That´s just cosy, the sun is overrated. It´s really the midnight sun that causes trouble. And I guess you are going to see some cool northern lights as you will be quite far up north. Nothing beats real northern lights dancing on the sky.

To sum it up:

Hot weather
Cold weather
Northern lights

Spoken like a person who has lived his entire life on an icy rock in the North Atlantic.

[Gangerolf]

Originally posted by Ari Rahikkala
Kirkkoniemi

Finnperialism

[Guardian]

Saw the geese start heading south today. It's a lot darker already than two weeks ago. Each day is a full 20 - 25 minutes shorter than the day before. Better go grab some sleep now. Will post some pics and stuff in a few more days.

[Winston]

You know, they shouldn't be allowed to have Internet access in places like that. It could seriously interrupt people's feeling of depression.

[Dinner]

Life is to short to live some where crappy.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Oerdin


Spoken like a person who has lived his entire life on an icy rock in the North Atlantic.

Hey, nothing wrong with North Atlantic, icy rocks.

Guardian: Very much looking forward to seeing some pictures.

[Herra Gautason]

JimmyCracksCorn is right.

[Guardian]

OK, it's time to post some pictures!

As you know, we are pretty close to the Russian border here. So close, in fact, that the nearest part of Russia is just 7 km or less than 5 miles from our house. Even though the cross-border relations are fairly good these days, this is a strategically in militarily sensitive area with a lot of pretty icy history from the days of the Cold War. In the 50's and 60's when the Soviets were conducting nuclear tests on the island of Novaja Zemlja in the east Barent Sea, the people in Kirkenes could see the flashes and feel the ground shake as the bombs detonated. In 1968, during the invasion of Checoslovakia, the Red Army rolled up somewhere around 4 000 tanks along the Norwegian border and kept them sitting there gunning their engines making a huge rumble that could be heard for miles and miles away. This was a warning to NATO: "Stay out of this or you could have trouble a lot closer to home before you know it..." -Or something along those lines...

Norway and Russia still have a border dispute in the Barents Sea as well. Fortunately for us all, everyone seems determined to sort that thing out in a cordial manner.

Anyway, as I was saying, this is a strategically and militarily sensitive area, and as such, we still have a significant military presence on both sides of the border, even though relations are pretty good at the moment. We don't have to drive far out of town in any direction to see signs about military restrictions, no photographing, no entry, etc.

Here is a sign I photographed up by Grense Jacobselv, right up on the border to Russia. The river that can be seen behind the treeline is Grense Jacobselv itself and it is the border between Norway and Russia here, so the hills in the background are very, very Russian...

[Guardian]

This is the info sign 500 meters down the road from the one above.

[Guardian]

I think I'm gonna have to either make my pictures smaller or find another way to put them out, or I'll be out of upload space in about 6 or 7 more pictures...

I'll get back to you!

[DanS]

Sweet! FWIW, I like the fact that those pictures are so detailed. You can read the words, etc.

[Guardian]

OK, folks. I uploaded some pics at a Norwegian site that you all may come and have a look at if you wish.

Here's the link: http://www.eurofoto.no/show_album.php?aid=1217736

Edit: By the way, this is the same album as my family and friends get to see in case you wonder...

[Snotty]

Thanks guardian

I was planning on coming here and demanding more pictures anyway

[Zoid]

Awesome pics Guardian. My sisters husband did his military service in Kirkenes (I think) spying on the russians

[Guardian]

Yup. Lots of military intelligence business going on around here. The Russian Kola Peninsula, just east of here, was once considered the world's largest and most expensive piece of military real estate. Lots of things have changed since the height of the cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, but Murmansk and Severomorsk still remain home of the Russian Northern Fleet, formerly known as the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet.

Naval vessels and especially submarines keep sneaking around here all the time, trying to keep track of each other and figure out what the other side is up to. Some times they get a little too close. A couple of years ago, an American nuclear submarine collided with something Russian in the Murmansk Fjord and had to have repairs carried out at the Norwegian naval base in Bergen. Apparently, that was the closest base with the facilities to do the job. Bergen is about 2600 kilometers south of here. That's about 1800 US miles or around 1400 nautical miles, so I guess it's a good thing the damage wasn't all that bad...

Also, some of the trawlers and other fishing vessels in these waters aren't what they seem...