Day Eight at Sea - Hammerfest

Major swells last night continued into this morning, when I was trying to get up.. I managed it eventually, and got to the restaurant in time to have a decent breakfast - thank goodness I didn't have to rush off straight afterwards! We were in Hammerfest today, back on the original schedule. And I was doing a city (bus) tour - what with the driving snow, I was glad I hadn't opted for the hike!

We couldn't start it, obviously, until we reached Hammerfest - which was supposed to be an hour after breakfast finished, and ended up being 15 minutes after that. Never mind, the captain amended the departure time accordingly - and ooh, when we did get off, it was a winter wonderland! Finally, proper snow.. although I do have to acknowledge, the timing was good - if we'd had snow any earlier, we wouldn't have made it to Nordkapp. But ooh, everyone's thrilled.. apparently, during a presentation on deck about something or other, some people down the back were busily making a snowman.. so were some people at one point on today's tour!

Well, not absolutely everyone is thrilled.. one lady is dismayed at the cloud cover - she hasn't yet got a decent picture of the Northern Lights.

You know, we only went to three places on this whistlestop city tour.. ah me, two of them would have to be in high, exposed places. We started with the highest of all - the Struve Geodetic Arc's northernmost station:

A project in the early 19th Century, to determine the size and curvature of the earth, it involved triangulation between ten such stations, positioned on a line running from here to the Black Sea:

(Someone had to remove a huge chunk of ice from this so we could see what it said.) Oh, and as the wind, snow, and sleet buffeted us, we hankered nostalgically for the warmth and safety of the ship, which we could see across the bay:

And absolutely as soon as I'd taken the photos I wanted, I legged it back down the tortuous steps to the bus - where the driver was grumbling good-naturedly about the weather, and saying he just doesn't know why he moved here from Finnesnes:

Ah, in the darkness of nearly midday, the town looked like one of those gingerbread ones, icing sugar rooves, golden lights in the windows:

Next was, ahem, a viewpoint. Our guide said we could decide how long we wanted to stay taking photos - under 60 seconds for most, it was..

And so finally to the Museum of Reconstruction. As she explained to us - in both English and German for the various guests - the town was destroyed several times: first by Napoléon, then in 19th Century by fire, and finally by the departing Wehrmacht near the end of the Second World War! We saw a reconstruction of a typical shelter used by Resistance members - and what a thought, that during the winter they dared not leave the hut except during storms, lest their footprints be spotted in the snow! So, stormy weather, off they went to fish - their only food source:

There was a very moving story of a local woman who played pro-Allied news reports on the radio in her shop - well of course she was reported, arrested, and ended up in Grini Concentration Camp. Being over 50, she was deemed "unworthy of life", but made sure she ended up doing hard physical labour, to prove them wrong. Anyway, she made a tapestry while she was in there:

Equally moving are the descriptions of the reconstruction of communities the Wehrmacht had destroyed.. young architects came to give their expertise, but of course it took time. And wow, to see the makeshift shacks they called home in the meantime.. and in this weather!

And we saw a typical Sámi cottage - note the reindeer shoes, the traditional costume, and the mosquito net over the bed - as our guide pointed out, this was obviously from further inland, because - luckily - they don't have mosquitos on the coast:

Well, we kind of raced out of there - but it turned out to be just a short drive back to the ship, where we were just nicely in time for lunch. And the snow pelted down on us as we left Hammerfest behind - our first truly snowy stop.

And I'm at a midnight concert at Tromso Cathedral - tonight! I thought it was tomorrow. (Well, technically, it is!) Some people who didn't explore Tromso on Christmas Day are saying they'll do it then - but I don't think we'll be there long enough for that..

So, Christmas and New Year's on the boat! Just what I wanted. Back on New Year's Day - not as early - and taking the next day off, because it's a Friday - and back home to Ireland for the weekend, because it's been too long. The next two days are with CT - on the 5th, I'm back at the Hen & Chickens for Shake It Up: The Improvised Shakespeare Show.

And on the 6th, I'm at a comedy show - Live Next to the Apollo, at Riverside Studios.

On the 7th - my first Meetup of the year - I'm back with the Horror Book Club - assuming I get the book read in time! It's The House on the Borderland - and they're meeting in the Prince of Wales, as usual. Now, considering the lack of progress I made with Hogfather for my work book club.. we'll have to see.. I did at least finish the sample.. it's over a year since I was last with them for a book review! (As to Hogfather, we met last week (me virtually - I stayed at home because of my cough), and it turned out I was one of the ones that read most.. I had a last-minute sprint, and got to 71%..)

The next two days, I'm with CT at the Backyard Comedy Club.. again, it's been a while!

Then, four days in a row of Meetups, including five in total. On the 10th, two Meetups.. firstly, a walk titled Southwark: Seedy and Sublime with none other than Laurence Summers and the 45+ Not Grumpies, yay! Haven't seen him since September, would you believe..

And that evening, back with The Hideout for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. Venue and timings TBC, but it'll be somewhere around Leicester Square. 

On the 11th, back with London Museums A-Z for T is for Thirst: In Search of Freshwater, an exhibition at The Wellcome Collection. Advertised, would you believe, while I was looking at my phone but not especially busy, in The Rockingham Arms recently - and this being the next unscheduled date in my diary, I was one of the five to snap up a place in the first minute!

On the 12th, with Up in the Cheap Seats again, for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - a dark comedy set in Iraq - at the Young Vic. Booked for Bar + Block Southwark beforehand. Ooh, another place I haven't been in an age..

And on the 13th, I'm back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group for The Makropulos Affair, by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, at the Barbican - one of the group with a wildcard ticket couldn't go and kindly offered it for free, so I snapped it up. Eating at Cote Barbican beforehand. And gee, you guessed it.. Haven't been there since September, but was with the group slightly more recently, in October..