Tromsø, Norway
We have made re-entry to civilization now, after amazing journeys through Svalbards’s arctic wilderness. The dreamy feeling of floating through pack ice is still with us. Our many close encounters with polar bears are indelibly imprinted. We will not forget the glaciered landscapes, tundra flora, walruses, seabirds and other impressions of the High Arctic.
The fjords and mountains of northern Norway came in to view early this morning as we came in on a placid Barents Sea. We approached outlying Fugeløya (”Bird Island”) and watched multitudes of puffins, which nest there. Many sat on the water with silvery fish draped in their beaks. Dark phase arctic skuas harangued the flying penguinoids for their catch. Above the island, puffins buzzed like insects and impressive white-tailed sea eagles (‘erne,’ if you do crossword puzzles) soared. We were soon entering the inside waters of northernmost Europe to pick up a Norwegian coastal pilot to lead us in to Tromsø.
Tromsø, the “Gateway to the Arctic,” is the largest Nordic city above the Arctic Circle. Its culture and intellectual life has fostered its other nickname, the “Paris of the North.” Fishing vessels can be found in the harbor and designer shops in town. We visited the city’s landmark Arctic Cathedral, strikingly modern white triangular architecture. Here near 70° North, it is the northernmost cathedral in the world.
To reinforce the near-religious arctic experiences we’ve just had, we visited a duo of excellent museums today. At the Polar Museum we viewed artefacts and displays of Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen and other important Norwegian polar explorers. We also learned more of Svalbard and the trapping and hunting of seals, bears and walruses. Out at the university is the Tromsø Museum where we learned more of arctic archeology, aurora borealis, whaling and more.
We have now left the Arctic behind and have entered the Norwegian Fjords phase of our voyage beginning with our visit today to Tromsø.
We have made re-entry to civilization now, after amazing journeys through Svalbards’s arctic wilderness. The dreamy feeling of floating through pack ice is still with us. Our many close encounters with polar bears are indelibly imprinted. We will not forget the glaciered landscapes, tundra flora, walruses, seabirds and other impressions of the High Arctic.
The fjords and mountains of northern Norway came in to view early this morning as we came in on a placid Barents Sea. We approached outlying Fugeløya (”Bird Island”) and watched multitudes of puffins, which nest there. Many sat on the water with silvery fish draped in their beaks. Dark phase arctic skuas harangued the flying penguinoids for their catch. Above the island, puffins buzzed like insects and impressive white-tailed sea eagles (‘erne,’ if you do crossword puzzles) soared. We were soon entering the inside waters of northernmost Europe to pick up a Norwegian coastal pilot to lead us in to Tromsø.
Tromsø, the “Gateway to the Arctic,” is the largest Nordic city above the Arctic Circle. Its culture and intellectual life has fostered its other nickname, the “Paris of the North.” Fishing vessels can be found in the harbor and designer shops in town. We visited the city’s landmark Arctic Cathedral, strikingly modern white triangular architecture. Here near 70° North, it is the northernmost cathedral in the world.
To reinforce the near-religious arctic experiences we’ve just had, we visited a duo of excellent museums today. At the Polar Museum we viewed artefacts and displays of Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen and other important Norwegian polar explorers. We also learned more of Svalbard and the trapping and hunting of seals, bears and walruses. Out at the university is the Tromsø Museum where we learned more of arctic archeology, aurora borealis, whaling and more.
We have now left the Arctic behind and have entered the Norwegian Fjords phase of our voyage beginning with our visit today to Tromsø.
