Tromsø - Part 1
Mar. 14th, 2015 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rich_jackoThis is going to be way too long for one post, so I'm going to do it in instalments :o)
Monday 2nd March:
We had an early but civilised start on the Monday, with Neil and Clare meeting up at mine at 8:30 so Nigel could pick us all up together. As is traditional whenever I leave town, there was a blizzard. Not that I was exactly going to be deprived of snow over the following week...
We met up with Clare's old school-friend Lesley at Manchester Airport, and had a pretty smooth journey all the way. Well, there was a slight hiccup at Oslo re-checking our bags in, for which we blamed the signs. While we were there I pointed out that I was already as far north as I'd ever been, although we were about to fly north for another two hours.
At 69.7°N, Tromso is 200 miles inside of the Arctic Circle (although still 1400 miles south of the Pole). That's pretty far north! It does, however, get the Gulf Stream, so the daytime temperature in March averages at a balmy -2°C.
I got a window seat all the way. As the sky darkened I kept a hopeful watch out for the Northern Lights, but didn't see any.
It was dark by the time we arrived after 7pm. We hopped in a couple of taxis to get to the Viking apartments, where we were staying. Along the way we experienced one of Tromsø's unusual features - The main roads are mostly buried underground (I guess it avoids having to clear the snow off them), including the roundabouts!
We checked in. Our apartment was nice but small, with half the beds on a mezzanine level where we were all constantly banging our heads. Rather strangely, the bathroom was off the living room. The apartment was modern and well-equipped though, and would do us perfectly fine for the week. Best of all was the location: It was five minutes from the centre of town, two minutes from the waterfront, and had a great view of the mountains.
A quick trek to the local Spa to get pizzas for dinner, where we just had to buy the reindeer salami. Clare's other school-friend Hilary (who I'd met last year at the Commonwealth Games) wouldn't be arriving until the next day as her flight was delayed. At the time we though this was just a case of being booked on the wrong flight at the wrong time, but as the week went on we learned there was a bit more going on with Norwegian Air (but more on that later).
Tuesday 3rd March:
Tuesday dawned grey and rainy. This was to prove a pattern for the week, although generally the weather tended to improve as the days went on. Um, where did that mountain go?
We decided to have a bit of an explore while waiting for Hilary to arrive. We got about ten steps outside the door before deciding to go back for the Yaktrax - It was slippy! (When we met up with Jen later, she complained about "stupid above zero temperatures" - the snow was melting and re-frezing, making things very treacherous.)
Here's what our apartment looked like from the outside. We were on the upper floor, and the building was just across the road from the main Viking Hotel where we checked in.
We found the tourist information centre and had a bit of a mooch around to get the feel of Tromsø. It's the most northerly city of any decent size in the world, with a population of 72,000. As a result it boasts quite a few "most northernmosts" - most northernmost cathedral, university, botanical gardens, and (all-importantly) brewery. Despite its size, it's very compact and feels like a small town. Nothing is more than a couple of streets away in the centre. Most of the buildings are wooden and random sculptures decorate the public spaces.
Below are photos of the Domkirke (19th century wooden cathedral), a statue of Roald Amundsen (who set off from Tromsø on his final polar expedition) looking out over the harbour, the waterfront and the Stortorget (main square). The harbour dominates the town. It never freezes, and is the main reason for Tromsø's existence.
Clare and Neil went back to the flat while Nigel and I wandered up the hill to explore a bit further and get more of a view of the town. I declared there to be the right amount of snow. ;o)
We got back to the apartment and Hilary had arrived, with all the food and booze supplies! Later on Jen joined us during her lunch break from work, and Rich came along later. It was good to catch up with them, especially hearing about Jen's adventures drilling ice cores on the polar ice sheets! She is studying the impact of the increasing quantity of newly-formed ice - as opposed to old ice - on the Arctic ecosystem. There was a video and everything :o)
In the afternoon we headed to our first museum, the Polarmuseet (I'm sure you don't need me to translate that one!). There was a lot to see, including the first of many stuffed polar bears. I forget how many there are dotted around Tromsø, but we jokingly suggested we should try to find them all. The best bits of the museum were the sections dedicated to Norwegian explorers Roald Amundsen (who needs no introduction) and Fridtjof Nansen (who attempted an epic trip to reach the North Pole by dog sled).
Rather more bloodthirsty was the exhibition on polar hunting, but it is a part of Norway's history and is treated very matter-of-fact. We were amused by a so very British comment in the guest book, declaring that the person was outraged and disgusted by the cruelty to animals which went on, before finishing with, "Nice exhibition though."
The final room was a brand new exhibition on the polar night. Appropriately enough, the room was in near total darkness and you had to find your way around it with torches!
In the evening we met up with Jen again in the Ølhallen pub, our "local" just around the corner from our apartment. It also happened to be the brewery pub with 50(!) beers on tap behind the bar. At Norwegian prices we were only buying 33cl measures, but tried quite a few of the local brews. The pub also contained our second stuffed polar bear - another one off the list!
Feeling well and truly settled in, we prepared ourselves for the following day, when we'd be going on the big trip of the holiday - dog sledding and camping overnight. We didn't know just how epically amazing the day would turn out to be...
