James' World 2

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Lofoten (Old Norse: Lófótr) was the original name of the island Vestvågøya. The first element is ló (i.e., “lynx”) and the last element is derived from Norse fótr (i.e., “foot”), as the shape of the island must have been compared with that of a lynx’s foot. (The old name of the neighboring island Flakstadøya was Vargfót, “wolf’s foot”, from vargr “wolf”.) Alternatively, it could derive from the word for light in reference to the presence of Aurora Borealis as the word for light itself is the root of the Old Norse word for lynx lóa, although the earliest evidence suggests Lófótr was first the name of the island of Vestvågøy and only later becoming the name of the chain of islands. Most parsimonious is the analogy with Aurora Borealis, as the word fótr is typically not used to describe the feet of beasts of prey, instead using the word hrammr (paw) or löpp (also paw) for animals such as cats or dogs. Fótr can be used to describe legs, and as such, light leg represents the most plausible etymology taking into account the geography of the archipelago, eventually morphing to describe only the island of Vestvågøy before once again describing the island chain from its main island.

Another name one might come across is “Lofotveggen” or the Lofoten wall. The archipelago looks like a closed wall when seen from elevated points around Bodø or when arriving from the sea, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) long, and 800–1,000 meters (2,600–3,300 feet) high.

“There is evidence of human settlement extending back at least 11,000 years in Lofoten, and the earliest archaeological sites … are only about 5,500 years old, at the transition from the early to late Stone Age.” Iron Age agriculture, livestock, and significant human habitation can be traced back to c. 250 BC.^[1]

The town of Vågan (Norse Vágar) is the first known town formation in northern Norway. It existed in the early Viking Age, maybe earlier, and was located on the southern coast on eastern Lofoten, near today’s village Kabelvåg in Vågan municipality. The Lofotr Viking Museum with the reconstructed 83-metre-long (272 ft) longhouse (the largest known) is located near Borg on Vestvågøy, which has many archeological finds from the Iron Age and Viking Age.

The islands have for more than 1,000 years been the center of great cod fisheries, especially in winter, when the cod migrate south from the Barents Sea and gather in Lofoten to spawn. Bergen in southwestern Norway was for a long time the hub for further export of cod south to different parts of Europe, particularly so when trade was controlled by the Hanseatic League. In the lowland areas, particularly Vestvågøy, agriculture plays a significant role, as it has done since the Bronze Age.

In March 1941 the islands were raided by British Commandos during Operation Claymore, and in a subsequent diversionary attack to support the Vaagso raid in December.

As of 2017, the islands attract one million tourists a year. Wikipedia

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An image from Reinebringen Lofoten

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The Maddalena Archipelago is a group of islands in the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica (France) and Sardinia (Italy). The whole archipelago makes the territory of the La Maddalena comune in Sardinia.

The archipelago consists of seven main islands and numerous small islets. The largest one is the island of La Maddalena (Italian: Isola La Maddalena), with a homonymous town, which is the largest settlement in the archipelago. The other six islands, in order of size, are Caprera, Spargi, Santo Stefano, Santa Maria, Budelli, and Razzoli. Only Maddalena, Caprera, and Santo Stefano are inhabited; Budelli had a single caretaker until 2021.

Lying adjacent to the tourist resort of the Costa Smeralda, Maddalena has the same clear waters and wind-blown granite coastlines but remains a haven for wildlife. It is a designated national park, the Parco Nazionale Arcipelago di La Maddalena. It is a popular tourist destination, especially among boaters. In 2006 it was placed on the tentative list for consideration as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The islands have been inhabited since prehistoric times. They were known by the Romans as Cunicularia and were a busy shipping area during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. The Maddalenas have a strategic value and were the object of a dispute between the maritime republics of Pisa and Genoa in the 13th century and subsequently was abandoned for a long period before being colonized again by Corsican shepherds and by Sardinian settlements in the 18th century. Napoleon Bonaparte, Admiral Nelson, and Giuseppe Garibaldi all have historical links with the area.

The main access into and out of the archipelago is via the frequent car ferries from Palau on Sardinia that run into La Maddalena. There are roads only on Maddalena and Caprera.

From 1973 until 2008 the Santo Stefano island was a home for the NATO naval base which housed US nuclear submarines. Controversy arose in 2003 when the USS Hartford ran aground in the vicinity of the Bisce Island [it] while on maneuvers in the area. Wikipedia

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An image from Maddalena Archipelago

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The Pragser Wildsee, or Lake Prags, Lake Braies (Italian: Lago di Braies; German: Pragser Wildsee) is a lake in the Prags Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. It belongs to the municipality of Prags which is located in the Prags Valley.

During World War II it was the destination of the transport of concentration camp inmates to Tyrol.

In recent years, the lake has earned the nickname “Pearl of the Alps” due to its increasing popularity among tourists.

The lake lies at the foot of the imposing rock face of the Seekofel (Italian Croda del Becco, Ladin Sass dla Porta 2,810 m) and is located within the Fanes – Sennes – Prags nature park.

It has an extension of about 31 hectares with a length of 1.2 km and a width of 300-400 meters. It is one of the deepest lakes in the autonomous province of Bolzano, with a maximum depth of 36 meters and an average depth of 17. The maximum water temperature is 14 °C. It is a barrage lake, as its creation is due to the barrage of the Prags River due to a landslide detached from the Herrstein.

The lake is a tourist destination, which attracts visitors for the blue/emerald green color of its clear waters and for the natural scenery in which it is immersed. In fact, the lake is surrounded on three sides by Dolomite peaks, including the Seekofel. The lake is the starting point of the Alta via n. 1 of the Dolomites called “The classic” which reaches Belluno at the foot of the Schiara Group.

In recent years, thanks to popularity of the Italian TV series Un passo dal cielo, the Pragser Wildsee became one of the most visited places of the region Trentino-South Tyrol as it started attracting the attention of countless travel bloggers and professional photographers. The large inflow of tourism brought local administrators to think of ways to reduce the number of visits to preserve the mountain-lake ecosystem. Wikipedia

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An image from Pragser Wildsee Italy

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