- Today we are cruising through the fjords and taking you to the top of Europe, north of the Arctic Circle.

So grab your mittens, it's going to be a chilly one.

It's time to get curious about Northern Norway.

(bright music) "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

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(dramatic music) - [Announcer] When you travel with us, you are not the typical tourist.

(lively music) - Today we are taking you to the northernmost point in Europe, to the border between Norway and Russia, and taking you down some majestic fjords.

And we will celebrate an Independence Day with some bunads.

It is time to get curious about Norway, hip, hip hurrah.

(lively music) Welcome to the land of the midnight sun.

Our entire journey is north of the Arctic Circle, and this remote, really, really cold part of the globe has a fascinating history.

For thousands of years, the indigenous Saami peoples lived here.

Much of this region wasn't even part of Norway until the 19th century.

Throughout that history, brave explorers, colorful traditions, (crowd cheering) and truly breathtaking landscapes have created this magical part of the world.

(lively music) So here's what I'm curious about in Northern Norway.

Who was the first person to visit the northernmost point in continental Europe?

What is a bunad, and why is it so important to wear one on Norway's National Day?

Where can you find a Russian Orthodox Church with a curious history?

Why are these crustaceans called kings?

Hi, I'm not tasty, please don't eat me.

When did ancient people leave sacrifices at this rock formation, and how were fjords formed?

Say that three times fast.

(lively music) Who, what, where, why, when, and how, so much to be curious about in Northern Norway.

(lively music) We begin our curious journey in Stamsund, where we board our ship.

We will visit the Trollfjord, make stops in Finnsnes and Tromso, then go all the way to the northernmost point in continental Europe at Nordkapp, and finally to the eastern border of Norway and the edge of Russia at Kirkenes.

(wind blowing) Northern Norway is one of those rare parts of the world that feels completely unspoiled by man, with dozens and dozens of little islands completely uninhabited, and mountains capped with snow, even in the summertime, and of course, the whole reason to visit this region, those famous fjords.

In this area alone, there are two UNESCO status fjords, and if your ship is just the right size, you might get lucky enough to sail right through them.

(ethereal music) This is the Trollfjord, one of the most magical and narrowest fjords in all of Norway, carved out of mountains millions of years ago by glaciers.

Today it's peaks on each side stretch up about 3,600 feet, and it's width, well, that's the fun part.

At its widest, it's about half a mile wide, but at its narrowest, it's only about 330 feet wide.

Only smaller ships or brave swimmers, I suppose, can make it in here.

(dark music) Trollfjord's beauty has inspired artists for centuries from the famous Norwegian painter Gunnar Berg, to this singer who happens to work on our ship and likes to sing Norwegian spiritual songs out into the fjords whenever the mood strikes.

(singing in foreign language) The Trollfjord is of course, named for the legends of the trolls, which are so dear to Norwegians.

And if you look closely enough, you might be able to make out the shape of a troll here in the mountains.

And those magical fjords are just the beginning of the incredible geological formations here in the Norwegian Sea, including something you wouldn't expect to see out here in the Arctic waters, a church.

If you ever see a place name in English with the root word Kirk in it, you should know that has a connection to Norway, because Kirk actually translates to church.

And that brings me to the Finnkirka monument behind me.

It is a natural rock formation.

Can you see it right there?

And the legend says that sailors, and seamen, and members of the Saami culture, when they would sail past here, would leave a sacrifice here at this spot for good luck as they sailed out to sea.

Now, if they made it back in one piece, they would leave another sacrifice here as a thank you.

That is why to this day, Finnkirka is a cultural monument here in Norway.

If you look closely, you can almost see why it's called Finnkirka church, because the natural rock almost makes the shape of a church spire and walls.

(lively music) Our next stop is a patriotic one.

We were lucky enough to visit during Norway's National Day, and learned quickly that a little bit of rain wasn't going to stop the hundreds of parades across this mighty country, like this one in the small town of Finnsnes, (marching band playing) and this one in the historic city of Tromso.

