Tromso

• By admin
• June 21, 2016
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Our last full day in Norway found us sitting in the ferry port of Harstad at 6.30am waiting for the express ferry to Tromso. It was a cloudy, cold morning with nobody else in sight. Pulling our coats around us and checking that we had the right information we realised the ferry left 30 minutes later than we thought. Having not got into bed until well after 1.00am the previous night because of our epic climb and arctic swim of the previous day, the those extra minutes in bed would have been very welcome but we comforted ourselves with the hot tea we had brought with us and the knowledge that we could sleep during the three-hour ferry trip. At 7.00am the crew arrived to prepare the boat and in the next 30 minutes about a dozen stragglers arrived to board the ferry which was a large catamaran. As we boarded the boat all passengers had to say their name, date of birth and destination into a Dictaphone held by one of the crew. We slept and read our way to Tromso. Entering the ferry port we had a good view of the Arctic Catherdral, (Ishavskatedralen) one of the sights we had especially come to see. On leaving the ferry port we crossed to the mainland to visit the Cathedral. It was built in 1965 and the design reflects the shape of a Sami tent and the iciness of a glacier. It is an imposing sight; the simplicity and shape of the interior, the light and the stained glass window made for a moving experience.

Leaving the Ishavskatedralen we took the nearby cable car to the snow topped Storsteinen with its magnificent 360^o views over the town of Tromso and surrounding areas. Back in the town there are many memorials to the polar explorer, Roald Amundsen whose many arctic expeditions left from Tromso.  It is the largest city in northern Norway and has been variously described as the Gateway to the Arctic and even the Paris of the North. On a dull cloudy day with a cold wind blowing through the town it was the former portrayal that remains with us, although I haven’t been to Paris for some years…! There was a poignancy as we boarded the ferry to leave Tromso knowing this was our final day in Norway and the end of an amazing adventure. We arrived back at the van and drove off to find a campsite near Narvik and our last Nordic night.