Trip Day 13

Sunday August 20

I am behind with the blogs. Suddenly no more WiFi on the ship. I do have a lot of photos though. The big sorting out. Deciding, sigh.

Of course it started with breakfast buffet. So many interesting things to try. On the left: Fishcakes.

Hard-boiled left and soft-boiled right. And the soft-boiled are always perfect. How can they keep them soft and still hot seems a miracle to me. 

Big event on deck 7 of the ship at 10 am. The Arctic Circle celebration. Some in our group had already done (or seen it) when they had done a Hurtigruten trip in January, but they didn't say anything. The two chairs look suspicious. Turns out the one in front is for a ship photographer. The one at the bar for the volunteers.

Shot glasses are still being filled.

One of the ship's officers welcomes a "special guest".

The King of the water world. I forgot what they called him. We would call him Neptune. 

Well, I didn't have a good place to take any photos. Betty will share hers with me when we have a chance. But I can tell you what happened. And since I hate cold water I was not a volunteer. 

One volunteer at a time sat in that one chair and with a large soup ladle ice water with ice pieces was poured over the head and into your clothing behind your neck. I guess some like it cold. 

Afterwards there was a photo opportunity with the king of the water world.

I saw the prongs of that hay fork come too close to my face.

There was still time till lunch so James and I played a game with a view.

There was one of those quick stops in Finnsnes were nobody has enough time to go on land and come back. Shortly after is this bridge between Silsand and Finnsnes which looks impressive.

For 14:15 we are scheduled to stop in Tromsø for about 4 hours. Stephen takes us on a tour.

A lot to see. We pass a statue of Roald Amundsen, a polar explorer. 

We pass the Troll Museum which we could visit if we wanted. The sea gulls deffinately like it there.

Lots of harbors have floating saunas. Here is one too and teenage girls in bicinis jumped from the upper platform into the water. Having a Sunday party?

Another statue. Norway is the only country which still allowes whaling but only one kind. A shop had some looking like salami for sale and we could even try it and also same (salami) looking reindeer and moose.

Looked cute from the other side of the street. That little kiosk said "Bar" in large letters in front.

Tromsø Cathedral. It was Sunday and it was open. Perfect. It was built in 1861. As always: pictures don't do it justice.

We had an appointment for 3:30 pm at the Magic Ice Bar. James and I had been in something like this before. It is special for the Scandanavian countries but you can't stay in very long.

We were dressed up with a winter poncho and gloves. There signature drink was "Arcitc Crowberry". It is served in a glass made from ice ... or an ice cube formed like a glass. 

Afterwards we had some free time to do what we liked. Stephen said that he was going to Ølhallen, a pub with 72 taps belonging to the Mack Brewery. 

It was fun but ... decision, decision. James had 10 = Polar Pale Ale. I chose 9 = Ludwig Sour (with rhubarb but unfortunately also strawberry but I still liked it very much).

There was still a little time and I mentioned that I needed to buy a specific t-shirt for William since I now already had something for his cousins. Marc was excited to volunteer to lead us to shops. the shops had plenty of stuffed real animals like this moose, bears and other creatures but not what I needed. And I got nervous to be back on board in time.

Buffet again for dinner. Bummer. We like a la cart so much better. But the food was good.

This cheese was labeled: Himmeltind !

Stephen had a lecture again. He really does these well. Always very interesting. He pointed out the differences of the 4 Scandinavian countries, characteristics, attitudes, etc.

Another stop scheduled at 22:10 in Skjervøy (for 15 minutes) and almost on time. Always nice to get some fresh air on deck 5 before going to bed.

Night, night.