Tromso

Wednesday 2^nd October.

Expecting something fairly significant, we get up early to see the Trondenes Church as we depart Harstad at 8am. It dates from 1250 and is the northern most medieval stone church in Norway, and, according to the daily programme, we will pass it on our port side. Other people have gathered on deck 6, the Promenade deck where you can get outside and still stay a bit sheltered and dry. We all look and query whether that’s it, or is it that? No word from the central commentary position, so we are left wondering. There’s a pile of stone on a small island we pass. Maybe that’s it?? We’ll never know.

Whistle stop before lunch in Finnsnes where I’m sure a mega flat screen tv gets unloaded. Some people get off to stretch their legs, but there’s not enough time to go anywhere and it’s drizzly rain, the constant theme of our trip. I’m losing hope of seeing the Northern Lights. Last night on a scale of 1 to 10, the lights were scoring an 8, which would have been a spectacular show if it wasn’t for the heavy cloud. Oh well, you can only plan so much.

We can see the Gisund bridge from where we are docked, a bridge that links Norway’s 2^nd largest island Senja with the mainland, and we continue through the Gisund Sound, with arrival time at Tromso scheduled for 2.30pm. Tromso is the largest town in northern Norway and is called the capital of the Arctic. In days gone by it was also known as the ‘Paris of the North’.

Arctic Cathedral in Tromso.

Today we enjoy a leisurely lunch with the Americans we met in Bergen, I know I should know their names by now, I think the dad is Ted. Once we dock, we take off in to town, destination Mack Brewery on Storgata. We go into the pub section first and have a look around and I notice a sign for a brewery tour that starts from the brewery shop next door. Just as we are getting to the door, the German tour group from the boat arrive and of course, being Germans, don’t wait their turn. Turned out in our favour though as there was to be no tour today due to someone being off sick but because there’s 12 of them, a tour is arranged to start as soon as they are paid up, instead of waiting 20 minutes till the proper start time.

Mack Ol Hallen (beer hall)

Only 10 of them pay and no-one is admitting to not paying but we think we know who the slackers are. Poor guy taking the money can’t do a thing about it as he hasn’t given out tickets so calls it a group discount. We’re the only ones, apart from the head German, who speaks English, so while he is translating for his group, we get a bit of a chat on with the guide. He’s a nice guy. A tasting of 2 beers is included in the price, the first we have on the tour, the 2^nd is in the bar back at the pub next door. The tour included the family history of the people who still own and run the brewery, the new build brewery in a town with access to glacial water, advancements in keg technology and environmental issues, recycling etc.

New Age beer keg. It comes in a cardboard 'roll'.

It was all really interesting  and the beer wasn’t too bad either. It’s only available in Norway. Trevor brought one back for a pre-dinner drink, half the price of beer onboard. It’s days like today that make me glad I don’t drink Coca-Cola any more. Mack have the licence in Norway to produce Coke and it’s the only producer in the world that meets the Coke standard for water without being chemically treated.  You’d want to hope glacial water met Coke’s standards for purity! I bought a poster seeing as the Carlsberg one I wanted wasn’t available and on the way back to the ship we watched a glass artist creating a piece in her studio nearby, and then by accident stumbled on a Salvation Army shop. My 2^nd op shop this trip, and this time, I did manage to get something. Yay, me!!  A tiny watercolour of a beach scene, for 10NOK. Happy with that.But would you believe, there's a 'made in Paris, France' sticker on the back of it!

It’s been another miserable day, grey skies, cloudy and drizzly rain so we are not holding any hope for a show tonight. After dinner we hear someone say that they saw 6 stars outside so instead of blogging or other computer stuff, we get into our Northern Lights watching clothes, complete with wooly boots and head up to deck 9 aft, where the helipad is located.

Helipad by day, Northern Lights viewing area by night

Stumbling around until our eyes adjust to the darkness in this area, we find dry seats and settle in to wait and see what is going to happen. I count 4 hardy (?stupid) souls on watch, including us. The clouds are clearing and apparently we were already seeing the lights, but didn’t realise because they don’t look like they do in the photos. The human eye can’t register the colours unless it’s an absolutely brilliant show. More people appear, all rugged up until there are about 30 or so people, all keen for a good sighting. The sky just looked like there were bright patches reaching out over the clouds that remained, but there is no moon, so it can’t be moonlight. Then we see the typical shimmering ‘curtain’ effect, only small in size but enough to prove to us what we are seeing. Then, one patch starts to grow and really put on a show. I’m struggling to find the words to describe what this bit of sky was doing. It was coiling around like a snake and rippling through the sky. This whole part of the sky was moving. A little cheer went up from the watchers and a muffled round of applause from gloved hands. I tried hard not to shed a tear, so much planning and research has led to this moment. It was such a relief. I know why the little penguin cried ice cubes in the Bugs Bunny cartoon! 

'Nuff said