(drums beating) In 1814, Norway's constitution was passed unanimously.

In the 1860s and 1870s, small children's parades were held in places like Oslo.

Now today, all across Norway in city's big and small, National Day is celebrated with big parades, traditional costumes, and of course, by waving the King's flag.

Tromso's parade, like many across the country, features local bands, community groups, schools, businesses, and local families and friends, (crowd cheering) like this wonderful group of friends who were nice enough to teach me an important phrase for this special day.

Do I just say, happy National Day, happy Constitution Day?

What would I say as a proper greeting?

- Well, the most normal thing we would say to each other is happy birthday.

- Happy birthday?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

I'm gonna give it a whirl.

It's not gonna be good.

(all laughing) How might I say that in Norwegian?

And I will pay attention.

(repeating words in foreign language) Hip hip hurrah.

- [Group] Hip hip hurrah.

- [Christine] Now my new friends, as well as most people in the parade, are wearing something unique and beautiful.

These are the traditional Norwegian bunads.

What's a bunad, you might ask?

To find out, we step away from the boisterous parade route for a few moments to chat with Louisa, a local with deep Norwegian roots, and the prettiest bunad you ever did see.

Of all of the bunads that I've seen, I see lots of flowers, but do different colors mean different things, different types of flowers or shapes, or is decoration?

- That kind of decoration like you have like, blue flowers, they are very spring, and it's this summer, and it's like the beginning of something.

- [Christine] Oh, beautiful.

- [Louisa] And then some regions they have, like in Tromso, they have a waffle like the iron with we eat a waffle.

- See, I got stumped when you said waffle, I said, "Waffle, wait a minute."

- Yes, waffle, we eat it.

- If I was Norwegian, I think I'd go for waffles and flowers.

That's kind of nice, that's kinda nice.

But it's not just about pretty flowers, pretty dresses, and tasty waffles.

These folk costumes have a deep meaning for Norwegian families.

- You pass it on to your daughter, and like my sister, she has my mom's bunad, and her mom made that bunad herself.

- And these precious dresses are just the beginning.

The belt as well has that same type of flower.

Does the belt have significance?

- Yes, this is a (speaking foreign language) belt.

If you're a (speaking foreign language), you're a wife.

So it's a wife belt, yes.

- Like a ring that tells people if you're married or not.

- Yes.

- Oh, interesting.

- So back in the days.

- Back in the days.

Nowadays everybody.

- Nowadays we all use it.

And it used to be like every piece of this one to sample a house you have in your possession.

- Oh, so you're very wealthy.

You have a lot of houses.

- I have the whole, I have it all.

- Like monopoly, you know Monopoly?

You're great at Monopoly.

- Yes.

(drums beating) - [Christine] After the parade, many families gather inside Tromso Cathedral.

Greeting us is Grue Liliness, who works here at the church.

Her bunad is from a different region than Louisa's.

- This is from Newland, not Tromso as we are now, but a little bit further south, and this is the blue Newlands bunad.

They have also a green one, but this is for the coast, the blue, the ocean, you know?

- I was gonna ask you about that, 'cause I've seen blue and black and green.

So when I see blue, that means it's from a regional along the coast?

- It could be.

- Okay.

- Yes, and then the green one is from the inland, you know, where the farmers live.

- The green grass for the inland, and the blue for the ocean.

That's fascinating.

Grue's bunad is, of course, covered in flowers, which makes sense because as we've learned, a bunad is like a family tree that you can wear.

- My girls are have a dad from More og Romsdal in the west, and they have a (indistinct) bunad.

- Okay.

- But I have Newlands bunad, my mother have a Newlands bunad, and this Newlands bunad, all my grandparents made.

- All of them together?

- All of them together.

- Oh, that's so nice.

- One of my granddads, he were doing this, putting all together.

