Stormy Weather

As we woke up this morning, the ship was coming down a channel between some coastal islands and the mainland. We were coming into Tromsø, the largest settlement in Norway north of the Arctic Circle. We could see small glaciers on the tops of the peaks of the islands. It looked chilly out there, and my phone told me that the local temperature was 1 degree Celsius. 

John and I went up to the buffet—or, as he and I less charitably call it, “the trough”—for breakfast. While we were there, the captain came over the intercom to announce that a serious storm was in the offing for the next couple days and because of this they were going to skip our next port of call, Alta. This was a hard blow for everyone, I think. It certainly was for me. Alta was the one time that we were supposed to stay overnight and many people had planned bigger excursions. I had arranged a car to rent in Alta and drive to Russenes, a small town on the fjord opening up to the Arctic Circle. I found a small cabin there on Booking. When I was planning our trip, this was going to be the highlight because it was such a wonderful spot to see the Northern Lights. 

After breakfast, John and I boarded a shuttle bus to central Tromsø. I was not expecting much. The city was not listed as a “must see” in any guidebook. But as we walked around, I was pleasantly surprised. There are a remarkable number of nineteenth century houses lining the Storgata, the Main Street. All of them have been converted into shops or offices. 

Right in the center of this stretch is the Lutheran cathedral. It is not a particularly large or impressive building. 

As we were there on a Sunday morning, the church was closed for services. In fact lots of things were closed here on Sunday. Only a few stores were open. But John and I checked out just about every one. One of the largest sold a combination of sporting goods and tourist trinkets. In the middle of the store was troll display. 

John had one of the clerks snap a picture of us crossing the bridge. 

We continued walking down Storgata. We had another walking tour that pointed out some of the local monuments, old and new. One of these was this small onion-domed kiosk. Locals refer to it as “The Rocket.”

I was tempted to buy the reindeer hot dog, but the line was too long.

We went on to a very large old house at the end of the street that had been converted into a place called the Perspektivet Museum, the “Perspectives” Museum. From the description in our walking tour I was expecting it to be basically a a collection of historical photographs of the area. What we found instead on the first floor—the second and third were accessible only by staircase—was a fairly interesting history of manufactured homes in Scandinavia. 

By the time we left the museum, the sky was cloudy and I could feel the rain in the air. We probably should have headed back to the shuttle at this point, but John and I were having a good time so we stopped at a small cafe and had some lunch. John had some nice carrot soup. I had some vegan version of lasagna. Mistake! If the Italians knew what these Norwegians were doing to their cuisine, we might have another war in Europe. 

By the time we were done with lunch, it was raining fairly hard. I had neglected to bring the umbrella that we bought in England. I knew we were not too far from where the shuttle stopped, but I did not know the exact way. Once again, technology was not as helpful as I hoped. Google Maps had us walk a much more circuitous route—though not doubt it was more “pedestrian friendly”—and as a result both of us were soaking wet when we finally reached the bus. 

By the time we were in the cabin, John shivering and I could tell he was running temperature. He took off all his wet clothes and just went to bed. We had seen most of the films Princess has on its movie channel, so we picked one we had deliberately skipped, Ad Astra. I have to say, if you are having difficulty sleeping, this film is pure cinematic propofol. 

We now have two more days in Tromsø. I’m not sure what we will do here, but we’ll figure something out.