Day 13: Oslo 18C
This was one of those bags-outside-the-door at 6.00am, on-the-coach at 7.00am days as our plane to Tromso left at 9.30. Except it didn't. It left at 11.20. However with the wifi blessing we were able to catch up with correspondence which has been sadly neglected.
What an absolutely fantastic  1 1/2 hour flight  and who was the lucky girl that got the window seat ticket!!! I sat absolutely transfixed to the unique scenery and took an inordinate number of photos. It was my lucky day.
Of course the late flight had messed up the careful planning by our tour guide but actually we didn't care. It was all totally awesome. Tromso lies at 69 latitude and was established 300 years ago. It was the town that Amundsen used to prepare for his Arctic trip and has been used for all polar preparation. It is known as the Paris of the North because the fishermen and traders used to bring back exotic fabrics and ideas to dress their women folk. It gets 2 - 3 meters of snow in the winter months September - May but today was so balmy. Their major industry is the herring business. The world's most northern university was set up here 3 years ago to try to keep their young folk here. Much research is being done here into the history of the indigenous Sami people. Every Norwegian town has its ski-jumps and you can easily spot them around Tromso.
Our first stopping point was the Arctic Cathedral  a Lutheran church completed in 1965. There was the usual public protests when it was built but it is now recognized as the major architectural drawcard of the north with many public concerts given during the summer months. There is an organ recital there tonight commencing at 11.00pm because of the season of the midnight sun. I would love to go to it but there is no public transport there so I would have to walk. I don't mind walking there but feel a considerable psychological barrier walking back after midnight. Three of our group are organists of considerable repute in the States and they were ecstatic to be allowed to play different items on the magnificent organ. And of course we felt the same listening to them. That will have to suffice for my organ recital.
Some of the group had paid extra to ride on the Fjellheisen cable car for a breathtaking view of Tromso. There were 2 cruise boats in so of course we just had to take our turn in the crowds. While I was at the top I spied a dog with a curious harness on it, so I went up to the owners to ask what it was. Of course, a young Siberian husky in training as part of a 16 dog sledding team. I was delighted that they let me photograph it for Jacqueline. She certainly won't have seen that arrangement before.
Eventually we made our way down the mountain and were driven to the Tromso Park. One of the exhibits our guide told us about was the Himalayan blue puppies. Aha,thought I, more photos for Jacqueline, so off I went in search of them. Couldn't find them so had to get our guide to show me. She took me up a steep path to them. What? Those are just flowers.  Jacqueline doesn't do flowers. Of course, we were in the botanical gardens so these were blue poppies not blue puppies. However I took their photo as they were pretty and one doesn't often see blue poppies.
We were then driven to our magnificent hotel right on the harbour and recommended a neighboring pizza restaurant with the best pizzas in the north. My word that was a new experience. They did a GF biscuit base that could become quite addictive.
Have I mentioned to you how wonderful the water is to drink up here? As you know I am not a water drinker, but it is certainly my preferred option throughout Scandinavia. It just comes out  of the tap but is so sweet.
Well, it is now 10.15pm and we'll need to close the curtains fully to keep out the sunshine. We are seriously in need of sleep.