- [Christine] That's wonderful.

- And my two grandmothers and the other grandfather, they made the embroidery.

- [Christine] That's wonderful.

- [Grue] And on the (indistinct).

- So you have a piece of your family, lots of your family members all at once.

- All my grandparents are in this bunad.

- What could possibly be more wonderful than that?

These family treasures are worn not just for National Day, but also at baptisms, weddings, and other special family events throughout the generations.

So I do know that girl is given her bunad that she keeps for life.

Is one ever passed down from grandmother to granddaughter?

- Yeah, many of them are.

You know, you don't look the same as 50 as you did when you were 40.

- Tell me about it.

- So when it's not possible to do anything, any alterations, you have to pass it on to the next generation.

- That's part of the tradition too.

That's fine, that's fine.

(whimsical music) Okay, enough of the cushy city life and talk of pretty dresses, time to get back out into that bracing Arctic air.

So we climb up, up, up.

Okay, we took a bus, but we still went up a mountain, and up the degrees of latitude to the northernmost point in continental Europe.

(bright music) This is the North Cape, which marks the spot of the northernmost point of Europe.

It is definitely a bucket list destination for many adventurous travelers.

The history behind the North Cape is fascinating.

Back in 1553, an English expedition sailed through here looking for a northeast passage to China.

Its captain, Richard Chancellor, marked the spot, and named it the North Cape.

Then about 100 years later, an Italian priest who just happened to be fascinated with Scandinavian history apparently traveled all the way up here, and he is still considered to be the very first tourist here.

Onto the 1950s, finally, some roads were built all the way up so that people didn't have to walk or hike or climb up to the North Cape.

In 1978, this amazing sculpture called "Simply the Globe" was put here.

But if you wanna a little curious traveler tip, this isn't actually the northernmost point of Europe.

This is, this little part of the island that sticks out called (speaking foreign language).

The North Cape, also called Nordkapp, is marked by this monument, the globe.

(bright music) It has become the symbol for Nordkapp.

And when you stand here you are at about 71 degrees north latitude, about 1,200 miles from the North Pole, and about 1,000 feet above the Arctic Ocean.

(bright music) In 1664, an Italian priest named Francesco Negri took years to reach the spot from Italy, and then wrote about it in his "Viaggio Settentrionale," and he is still believed to be the very first tourist who visited here.

(bright music) And today, there are a lot more tourists and a lot more inspiring monuments to see.

This one marks the names of the stops along the Midnight Sun Road from Nordkapp to Patia in Sweden.

This sculpture grouping is called "Children of the Earth."

In the 1980s, a Norwegian writer came up with a wonderful idea, invite children from all different parts of the world to Nordkapp to create works of art that represent joy and peace on Earth.

They worked together here for a week, and these are their lasting creations.

Since that time each year, the Children of the Earth Prize is given to a humanitarian cause, and the ceremony is held here at the North Cape.

This poignant sculpture is simply called "Mother and Child."

They are sweetly pointing at the "Children of the World," and no, they're not meant to be frozen.

But I'm definitely feeling a bit frozen, so let's get back on that bus and warm up.

(bright music) (boat horn sounding) Next, from way, way north to way, way east, our final stop brings us right to the Russian border and to the city of Kirkenes with a small population of only about 10,000 people.

But as we will soon see, that population has a very big love of adventure.

Our first adventure takes us to the icy waters surrounding the town.

Well, of course it does.

(boat motor humming) This is Captain Michael.

Originally from Germany, he has lived here in Kirkenes for decades, and absolutely loves what he does for a living, which is scaring the daylights out of curious travelers.

He's not playing around.

(boat motor humming) And also teaching visitors about the lucrative king crab business.

Can I help you?

- If you would like to, you can help, yeah.

So first we need to lift the crab up.

Just hold onto the cage, and now we need to pull it back towards us.

Use your body, not your muscles.

