Alta, Norway... Part 1 of 2

With the late morning arrival into Alta, I was in my glory!  I was out all morning taking sail in photos of our first trip up the Alta fjord.  Alta is north of the Artic Circle and known as the land of the midnight sun, the scenery was spectacular with snowcapped mountains in the background.  Most of the photos today were taken during the sail into Alta. We were on the first tender and grabbed a cab to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Rock Art Center, the Alta Open Air Museum.  The area has Northern Europe's largest display of ancient petroglyphs. This museum is a testament to the aspects of life, the environment and activities of the hunter-gathers societies of the Artic in prehistoric times.  The carvings and engravings were made on the smooth rock surfaces at the shoreline of the fjords, the oldest carvings are over 7000 years.  Returning to the city of Alta, we visited the Northern Lights Cathedral, Alta Church.  The church has a stunning exterior with a unique titanium spiral steeple and concrete walls, that together with the circular shape, helps to create something reminiscent of nature's greatest light show. The interior was sparse and while that's true, it's far from dull.  As soon as you enter the church your eyes are immediately drawn to the tall bronze sculpture of Christ.  Unfortunately, I was unable to climb the tower which is something I was counting on.  We looked around the city center but being Sunday, nothing was open.  Alta was occupied and destroyed by the Nazis during World War II and the hence the modern architecture.  We took the shuttle and tender back to the ship.  We had a nice day in Alta and so far, our streak of great weather is holding out.  I can’t believe I am in the Artic Circle walking around in shorts and a t-shirt! Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers around the world!