Holiday to Norway and Sweden 2016 Day 7 & 8

 

I don’t know how long this link will stay live for now the holiday is over, but it gives full details of the holiday from Ffestiniog Travel. click HERE

.

Day 7 Tromsø

The ship called in at several ports on the way, here it moored at Finnsnes for about an hour while they loaded and unloaded cargo. The boat has its own mechanical cargo ramp in the port side of the hull well aft and inside the boat there is a lift to take goods down to the different deck levels.

As the boat was here so long passengers were free to disembark and walk into the town or like Diana just take photographs.

As we approached Tromsø we could see a welcoming committee waiting for us, it was the local Dockers who were having a dispute. They didn’t hassle us but just handed us a leaflet in Norwegian.

There was a Taxi and a Minibus waiting for us at the dock, unfortunately even with both vehicles there was not room for all of us with our luggage  and the driver refused to have 3 standing even though the journey was less than 3 minutes. The 3 who walked arrived at the hotel before the minibus as they could take a more direct route across the quay.

 

We were staying at the Clarion Collection Hotel With for 2 nights. One thing we hadn’t expected was that this hotel include an evening meal in the price, it was only a self-service buffet with 2 hot dishes but loads of cold items to chose from.

Day 8 Tromsø

In the town square there was a large display of snow sculptures, each one done by a different international team.

Again the island “Tromsøya” is connected to the mainland by a long bridge, this time it was a 2 lane bridge with a segregated footpath on one side and a cycleway on the other, giving some spectacular views.
On the mainland there is a modern Church known as The Arctic Cathedral, this was only opened in 1965 and can seat 720.  The organ was only acquired in 2005.

 

Looking to the Alter	The organ on a mezzanine floor

Tromsøya is the home to a few museums and on the quay side in the old Customs warehouse is the Polar Museum that houses several Polar related exhibitions including trapping, the first woman working at the pole and expeditions.

At the other end of town is the Polaria  sea-life centre which houses North Sea fish and seals. Polaria looking like a fallen pile of books in the background can be seen in the first photograph. The seals are fed and trained several times a day. They have to work for their food to keep them fit both physically and mentally.

 

Click here for Day 9 Narvik

.