Lofoten is a land of excitement, a hotbed of fascination and enchantment. A realm of contrast and paradox, of light and dark, of colour and Nature’s own music. A paradise for the senses. A delight to the eyes, nose, ears and palate: jagged, precipitous mountains bathed in the light of the Midnight Sun, or set in striking profile against the playful, flickering, mystical backdrop of the Northern Lights. The smell of dried cod, of birchwood from winter’s smoking chimneys, of flowers on summer’s bright green slopes, of the salty waters. The sound of seagulls returning home from their selfinflicted exile, the chugging of an old fishing smack on the horizon, or the ubiquitous, almost deafening, silence found far up in the mountains. And then there’s the taste – the result of the harvesting of land and sea... The interaction, the synergy, between Man and Nature is visible wherever you look – the architecture, the boats, the ways of the people. The fishermen’s cabins (rorbu), red or ochre, seem as natural as the shoreline in the role of transition between sea and land - their shape imitating the mountains. The boats have been adapted to the rough conditions, further developed from the Viking ships of old. And the people are easygoing, open and hospitable – accustomed to strangers due to the traditional influx of large numbers of visiting fishermen during the winter. Lofoten is history and tradition. “A drama at sea,” Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson wrote. Lofoten is a love child, I respectfully add – conceived and fostered by nature and culture. The Lofoten Islands Like Pearls on a String From east to west, the islands of the Lofoten archipelago stretch out like pearls on a string: Austvågøy, Gimsoy, Vestvagoy, Flakstadoy and Moskenesoy. Vaeroy and Rost are the farthest out to sea, separated from the other islands by the fabled Maelstrom – Moskstraumen. When travelling to the other islands, the people of Værøy and Røst say that they are "going to Lofoten", but even so, they still regard themselves as thoroughbred Lofoteners. They share the same geography, yet the islands are different in how the weather effects them, in how the people live, and in the natural resources harvested there. Thus the islands can offer exciting variations in both nature, culture and history. The "Outer Coast" and the "Inner Coast" Geographically, we often distinguish between the "inner coast" and the "outer coast" of Lofoten. The outer coast faces the Norwegian Sea and the inner coast faces the Vestfjord, and is where most of the settlement can be found. The outer coast is more exposed to the heavy, wet sea mists and fog, and the fierce and raging storms.