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While going through my travel diaries, I opened a notebook for 1981. Then my wife and I took a cruise to the countries of the Baltic and North Seas, dedicating it to our silver wedding. And here is a note that I would like to quote verbatim: “The route of our cruise passed through all the Scandinavian countries. And the first impression that you experience when approaching the shores of Scandinavia is the similarity with the nature of our Undersea region.”

Numerous rocky islands covered with pine forests, between which our ocean liner was forced to maneuver, and picturesque bays reminded me of the exotic islands and bays of Chivyrkuisky Bay on Lake Baikal. And here we are in Norway… The first thing you see in the capital of the country, Oslo, is Fridtjof Nansen Square and his bust made of dark granite near the city hall. The wide street leading from the center to the Oslofjord is named after Roald Amundsen.”

In Norway, the memory of these great polar explorers is especially honored, and the famous ship Fram, on which Nansen and Amundsen made their voyage, is placed under a glass roof. It seems to me that I have the right to be proud of the fact that I climbed onto the deck of a legendary ship and kept my hands on the steering wheel of a legendary ship. At the age of 28, Fridtjof Nansen became famous as a famous traveler: he was the first in the world to cross the Greenland ice dome on skis. This was followed by a trip to the North Pole.

Fridtjof was a friend of our country. His name will forever remain in the history of exploration of planet Earth. When my son turned 10 years old, I gave him the book “Fridtjof Nansen” with a dedicatory inscription: “Dear son Alyosha! I advise you to make your life based on such selfless and brave people as F. Nansen.”

Until now, our idea of ​​Norway is often associated with the names of Nansen and Amundsen, and in Norway itself their names are given tribute. Roald Amundsen especially glorified the Norwegian people with the discovery of the planet’s South Pole in December 1911. During my short stay in Norway, I fell in love with these brave, courageous people.

I remember the joke there: “Our child first starts skiing, and only then learns to walk.” To finish the Norwegian memories, I would like to add the following to this. I once managed to visit the shores of the Kara Sea, almost constantly covered with ice in the Northern Ocean. Through binoculars one could see the mighty silhouettes of the icebreakers “Murmansk” and “Vyborg” standing in the roadstead.

Not far from the port there is an obelisk monument to the Norwegian sailor Tessem. His story is like this. In 1922, remains were discovered on the mainland coast opposite Dikson Island, just 4 kilometers from the polar station. In the pocket of the half-decayed clothes lay a gold watch with the name Tessem engraved on the lid.

And next to it, in a waterproof bag, are letters and scientific reports about the work of Amundsen’s expedition. Now, at the place where the Norwegian sailor died, his compatriots have erected a monument. This is a block of black granite, surrounded by anchor chains. So I saw Norwegian traces on the Siberian land.