Try to work smart.

- Who needs a gym workout?

Oh my goodness.

- So, and now I'll just give it a little twist.

Now we look at our catch.

- I don't think I've ever seen these.

I mean, you know, I've seen 'em on a menu before.

I don't think I've seen them like this.

And these little guys, or should I say big guys have a king sized history.

I know king crabs are in Alaska, and in Norway, and I think Russia, right?

What is the connection between Norway and Russia?

Were they here first and then went there, or the other way around?

- They came originally from the Kamchatka area in the northeast of Russia and north from Japan.

And there they were discovered under Stalin already, and they tried to move them closer to here to more months.

Since they want to have a good source of food, they're very nutritious.

But it didn't work under Stalin.

Technology was not good, so therefore they tried again in the 1960, and that time it worked.

- It really worked.

Today, Norway's King crab trade is a multimillion dollar industry, exporting around the world, and keeping small villages like these afloat.

Part of the reason why king crab are so expensive is that the work is hard, dangerous, and definitely cold, so only skilled fishermen like Captain Michael should really be the only people who handle them, but.

What's the proper way to hold it?

Can you teach me so I don't hurt myself or hurt one of these cute guys here?

- You will not.

They could harm you with the big claw, you see the right one?

So try to avoid to get your fingers in there or other body parts.

But if you hold them just like here on the back of the legs, you are very safe.

- Okay.

- So just don't get your fingers too high up on the shoulders, or it might get attracted to them.

- And I'll hold him and then I'm gonna give 'em right back.

- Yeah, you can do that.

It's up to you.

- Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

It's freaking me out.

Ah, there he is.

Oh my goodness.

(whimsical music) He's so big.

Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee, hee.

Hi, I'm not tasty, please don't eat me for dinner.

I want to swim in the fjords.

I want to be free.

Captain Michael, I have a gift for you.

- Thank you.

- Oh, goodness gracious.

- So his name is Olaf.

- I was gonna say, do you name them?

All right, Olaf, thank you, you're very sweet.

- Usually I don't give them names.

Don't give them names if you want to eat it.

- I know, I know, I love Olaf.

(bright music) - Next from the Arctic Seas to the Arctic landscape, and around here, there's only one way to travel, so let's suit up.

(bright music) Watch the hair.

Oh my gosh, I'm warm.

I'm warm for the first time in this country.

I'm so happy.

This is my new friend Ulf Feldeman, a Kirkenes local who gives tours of his beloved town by snowmobile in the winter, and by ATV in the spring and summer.

(vehicle motors humming) It's the perfect way to traverse this landscape, and a unique way to learn about the history of Kirkenes, which was the last region to become part of Norway.

- We are standing at the youngest land territory in Norway.

We get borders here for the first time with Russia and Finland in 1826, only 200 years ago, and before that, we have no borders.

- Centuries before that border was defined, this was the land of the indigenous Saami peoples, which brings us to the story of a monk and a curious little building at the end of this road.

Behind us, and just a little bit over that way, I believe, there's a very important piece of history, a very important piece of Norwegian and Kirkenes and Russian history.

Tell us a little bit about what's at the end of this road here.

- First of all, there was a famous monk called Tryphon.

Tryphon was a very powerful man in Russia, and he arrived here in Kirkenes in the year of 1565, and meet all the Saamis who lived here.

- [Christine] St. Tryphon was a Russian Orthodox monk who believed he was called upon by God to convert the indigenous Saami population to Christianity.

- So what he decided, he built a special church here.

One kilometer behind us here, it's the Russian church.

It's called the Boris Kiev Church.

It's a Russian Orthodox church built in 1565, and it's still in use.

- Oh, that's fantastic.

St. Boris and St. Gleb are considered to be the very first Saints of Russia, and there are many churches named after them.

This one here at the border went on to become an important one for those converted Saamis living here in Norway.

