Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 10/32 – Tromsø, Norway, A Snowy Wander
We took the shuttle into town this morning to do a little exploring.
 |
| The Arctic Cathedral was visible across the bay at the end of the Tromsø Bridge |
 |
| A postcard-like view of the wooden buildings and harbor |
 |
| A public sauna - we saw a couple of folks emerge from the sauna to take a cold plunge into the water |
 |
| Honey, we're not in Florida anymore |
 |
| This building had a bust of explorer Roald Amundsen and a statue of a seal in front of it |
 |
| Vervet district, built in a historic shipyard |
 |
| Skansen, a historic area with yellow timber houses built where a Middle Ages fortification once stood |
 |
| Typical wooden buildings |
 |
| Porten til Ishavet or Gateway to the Arctic monument with a view of the Arctic Cathedral |
 |
| Beautiful street mural featuring Amundsen |
 |
| The Runners |
 |
| Arlona, looking statuesque |
 |
| Local politician Ingvad Jaklin |
 |
| More art |
 |
| Arctic Hunter monument |
 |
| Enter Amalie Hotel |
 |
| Roald Amundsen statue |
 |
| Sámi tent, known as a lavvu - this was a cafe |
 |
| Northern Norwegian Art Museum |
 |
| I finally took a photo of the Norwegian flag |
 |
| Tromsø Cathedral |
 |
| Mother and Child by renowned Norwegian sculptor Ørnulf Bast |
 |
| This didn't speak to us |
 |
| Are those golden arches? |
 |
| An interesting sculpture in front of McDonald's, but not just any McDonald's |
 |
| That translates to "World's Northernmost McDonald's |
 |
| Trolls are a big thing in Norway |
 |
| The second most northern Burger King - we drove past the northernmost one yesterday near the airport |
 |
| Music Pavilion (Musikkpaviljongen) and the old Town Hall |
 |
| We went from blue skies and sun to overcast and convincing snow over about two hours |
 |
Raketten Bar & Pølse (The Rocket Kiosk), known as the world's smallest bar
|
 |
| What the heck, we could eat, so we got in line |
 |
| Best hot dogs in the world, or so they said |
 |
| Extremely bold hooded crows looked for scraps |
 |
| Putting in our order |
 |
| Two reindeer hot dogs with crispy onions and a couple of sugar-free orange sodas - the dogs were just OK, certainly not the world's best |
 |
| The northernmost Hard Rock Cafe in the world - now, we've seen it, and the southernmost, in Ushuaia, Argentina |
 |
| We walked by the Tromsø Cathedral again |
 |
| A monument dedicated to the composer Adolf Thomsen |
 |
| We walked past the Troll Museum on the way back to the Scandic Hotel to meet our shuttle back to the ship |
After about four hours wandering all over Tromsø, much of it in some decent snowfall, we were ready for a bus ride back to the Vela to warm up. Arlona grabbed a hot chocolate from the Living Room bar and enjoyed it thoroughly.
We wound up in the Explorers Bar before dinner, and then the World Café for dinner. I forgot to mention that during our after-dinner chat with Captain Olav last night, he filled us in that beyond the 952 passengers on the Vela, there are 452 crew members from over 50 countries, making this a truly international sailing. Tonight, we chatted, as we do most evenings, with the hotel General Manager, Debassious. He continues to impress us with his professionalism and drive to not only provide an outstanding experience for his guests but also to develop members of his team who want to progress in their careers. It's nice to see that kind of leadership at Viking, and it explains why we consistently have excellent experiences with Viking.
We were supposed to sail at 8:30 tonight. We didn't sail until after 9:30. That usually means somebody was late getting back. We don't know, but it is unusual to get out of port more than an hour late. With the late sailing, it hampered planned stargazing and aurora hunting.
Yesterday, I mentioned that we booked another trip for October 2028, Viking's Wonders of India. Here is a map of the planned route we will take.
Agra will be a revisit for us. We've been to Delhi, but just for a quick drive and flight. Everything else will be new, including Nepal. We're excited about that. It is a long way out, but it is something to look forward to.
Tomorrow, we'll be in Narvik, Norway. We'll be about 85 miles south of our present position, but still a couple of degrees of latitude above the Arctic Circle for one more day.
No comments:
Post a Comment