Advertisement
Published: October 28th 2009
Edit Blog Post
FROM THE INTERNET:
“At a latitude of nearly 70 degrees north, four days’ sailing from Bergen and barely a two-hour flight from Oslo, Murmansk or Longyearbyen, at the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia, between the island landscape, fjords and mountain peaks, you find Tromsø - Gateway to the Arctic and capital
of Northern Norway.
“Tromsø is situated right in the centre of the Northern Lights zone and is, therefore, together with the interior ice in Greenland the tundra in northern Canada, among the best places on earth to observe this phenomenon. Most of the Northern Lights outbursts visible from Tromsø are green, but large outbursts can also include other colours.
“Tromsø was founded in 1794, although the first church was built here back in 1252. In the 1850s, Tromsø became the centre for Polar sea catches in the Arctic region, while in the early 1900s the city was the starting point for a host of expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic regions, something
that gave the city the nickname Gateway to the Arctic. In 1940, Tromsø was capital of the non-occupied Norway for a few weeks, but totally avoided war damage as the only city in Northern Norway.
“Tromsø is the largest city in the Nordic countries north of the Arctic Circle and is home to the
world’s northernmost university, brewery and cathedral.”END OF QUOTE.
An independent walking tour had been planned for Tromsoe. The Swiss at my table were all taking the the bus to the Polaris Centre and the Arctic Cathedral. I enjoyed their company so decided to go with them.
At the Polaria Science Centre an informative film was presented that showed the arctic delights of Spitzbergen. In the Centre were displayed fish and seals and some arctic artifacts. It was not a display of the Norwegian polar explorers and hunters which I would have seen at the Polar Museum had I stuck to my walking tour. Avoiding a very large souvenir shop stocked with numerous seal pelt objects, I went to the building next door. Here Arctic Research is carried on. I spoke to the receptionist and he gave me some interesting brochures to read. The fourth annual conference on Arctic Research is to be held in Tromsoe this year.
The bus did a small tour of the city showing us the shopping area on the way to the Arctic
Cathedral. It is a church built in the shape of a Sami tent and totally painted an icy white.. It now has one of the largest stained glass windows in Europe behind the alter.
The story told is that the architect wanted the light to travel thru the church ... the front and the back as well as narrow spaces along the side of the church are clear glass and let the light seep in and thru the building. But, when the services take place the sun shines thru the front and into the eyes of the parishoners.
The first solution was sunglasses ... but the pastor could not see who was sleeping during his sermons. The second solution was the massive, most beautiful stained glass window. The architect declared that if the window was put into place, and altered his concept of light travelling thru the building, he would never set foot in the church again. He has not been back.
It was dark and wet when the bus made its way back to the ship. The city and the Cathedral were impressive in their night lights. It was worth the visit to the Arctic Cathedral.
I'm still sorry I missed the explorer exhibit ... hopefully in an Oslo museum there will be a display.
The weather has been very fine for the whole journey - sunny in the day and clear at night. We were lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis four nights in a row. The first evening was the most spectacular ... the lights and the Milky Way made for a memorable event ... all that is missing is the sighting of a polar bear(not very likely) or a troll ...still looking for those trolls!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.087s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 13; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0578s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb