dangermousie | Fun in Friendly North...

Mr. Mousie and I were amusing ourselves by reading out loud to each other from our Lonely Planent Scandinavian Guide (that we still have from the time we went to Iceland).

Highlights of the guide included a town named Hammerfest (which sounded REALLY boring), mentions of restaurants where the most edible thing was a puffin (a seagull like arctic bird). Oh, and veiled complaints about the fact that indigenous people now have prefab homes and TVs as opposed to freezing in primitive but 'authentic' conditions.

But my favorite bit is this (in discussion of Svalbard, an archipelago belonging to Norway):

(and I quote)

Warning: The danger of being killed by a polar bear cannot be overstated. Never venture from the settlements in Svalbard unless you are armed with a loaded rifle and know how to use it.

Hah.

Ah, Lonely Planet, I love you.

They tried not to mention the favorie pasttime of the inhabitants of the Faroes Island: if a whale swims into the harbor, the hue and cry goes out, and every able bodied man is supposed to run and geta spear and help to kill the whale.

No idea why they left it out :)