20.10. - 25.10. '10: Trip to Tromsø and Coastal Voyage back

As last week was the "kursuka" (seminar week) and we exchange students didn't have to attend, I planned a trip to Tromsø, a city located on an island 350km north of the Arctic Circle and frequently referred to as "Paris of the North", "Gateway to the Arctic" or simply "capital of northern Norway". I flew there by plane on Wednesday morning, as this was the cheapest and quickest way of getting there. On our intermediate stop in Bodø, we had to wait for about an hour for the ground personell to clear the runway of snow, and after waiting for so long, our aeroplane also got a warm shower to melt away the snow. I couldn't get enough of the view flying over snow-covered mountains - good job I had booked a window seat! In Tromsø we were also the last flight allowed to land, before their runway was also closed because of snow.
Many of Tromsø's big roads on the island are underground, by the way; they even have roundabouts in their tunnels!

In Tromsø I couchsurfed at a nice Swedish couple's place. I stayed there for 2 nights and really enjoyed the time I had together with Rut and Isak chatting about all sorts of things. As a little thank you for having me, I invited them to a beer in the bar Blå Rock, which I had been recommended. It's actually quite similar to Café 3B (only they serve loads of food, too), so I enjoyed it a lot.

On the first day I visited the museum "Polaria", which is - as the name might reveal - a museum about the ecosystem of the Arctic. They had all kinds of fish, crabs, algae, sea anemones etc., and the highlight was when they fed their seals! They also showed two panorama films on 5 connected screens (filmed with special cameras) and gave a lot of information about the ongoing pollution of that ecosystem. Very interesting museum!

On the second day I went to visit the brewery Mack, the northernmost brewery in the world. Unfortunately I couldn't get a tour through the brewery as I was alone (they only organise it for 3 or more people), but I tasted 6 different and very special + tasty (!) types of beer - amongst them the Haakon special beer, a Microbrewery beer with a good 7% of alcohol, a Bock beer and their famous Arctic Beer. Yummy! Everybody who knows me can definately imagine that this was my personal little highlight of the trip. ;)

Later on I walked to the Arctic Catherdral, one of Tromsø's architectural landmarks. It has a very fascinating and modern design and really fits into the surroundings, I think.

On the last day I visited the Tromsø museum amongst other places and spent many hours in there. If you every go to Tromsø, be sure to have a look at this museum, too, it's very interesting!

Unfortunately my visit had come to an end, and on Saturday at 1:30 a.m. I left the city aboard the Hurtigruten ship MS Nordkapp.

The voyage was worth every single penny I had spent on it! I had a single cabin for myself, got to see a lot of Norway's beautiful coast and the ship made many stops long enough for me to have a good look round. In Stockmarknes (on the Vesterålen Islands), the "birth place" of the Hurtigruten company, I visited the Hurtigruten museum and the old ship MS Finnmarken (1962). Later on the ship took a little detour into the Trollfjord and then made a stop in Solvær on the Lofoten.

Sandnessjøen was also very nice, although I would have liked an hour more to have a look at the old german bunkers and fortifications. Instead, I got to see a beautiful rainbow over the fjord - not bad either. :)

The famous "Seven Sisters" - supposedly a source of many local sagas.
Of course I also had to make use of the jacuzzi tub on the back of the ship, where I had quite a nice chat with two young American students currently spending their semester abroad in Hamar.

On Monday morning at 6:30 a.m. I finally arrived back in Trondheim with a big smile on my face.