Day Five at Sea - Christmas Day- Tromso & Day Six at Sea - St. Stephen's/Boxing Day - Nordkapp
Christmas Eve's lecture on Vikings was rather cool.. not sure I actually learned anything, but Lars, the expedition leader who was giving the same lecture in German on the other side, got a great reception when he burst in, dressed as a Viking.. Interestingly, he sported the same costume later in the evening, when he accompanied Santa around the ship! Dinner these days, BTW, tends to be buffet.. less work for the waiters, perhaps, and it does mean we can get more precisely what we want..
Well, we might be experiencing a snow shortage, but there was some in evidence on the hills yesterday morning:
And I found it fascinating to watch our brief stopover in Finnsnes, the people embarking and disembarking on foot and by car - and one guy who rode a Harley off, and loaded it onto a waiting pickup truck..
We docked in Tromso by 2.15pm - it was already getting dark by that time:
Unusually, we exited into a terminal rather than straight onto the quay. Cute map as we made our way out, just to show us our place in the world..
It was only minutes' walk to the centre - and I have to say, for all that we're all a little disappointed at the lack of snow, it was a delight to be able to walk so easily, without cleats! You could certainly see the evidence of snow, from the piles of it collected roundabout - and we turned out to be docked just up from another Hurtigruten ship, the Trollfjord:
Boaty McBoatface..?
The Arctic Cathedral:
And yes, it must have snowed heavily here recently:
Anyway, my vague plan was to head for the Polar Museum I could see on my map.. Others gave up, thinking it was closed, but I persevered.. and discovered the entrance, across a bit of frozen snow. Turns out they never did close for Christmas! Happily, I also discovered the path through the frozen snow. And they have printed English-language guides..
I actually started by going the wrong way - you should go left, which isn't indicated. But never mind.. this coat, it transpires, was made from dogskin:
And they have terrific reproductions throughout - much of the display concerns hunting - of seals, whales..
An interesting map shows where the hunting was concentrated, with Tromso being a major starting point:
There's a bit about the different kinds of seals:
This mallet was used for breaking ice!
There's a huge display about Amundsen, of course:
Also about Nansen:
And in the trappers' section, an unexpected piece about a female trapper!
Spot the trapper's hut in this picture:
There are interesting displays about how polar bears were hunted:
I must have spent an hour in there, all told - and while the bits on hunting - particularly of seals - might disturb animal lovers, it is a fascinating window into some very brave people that confronted one of the harshest environments on earth.
I decided to come back via the cathedral, and found myself on Storgata (Main Street), where, terrific, lots of places were open! (At those prices, however, I wasn't biting..)
Passed the very impressive library:
And came across the cathedral shortly afterwards:
The most interesting part of another buffet dinner were the multiple chocolate desserts - there was a very gooey one, and a tidier vegan one. I made it my business to try both - both were acceptable. I ended up taking my last glass of wine back to my cabin, since all my dinner companions had vanished by then.
And then there was an announcement that the Northern Lights had been sighted in front of us.. off I went like a whippet. Firstly, saw the proverbial ship passing in the night:
And then..
Ahh, what a lovely treat to end Christmas Day!
I should mention at some point - and this is as good as any - that my initial assessment of the bed as comfortable was wildly optimistic - after two nights in it, I woke up stiff and sore. In the end, I fixed it - I am now sleeping on top of (a) the doubled-over spare quilt in my room, (b) my brown coat, the softest I brought, (c) half of my own quilt, with the other half covering me. Actually, that doesn't work terribly well, so I'm using the bed runner to cover me instead. But hey, I no longer wake up stiff and sore.
Today, we were at the North Cape (Nordkapp) - docked at Honningsvag, on the south side of the island of Mageroya - which we were to learn means "Barren Island".
Lunch started pretty much immediately after breakfast finished, to accommodate us going on excursions. Like in Tromso, there was plenty of evidence of snow, but it had been cleared from Honninsvag's roads, so no cleats required. Still, I'd attended the excursions briefing yesterday, and the speaker had advised bringing them, so I had. We were divided into three buses, by spoken language - one English, one German, and one English and French.
It was a 40-minute drive. Ah, finally, some scenery.. and as the person in the seat beside me remarked, it was otherworldly, with the darkened sky and the black and white land, the lakes frozen.. almost Lovecraftian:
Our guide remarked that the road was often closed in winter, and described how the snow ploughs would clear it, then it would almost immediately be covered again.. but this year, as he exclaimed, it's really mild! (It was 3 degrees Celsius..)
Nordkapp, it turns out, is the northernmost point in Europe accessible by car. Alighting at Nordkapp itself, our guide advised us that we could put on our cleats, if we had them - and sure enough, there was a layer of ice on the ground: but it wasn't exactly convenient, plus there was a brutally strong wind. So I gingerly made my way over to the visitor centre - at least my new shoes have great grip. Seeing the famous globe out the other side, I decided it wasn't worth heading out to it: not in that wind. Plus, it was dark by now (12.30pm), so there was nothing to see, apart from the globe itself:
If you look closely enough at the stone in the lobby, you can see "1907" scratched into it - apparently, that commemorates the visit of the then-King of Siam! They built the visitor centre around it.
I paid a visit to their well-stocked gift shop, then headed downstairs for a terrific panoramic film of the region! Includes scenery, fishing boats, also reindeer herders - no reindeer around at this time of year, sadly. The film lasts around 15 minutes - then I carried on down a corridor of reconstructions of historical events. They depict the initial discovery of the North Cape, in 1553 - seems most of the people on the expedition died, only the leader returning, after sledding his way to Moscow:
And there's a rather fetching depiction of late Victorian royalty attempting the climb that was necessary before the road was built:
I also came across the northernmost chapel in the world (non-denominational):
Map of the island, in the lobby:
Well, I was sure the guide said to be back at the bus at 1.14 - which I thought was a funny time, but he was adamant. And so a few of us were.. me wearing my cleats now, as they provide a handy bench at the entrance to the visitor centre, so you can put them on or take them off.. to find no driver. As we stood there, trying to avoid being blown over by the wind, I took a photo of something I'd seen referenced inside, an international children's project to foster understanding of different cultures:
Looks quite surreal, frankly, sat out there in the nothingness like that. (The sky is a lot brighter in the photos, BTW - it was pitch dark by now.) Anyway, someone was soon along and let us in.
And so back to Honningsvag, where we were again buffeted by the wind, but I had to stop to photograph the local sights:
..including the statue of Bamse, the dog that became a great hit with the armed forces, and a symbol of the resistance, during the Second World War:
Wow, now I can truly say I've been very far north..
Well, we're on the move again - and there's a terrible list to the ship just now!
Well, we were to arrive in Kirkenes, on the Russian border, tomorrow.. until we had a briefing yesterday - in which the captain, and a couple of other officers, explained to us just how bad the weather conditions were going to be up there in the next couple of days, a storm causing winds of Force10-11 on the Beaufort Scale, and 40-foot waves. With the 10-foot waves we had over Christmas, which caused a lot of seasickness, nobody was going to disagree with the captain's decision to avoid it - particularly when he pointed out that it'd last for 48 hours.
No, we're skipping Kirkenes entirely, taking shelter in Alta, where we're headed now. It's their standard safe haven, apparently - and lo, they're advertising excursions there, so I've booked onto the city tour.
We're in Hammerfest on Sunday.
And I'm at a midnight concert at Tromso Cathedral on Monday. Some people who didn't explore it yesterday 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..
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