TROMSO

Today we visited Tromsø.

We’ve been here before (on the Marco Polo in 2014 and the Magellan in 2017), but my memory of previous visits is either slightly tainted by the weather or the fact that we saw it mostly from a bus, and in the dark. I have a memory of our tour visiting the new Cathedral – in the dark – and then a cable car ride providing us with views of city lights, but little to provide an overall context of where Tromsø is in relation to its surroundings. Today’s visit changed all that; not only did we arrive and leave in daylight, but conditions were about as perfect as they could possibly be.

After a leisurely breakfast, and with only a very sketchy plan of action, we caught the shuttle bus into town. Right away, any earlier, sketchy, impressions of Tromso were blown away as we walked along the waterfront to the large bridge that connects the island on which the city is mostly located, to the outer mainland. Once across the bridge, the first thing we came to was the modern cathedral, aka Tromsdalen Church, or also known as The Arctic Cathedral.

We didn’t go inside because we’d already seen the interior on our previous visit during an excursion, and hadn’t been massively blown away. Don’t get me wrong; it’s an impressive structure that was built in 1965, with a large glass mosaic on the Eastern side that was added in 1972… maybe we just didn’t fancy paying the 50 Norwegian Krona (about £6, to get in).

The next stop on our walk cost us a great deal more; a return fare on the cable car cost the princely sum of £63. A little more than we’d anticipated, but… in the end, absolutely Well worth it.

The view from the top was nothing short of spectacular, with clear Views in all directions. This was my idea of being in mountain heaven. Beyond the small visitor centre, the mountain stretched away far above us. The snow was deep and unbroken, yet it was surprisingly easy to walk on, which is what many people were doing. Some were clearly taking the full-stretch pilgrimage to the very top summit – a walk we quickly decided we would like to do when we return in the summer, on our way to Iceland, when we will definitely have our spikes with us.

For now, we were content with the easy walk along the edges of the small plateau where the cable car station was located, and a modest climb up to a small cairn a little higher up. At all times, I was quite dumbstruck by the surrounding mountains that stretched away far into the distance. This was wild Norway at its very best.

Had we thought ahead and brought food with us, we would gladly have stayed up they for far longer. Eventually, however, hunger calls, and so we headed for the visitors cafe…

We already knew that Norway is an expensive place to visit, and up to a point, we were prepared for that. But you have to draw the line somewhere, and £10 for a single slice of chocolate cake was that line.

Needless to say, we took the cable car back down again, and walked back towards the cathedral. Nearby, we found a small shop where two very tasy hot dogs and coffee cost about £12… much better!

We retraced our steps back across the bridge, which we discovered has a walkway for pedestrians on one side and a track for cyclists on the other. Both look exactly the same, and many walkers seemed to be blatantly ignoring the fact that they were walking along a dedicated cycle track, much to the annoyance of the local cyclists, I’m sure. We’d already committed ourselves to the wrong side before realising our error; fortunately, there were no altercations with angry cyclists (although I can’t imagine the issue not being a source of some conflict.. or maybe I’m just projecting how such a scheme might work in the UK, and that the Norwegians are just more tolerant and far more relaxed about such matters).

Once again, at the end of the day, we were treated to some great light on the surrounding hills as we left Tromso, and a final blast of the Aurora in the evening.

By the way, I feel I should add that the evening viewings have been announced by the Captain over the tannoy system, despite it being quite late for some folks, I’m sure. Even for us, the call would come after we’d turned in for the night requiring a major re-tog-up for the cold outdoors.

The lights were slow to get going, but once they did – for those patient enough to stick around on the cold upper deck – they didn’t disappoint.