Tromsø

The last day or so of the voyage was not quite as good, as the weather closed in a bit, and we could not see the steep walls of the Lofoten Islands from the boat. Also, due to the strong winds and big swell, my philanthropic tummy must have been in a generous mood and wanted to share its contents with the world, but managed to not quite do so! The sea was too rough for the ship to call into one port, but when we entered the fjords again, it became calm, and the view was better too, as we were very close to the walls and could see them as well as farms and high mountains and islands.
We crossed the Artic Circle and King Neptune performed his ceremony (in 4 languages) and we all had iced water poured down the backs of our necks! The sherry that followed, down our throats, warmed us up again.
All in all, the boat trip was great. At times it felt like the land was moving and we were still, a never ending panorama being played out for our benefit. Still, a much better feeling for the land is when we had our feet on it and worked hard to get up and down its hills.

We arrived in Tromsø at 2:30pm and found our hotel easily but the hire car was only available at the airport. Someone kindly came to pick us up and Eva successfully navigated our way back into town. Tomosø is on a large island, with the airport on one side and the main town on the other. It joins to the mainland by a large bridge and a road tunnel.
I think the weather is improving, but it still rains occasionally and the temperature is about 8 degrees. Sunday it is supposed to soar to 14 - just as well that I brought my swimmers.

There are very few signs in english here, so we had trouble working out where to park, but managed to find somewhere. A nice parking policeman gave me a short course on where it is illegal to park. Still, the fine was less than getting someone to deliver the car to us on Sunday when parking is free and when we needed the car first.

There are very many cafe/bars in Tromsø and it does carry its reputation as a University town, with many young people about giving it a great atmosphere. We had a beer at Le Mirage which was great. There is no smoking in bars in Norway, and that makes so many more places accessible to us.

So, what did we do? We walked about the streets, looking at the many wooden houses here. I have come to realise that Norwegian towns have houses made of wood as it is part of their tradition, but also cheaper and as you travel further north, they believe it is more appropriate for the harsher climate. Still, over time, each of the cities have had a diasterous fire (in 1904 a fire completely destroyed Alersund) and Tromsø had its fire, but I cannot remember when.

We went out to one of the many bars - Tromsø has a population of 60,000 with 10,000 students, so it is no wonder that there are many bars. What I cannot understand is how they can afford it, with beer prices around 60 NOK ($15). The "Le Mirage" had a great atmosphere, with big sofa benches and tables, dark wood, buzz of people talking and drinking.

We came back to the hotel after a wander through the streets, looking at the coloured wooden houses, some with Swiss architectural influences. There is a huge church in town, made of wood, I think it is so powerful, because of the wood. It seems such a meek building, as opposed to the magnificence of some of the huge stone cathedrals with their ornate carvings. We didn't go inside, but maybe we will before we leave.

We went out to dinner at a restaurant with table cloths, and the meal was nice. I've been drinking beer, partly for the cost, but also because I think I've rediscovered the taste. Eva has been sticking to wine and water. We had sole for dinner, which I expected to be a whole fish, but was served as a roulade sort of thing with a really nice sauce. Good meal.

We went to bed around midnight, and it was still just as light as it had been during the "day".
Next day we woke early, had breakfast and planned our day. We went to the Polaria, a sort of aquarium where we saw a fantastic film on Svalbard, and island to the north of the Norwegian mainland. It is quite a harsh environment but has such rich fauna and flora. The film was made with 5 cameras and projected on to 5 screens all joined together. A fabulous show. Next we saw the feeding of 5 very active bearded seals. They were so cute, and their whiskers made them even cuter.

We then walked along the waterfront, and over a very long bridge, sort of like the Hobart bridge, to the Artic Cathedral, which is a very modern A-frame strucutre with the A's slightly offset along its length which lets the light in. One end of the A has a huge stained glass window depicting the ascension of Christ, and it is so bright and modern, I just kept looking at it for ages. The other end has a big organ, and we were treated to a great organ recital.

From there we walked a further 1km or so to the base of the cable-car to take us up for a fantastic panoramic view of Tromsø. We went out to go for a short 1km walk even though it was about 4 degrees celcius with a slight wind. We walked over heath, passing by snow and small ponds and found our way to a really nice hut where we rested, took photos and looked at the view. It was slightly overcast, but not raining with the sun poking its head out sometimes.
Then we walked back, got the cable car down and walked back to town. We'd bought a town walks book and so followed one of the walks and ended up at the hotel where we had dinner.

After that, I'd picked out 5 bars where I wanted to go for a "pub crawl". They were amazing, each different and each very enjoyable. I had a beer at each. The first was at the waterfront, and had a great deal of paraphenalia about shipping over the walls and ceiling. It had an open fire and was not too crowded, and no music.
The second was called the Tromsø Railway, which was fun as Tromsø has no railway, but probably wishes it had. The seats were all done as railway carriages, but it was a little dead.
The next was a "rock cafe/bar" and it was amazing. It had many levels with lounges at each level and relatively quiet music playing. There were many posters on the wall of various groups (Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, Beasty Boys etc). Cool place, not very crowded and I thought we were a little early.

Next place was getting crowded, and it was ordinary looking, but had billiard tables and got crowded as we left.
The last place was really cool. It had a separate area where people lounged on various types of furniture, but I think it may have been a "special" area as often the door was closed.
We left there at around 12:15am and when we got out the whole sky was blue, not a cloud there! The night was MUCH brighter than the day had been, it was amazing. We went for a walk along the waterfront and looked at the snow covered mountains with their ridges so sharp against the clear light blue sky. I just had a cheshire grin the whole time, and not all due to the 5 beers I'd had!
Eva was tired, so she went to bed, but I stayed up to enter this on the blog, just to show that I'm not as pissed as she thinks I might be! As I finish this, I will go for another walk (it is now 1am) as it is just as bright as it was an hour ago. I'm thinking of Ben who is about to leave for Mexico in about an hour.

Tomorrow we head off in our car to the east of Tromsø, to the Lyngan Alps, and we still have not decided if we will go north to the wilderness or go south to the Lofoten islands and the rich views there. Tomorrow promises to be awesome weather (i.e. blue sky and sunshine all day) so it will be great to be in the mountains. Next installment will tell you what we did with the car over the next 5 days. It is so good being north of 66 33, the land of the midnight sun. This is one of the things we came for and I'æm revelling in it!!