Monday 2nd March:
We had an early but civilised start on the Monday, with Neil and Clare meeting up at mine at 8:30 so Nigel could pick us all up together. As is traditional whenever I leave town, there was a blizzard. Not that I was exactly going to be deprived of snow over the following week...
We met up with Clare's old school-friend Lesley at Manchester Airport, and had a pretty smooth journey all the way. Well, there was a slight hiccup at Oslo re-checking our bags in, for which we blamed the signs. While we were there I pointed out that I was already as far north as I'd ever been, although we were about to fly north for another two hours.
At 69.7°N, Tromso is 200 miles inside of the Arctic Circle (although still 1400 miles south of the Pole). That's pretty far north! It does, however, get the Gulf Stream, so the daytime temperature in March averages at a balmy -2°C.
I got a window seat all the way. As the sky darkened I kept a hopeful watch out for the Northern Lights, but didn't see any.
 |
 |
It was dark by the time we arrived after 7pm. We hopped in a couple of taxis to get to the Viking apartments, where we were staying. Along the way we experienced one of Tromsø's unusual features - The main roads are mostly buried underground (I guess it avoids having to clear the snow off them), including the roundabouts!
We checked in. Our apartment was nice but small, with half the beds on a mezzanine level where we were all constantly banging our heads. Rather strangely, the bathroom was off the living room. The apartment was modern and well-equipped though, and would do us perfectly fine for the week. Best of all was the location: It was five minutes from the centre of town, two minutes from the waterfront, and had a great view of the mountains.
A quick trek to the local Spa to get pizzas for dinner, where we just had to buy the reindeer salami. Clare's other school-friend Hilary (who I'd met last year at the Commonwealth Games) wouldn't be arriving until the next day as her flight was delayed. At the time we though this was just a case of being booked on the wrong flight at the wrong time, but as the week went on we learned there was a bit more going on with Norwegian Air (but more on that later).
Tuesday 3rd March:
Tuesday dawned grey and rainy. This was to prove a pattern for the week, although generally the weather tended to improve as the days went on. Um, where did that mountain go?
We decided to have a bit of an explore while waiting for Hilary to arrive. We got about ten steps outside the door before deciding to go back for the Yaktrax - It was slippy! (When we met up with Jen later, she complained about "stupid above zero temperatures" - the snow was melting and re-frezing, making things very treacherous.)
Here's what our apartment looked like from the outside. We were on the upper floor, and the building was just across the road from the main Viking Hotel where we checked in.
We found the tourist information centre and had a bit of a mooch around to get the feel of Tromsø. It's the most northerly city of any decent size in the world, with a population of 72,000. As a result it boasts quite a few "most northernmosts" - most northernmost cathedral, university, botanical gardens, and (all-importantly) brewery. Despite its size, it's very compact and feels like a small town. Nothing is more than a couple of streets away in the centre. Most of the buildings are wooden and random sculptures decorate the public spaces.
Below are photos of the Domkirke (19th century wooden cathedral), a statue of Roald Amundsen (who set off from Tromsø on his final polar expedition) looking out over the harbour, the waterfront and the Stortorget (main square). The harbour dominates the town. It never freezes, and is the main reason for Tromsø's existence.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Clare and Neil went back to the flat while Nigel and I wandered up the hill to explore a bit further and get more of a view of the town. I declared there to be the right amount of snow. ;o)
 |
 |
 |
We got back to the apartment and Hilary had arrived, with all the food and booze supplies! Later on Jen joined us during her lunch break from work, and Rich came along later. It was good to catch up with them, especially hearing about Jen's adventures drilling ice cores on the polar ice sheets! She is studying the impact of the increasing quantity of newly-formed ice - as opposed to old ice - on the Arctic ecosystem. There was a video and everything :o)
In the afternoon we headed to our first museum, the Polarmuseet (I'm sure you don't need me to translate that one!). There was a lot to see, including the first of many stuffed polar bears. I forget how many there are dotted around Tromsø, but we jokingly suggested we should try to find them all. The best bits of the museum were the sections dedicated to Norwegian explorers Roald Amundsen (who needs no introduction) and Fridtjof Nansen (who attempted an epic trip to reach the North Pole by dog sled).
Rather more bloodthirsty was the exhibition on polar hunting, but it is a part of Norway's history and is treated very matter-of-fact. We were amused by a so very British comment in the guest book, declaring that the person was outraged and disgusted by the cruelty to animals which went on, before finishing with, "Nice exhibition though."
The final room was a brand new exhibition on the polar night. Appropriately enough, the room was in near total darkness and you had to find your way around it with torches!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
In the evening we met up with Jen again in the Ølhallen pub, our "local" just around the corner from our apartment. It also happened to be the brewery pub with 50(!) beers on tap behind the bar. At Norwegian prices we were only buying 33cl measures, but tried quite a few of the local brews. The pub also contained our second stuffed polar bear - another one off the list!
 |
 |
 |
Feeling well and truly settled in, we prepared ourselves for the following day, when we'd be going on the big trip of the holiday - dog sledding and camping overnight. We didn't know just how epically amazing the day would turn out to be...
