August 24th - Tromso - Oslo - London

We woke to a beautiful bright sunny day, but, as we later discovered, there was a bitter cold wind. At breakfast we met James again, the helpful English conference manager, and said goodbye to him before going up to finish our packing.

We then went for a walk, but were driven indoors by the biting wind. We went into the Nerstranden Shopping Centre to get warm. We tried once again, unsuccessfully, to go into the Tromso Church. We will have to see it next time! We went to the library, an impressive modern glass building, and looked inside.

The library was very busy and connects to the City Hall (the new building) and the cinema (Kino). There were delicate wire sculptures suspended from the ceiling - a reindeer, a narwhal with a book speared by its tusk, and other animals. On the steps at the side of the library was this striking statue of a woman.

Outside, we looked at a statue of King Haakon VII, the bandstand and the old Town Hall. The Catholic Cathedral was also closed. I don't know what happens if you are suddenly in need of spiritual guidance in Tromso.

                                             King Hakon VII 1905 - 1957

The Protestant church, opposite the library.

We walked through the small market and bought a piece of reindeer skin. We then went back to the hotel to check out. In the photo below you can see the balcony of our room on the third floor.

Dredging in the harbour by the Clarion Bryggen Hotel.

We drove the rental car to the airport and checked in for our flight to Oslo and on to London. We have both enjoyed Tromso and look forward to returning here next year during our Baltic drive.

The first flight, to Oslo, was about an hour and a half and we were seated next to a young Norwegian off-duty pilot. He had a small carry-on bag and said he was travelling with a chihuahua! We didn't believe him at first, but then he unzipped the bag and a tiny head popped out. 

 

It was an incredibly sweet, long-haired, black female puppy, being delivered to her new owner near Oslo. Everyone who saw her made a big fuss of her, but she was very well-behaved. It certainly made the journey go quickly.

Our second flight was not as much fun, especially when we landed at Heathrow. There was quite a strong wind blowing and we didn't so much touchdown as slam down. Still, we lived to tell the tale. Daniel collected us and we arrived home at about 8pm. Our Arctic trip exceeded our expectations and we have "ticked another box" with the sighting of 8 polar bears.