Tromsø

  Tromsø, Western Fjords, Norway
Thursday, June 17, 2004

After crossing the Arctic Circle, we arrived at Tromsø.

Steaming into Tromso

Tromsø is mostly on an island called Tromsøya. There is a bridge that crosses over to the part on the mainland called Tromsdalen.

The weather was cold and rainy (as usual) but that did not dissuade us from walking around the town to see what it had to offer.

Street scene

The main street was qaint and typical of most of the Norwegian towns we saw.

Marilyn

First stop was the Mack Ølhallen where we each indulged in a beer made there.

Morning ol at Mack

The hall is owned by the Mack Brewery which used to take great pride in touting itself as the world's northernmost brewery (more on the usurper later!) We came back later for lunch and a brewery tour. The tour is conducted in both Norwegian and English and it is very interesting. The guide advised that every child in Norway has to take several years of English! The hall was packed at lunch with many men and women having beer, a meal, and shooting the bull just as we do in our bars at home.

Next we headed over to the Dom Kirken which is Tromsø's old cathedral. For a cathedral it is quite small compared to those in most European countries.

Domkirke

From there we came across a monument to Roald Amundsen, the famous Polar explorer.

Amundsen

He was the first man to reach both the North and South Poles.

On the otherside of town we came across a Catholic Church! We were quite suprised as there are very few of that Faith in Norway (less than 1% of the people).

Catholic Church

From there we wandered down to an open air market where there was a beautiful shot of the Ishavskatedralen (Arctic Cathedral) in Tromsdalen, a very impressive though modernistic structure. It is built in the form of a Sami (native people) dwelling though on a massive scale. We took the bus across the bridge to see it. There is an admission charge which we thought was inappropriate for a church (we have been in many churches throughout the world and this is one a very few that insult one by demanding an entrance fee). As I recall another fee was charged if you wanted to go up to the loft!

Looking towards Arctic Kirke

Arctic Kirke

Inside Arctic Kirke