Now, today, I just wanna get this correct, is it on the Norwegian side or is it on the Russian side?

- Yeah.

- Good question?

- Yeah, luckily for Norway, we can say that they built this church on Norwegian side of the river before we get these borders.

They let the church be there.

On the same spot, we give Russia a little piece of land.

- So in 1826, these lines were drawn, placing little Boris Gleb Church, originally part of Norway, on the Russian side.

So this church was so special to them, they said, "We really want this little piece of land, even though it's on your side now, to be part of ours," and that deal is still in effect today?

- Yes, it's still the same today, and for the Russian, the ground is holy where the church is standing, and still today, Russian Orthodox religion, it's very, very important for these Russian living here.

- Now of course, the decision back in 1826 about where to create this border was much more complicated than just about including a beloved little church.

But it is interesting to see this little sliver of land within this zigzaggy border so full of curious history.

(vehicle motor humming) (bright music) Now after all that cold air, cold waters, cold winter adventures, even though this is May, it is time to wrap up our visit at our hotel in front of a nice warm fire, and snuggle up in a nice warm bed.

(bright music) But this is northern Norway, so where else would we rest our heads but inside an igloo?

This is the Kirkenes Snow Hotel carved entirely out of ice.

(bright music) There are only a few of these snow or ice hotels in the entire world, and not only can you sleep inside an igloo, there are also these beautiful ice sculpture exhibitions throughout.

Now, since Kirkenes is so close to the North Pole, it's no surprise that the theme here is all about Santa and his workshop, but as magical as Santa is, I don't think that fireplace over there is exactly warm and toasty.

These ice sculptures take months to design, plan, and of course, to carve.

These little vignettes with animals, fairy tales, and even a little outhouse with a helpful bear to protect you all make for a unique night's stay.

And in case you are wondering, how do you possibly stay warm sleeping in here?

Well, just your body heat, plus a few blankets is all you need.

The ice and snow of these igloo-like structures insulate from those frigid outdoor arctic temperatures.

Who knew that ice could be so cozy?

(bright music) (lively music) So from a natural wonder carved by a glacier, to a church of sorts carved by Mother Nature, to a day to be proud of one's nation celebrated with boisterous bands and beautiful bunads.

If I was Norwegian, I think I'd go for waffles and flowers.

That's kind of nice.

Which tell and entire family's history, without saying a word.

- All my grandparents made.

- All of them together?

- All of them together.

- Onto a northernmost latitude visited by a curious priest, and today decorated with the hopes of joy and world peace, to an easternmost town full of Arctic adventures for both kings and saints, to finally, a warm place to rest after all that ice that happens to be made out of ice, complete with a furry friend or two to keep you company in this remote yet oh, so beautiful part of the world.

Northern Norway has so much to be curious about.

(lively music) Thank you for joining us on our educational journey, and hopefully now you're even more curious about the who, what, where, why, when, and how's of Curious Northern Norway.

As they say here, (speaking foreign language).

Gotta go snuggle up in my igloo now.

(marching band playing) Okay.

- [Filmer] Just gimme 10 seconds.

- Can I get my hair on my face?

- [Filmer] Yep.

- One must travel as the Norwegians do, (speaking foreign language) (vehicle motor revving) "Curious Traveler" is made possible by the following.

- [Announcer] At Regent Seven Seas Cruises, we believe that personal space is essential to the luxury travel experience.

With no more than 732 guests, our ships allow you to explore the world and discover the freedom of having space at sea.

- [Announcer] Over 300 tours across all seven continents, over 40 years of serving travelers, you can explore the world through authentic experiences with GET, GETours.com.

- [Announcer] WindStar Cruises, intimate private yacht style cruises to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Tahiti, and more.

We look forward to seeing you on board WindstarCruises.com.

(dramatic music) - [Announcer] When you travel with us, you are not the typical tourist.

- [Christine] And closed captioning provided by Tap Air Portugal.

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(bright music)