Day 68 Tromso, Norway

 Today's forecast, according to our daily Passages that is delivered to our suite each evening, says that it is going to be a sunny day with a high temperature of 19 degrees.  Instead, we woke to a dull cloudy day with a temperature around 10 degrees!  So much for weather predictions, but I will say the day eventually improved.

Our tour today is Tromso scenic drive and Cable Car.  If ever we see a tour with a cable car, we are right there as we thoroughly enjoy them and have travelled on a few worldwide.  The scenic drive takes us past some pretty stunning scenery and gets us excited to see this from higher ground.

But first stop is the Tromso Museum.  It's only small but what it lacks in size makes up for in displays and information.

Inside, there are several museum "rooms".  We only have time for a couple so we choose the geological and the Sami. The first is the geological where we are fascinated by the different rocks and fossils from all around the world.  We even find a replica of one from the Flinders Ranges in Australia from 560 million years ago.

We have learnt a lot about the Sami in the past few days and like most indigenous from around the world they were treated pretty badly by Europeans.  They suffered harassment and discrimination and were subjected to a persistent assimilation from the 1800's to 1960.  I loved the displays in this part of the museum, particularly a photograph showing the annual reindeer migration that we were told about.  It would be an amazing sight to see.

From our suite balcony this morning, we could see a large triangular shaped building in the distance that really stands out,  and I was surprised that it was the Arctic Cathedral that is our next tour stop.

 It is a very modern piece of architecture built in 1965.  Inside the triangular shaped building we find at one end a magnificent stained glass window and the other end is the church organ that was installed in 2005.  There is an incredible amount of glass inside the cathedral that would keep everyone warm in the cold winter months.

It's now time to drive the short distance to the highlight of our tour, the cable car to the top of Mount Storsteinen.  There is a lot of construction work going on here and we are told it will be finished later this year but for us now, things are in a bit of upheaval.  There is a helicopter flying backwards and forwards above us transferring building construction materials for the dozens of workers on the site and there is safety tape everywhere. The ground is also very uneven but we are always prepared for this.  It is a bit disappointing but doesn't detract from the views we had from 420 metres above sea level.

After our tour we had time for a light lunch and, as we seem to be doing lately, walking back into the town centre.  Even though we pass a lot of these sights on our bus tours there is nothing like being on the ground and photographing them.  Tromso is an interesting place and although it was occupied by the Germans during WW2, it was not heavily bombed, so much of the architecture remains the same in the old part of the city.  But, as we have seen all over Europe modern architecture sits comfortably alongside the old. One very good example of modern architecture is the Tromso Library.  I can only describe the roof as a three sided tent or dome with the front of the building almost entirely glass. It almost looks see-thru from where I took this photo.

I photograph the next two buildings sitting side by side and on the opposite side of the street are some very graceful homes. It's very eclectic.

We stumble across a building where the side is decorated with a beautiful mosaic.  What a lucky find….

Stortgata is the name of the Main Street and most of it is only open to pedestrians and scooters.  Everywhere we have been on this entire journey, are those damn scooters, that are abandoned anywhere and everywhere. It must be costing councils around the world, a bucket load of money to retrieve them and return them to charging stations.  Anyway, I digress.  Trosmo is another Norwegian city with a vibrant lifestyle. There are cafes hidden away in discreet corners that we would love to explore, but time is not on our side.  The thing with cruises is that they are "tasters".  If you really love a country, you will undoubtably, return.