I’ve figured out how to make that funny ø character. The Norwegian’s on board pronounce Tromsø and “Trom-so” with a Norwegian twist I can’t begin to describe in writing.
Nonetheless, we steamed into Tromsø about 2:30 and set out under partly sunny skies for a three-stop bus tour of the major tourist attractions: the cable car ride to the top of Mt. Storsteinen, the Arctic Cathedral and the Polaria, an aquarium.
The cable car offers great views of the city and surrounding mountains and has hiking paths that lead to the top of the mountain, about 1 Km from the gondola station. Our guide says you can bypass the cable car and climb the mountain in under an hour; another 40 minutes gets you to the summit. Judy and I did the photo op thing and climbed up a little way toward the summit. I threw snowballs at Judy (altitude about 1,500 feet). The timberline starts around 1,000 feet I’d say. This is, after all, and Arctic city. Tromsø’sthe largest city north of the Arctic Circle with a population of about 75,000.
The Arctic Cathedral really isn’t a cathedral even though it completely outclasses the real Tromsø Cathedral. The Arctic Cathedral is really just a parish church. It was built in 1965 with a soaring design and a wonderful stained glass artwork behind the alter. I’ll let the pictures serve as a better description. It’s Evangelical Lutheran. There is a Roman Catholic church in town; John Paul II preached there once.
Our guide spoke in both English and French on our bus. The English was heavily accented as was, I’m guessing, his French. It sounded to me as if his native language was German or Italian. He might have been hard to understand but, boy, could that guy whistle. The Arctic Cathedral has tremendous acoustics and he filled the sanctuary with beautiful renditions of Ave Mariaand the like.
Polaria is a small aquarium focusing on arctic life: seals, polar bears, fish, shellfish, etc. They showed a film of the Arctic featuring islands, ice floes and the animal life that is found there. Beautiful video clips, beautiful music and no narration. It was enough to put you (me) to sleep but every time I dozed off I woke mad at myself for what I’d missed.
All of that was fine as far as it goes, but I found it disappointing that we weren’t able to experience more of what Tromsø is famous and infamous for: hunting, fishing and scientific exploration. The Hurtigruten crew did show a short video on board that talked to this aspect of the town and I found that extremely interesting.
Tromsø was, like Trondheim and Bodø, a source of cod for the Hanseatic trading consortium in medieval times and an important food source for local Sami and Norwegian peoples. In the 19thand early 20thcentury Tromsø was the homeport for hunters of walrus, polar bears and seals. The king of polar bear hunting bagged 741 bears during his career. They say it was not uncommon during that period for people to walk the streets of Tromsø leading a polar bear cub on a leash.
The Tromsø hero was Roald Amundsen who based many of his expeditions in Tromsø. His biggest claim to fame was as the first expedition to reach the South Pole in Antarctica (1910-1912). He had originally planned to be the first to reach the North Pole but Perry beat him so he did Antarctica instead. He did reach the North Pole in 1925, flying there, constructing a runway on the ice and returning home safely. He thus became the first man to reach both poles. He also was the first to traverse the Northwest Passage (1903-1906) in an eight-man vessel with a single 13 horsepower engine.
This morning we had an interesting slide presentation by a young lady who specializes in Norwegian outdoor activities. She even took a university-level course in the subject. She reiterated the “right to roam” principle observed by Norway that allows Norwegians to pass through privately owned land and even pitch a tent there for two days if they wish. Her favorite activities are fishing and cross country skiing. She described how she survived skiing in whiteout conditions, only to find that their destination, a cabin, was totally covered in snow. The outhouse was full of ice that had to be chopped free. She said her parents who, like many Norwegians, practiced regular outdoor activities established her love for the outdoors. She did admit that she absolutely hated those family outings when she was aged 10 to 16 but today she lives for the outdoors.
Tomorrow’s objective is Honningsvåg for a bird watching expedition. I’ve lugged my big heavy telephoto lens for three weeks without seeing anything but the occasional sea gull so my expectations are high. I’ve just gotta bag a puffin! Later we’ll learn about the Sami culture.
Those of you who followed our trip to New Zealand may recall that on our albatross viewing boat ride I became queasy and made an over-the-gunnel contribution to Davy Jones’ locker. This trip involves a small boat circling the bird island. I’m praying for calm seas and will have Dramamine on board just in case.
I’ll let you know how it all comes out.
P.S. Today’s pictures include some from last night when we sailed into and out of a fjord at about 11:30 PM.
