Tromso
July 24, 2022
We were exhausted after the nearly 24 hour journey, and after doing our Covid testing to board the ship decided not to go out for a meal. We were not all that hungry anyway, so Patrick walked up to a local Burger King and brought back some fish and chicken sandwiches for a light supper. Since it was Sunday, most shops and many restaurants were closed.
Since Tromso is some 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle, for a few more days the “Midnight Sun” never sets. Tomorrow evening it will still be 5 degrees above the horizon at it’s lowest point. Getting up late this evening (midnight) it was interesting to see a a colorful sunset/sunrise that lasted for hours.
July 25, 2022
Today will be another day relaxing and exploring the old town. There is a chance of rain, but at 0500 the sun was shining and the winds were calm. We have a few last minute items to purchase, including sunscreen.
The buffet breakfast was a zoo when we went down early due to two large tour groups trying to get food before their tours departed. Many of the people were pushing and practicing poor buffet behavior even if there was no Covid. We should have waited 30 more minutes because all of a sudden the breakfast area was deserted except for ourselves and two other couples and there were no line and plenty of food.
During the night the room had gotten very warm and we discovered the AC was not working. The sun shining into the room warmed it up so it was uncomfortable, so we called maintenance. The staff was unable to fix the AC, and the only other rooms had high tub/shower combinations rather than walk-in showers. The step into the tub was too high, so we were given fans, which definitely helped.
Patrick walked around the old town and took a few photos of the scenic wood houses, statues to Roald Amundsen and other polar explorers, as well as the very modern public library, and whaling guns outside the Polar Museum.
We enjoyed an early dinner just 2 blocks from the hotel, at Pastafabrikken, an eclectic mix of soups, pasta and pizzas, with a few sandwiches thrown in. The choices were broad, portions were huge and the flavors were spot on. We shared a large Caesar salad, then Miriam had a mussel soup, Patrick a fresh mushroom soup and we finished with a Gorgonzola Tagliatelle. There was fresh bread, but we could not even begin to finish the dishes. We were offered “takeaway” boxes, but where would we store the food? Service was good and our server had been to Seattle and worked on Seabourn ships in a variety of roles.
In the middle of the night we got an email from Seabourn changing the boarding location and process, still trying to understand what it meant.
July 26, 2002
After Miriam and Patrick had a good (and uncrowded) breakfast Patrick met our friends, Brenda and Brian, who arrived the night before. We decided to take a taxi across the bridge to the “Arctic” cathedral, actually a parish church, and then up the aerial tram. Following that, we walked back 1.5 miles across the bridge connecting Tromso to Tromsdalen where the tram and cathedral are located. Wandering through the old part of the city where our hotel is located we stopped and made reservations for dinner at “Fiskekompaniet” restaurant for all four of us. We also checked out the revised boarding location at the Clarion Edge Hotel, about 600 feet from the Radisson Blu. The rain that was predicted held off until we were back to the hotel, but the air smells of moisture, so rain is on the way.
The air conditioning is still not working in our room and it is nearly 80 degrees from the sun shining on our side of the building. The hotel staff brought a second fan. Apparently global warming has hit Tromso also, since the taxi driver said the last snow was May 17, Norwegian Independence Day, and they usually have snow even later. In 2017 we had snow in June just 200 miles north at “NordKapp”.
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