June 27
Tromso
The locals appear to call it “trum-suh.” I had always called it “trom-soh.” I will defer. I had hoped to get a Univesity of Tromso shirt. But Norwegians are in such good shape I couldn’t find one in size “round” . . .
[Sailing, sailing over the bounding main . . . ]
[Bounding toward Tromso . . . ]
[We’re in the vicinity . . . ]
[The Tromsø Bridge is a cantilever road bridge in the city of Tromso which is located in Tromso Municipality in Troms county. It crosses the Tromsoysundet strait between Tromsdalen on the mainland and the island of Tromsoya. The 1,036-metre-long (3,399 ft) bridge has 58 spans, of which the longest is 80 metres (260 ft) with a maximum clearance to the sea of 38 metres (125 ft). Construction began in 1958 and the bridge was opened in 1960. At the time of its opening, it was the longest bridge in Northern Europe (Wikipedia).]
[A closer upper of the bridge, the Arctic Cathedral is on the right . . . ]
[The city . . . ]
[Looking aft, for no particular reason . . . ]
[Tromsdalen Church or the Arctic Cathedral is a parish church of the Church of Norway. It is located in the Tromsdalen valley on the east side of the city of Tromso. It is the church for the Tromsøysund parish. The modern concrete and metal church was built in a long church style in 1965 by the architect Jan Inge Hovig. The church seats about 600 people (Wikipedia).]
[The sights, if not sounds, of Tromso, commonly called “The Gateway to the Arctic” because of all the polar expeditions that have departed from here, at 70 degrees north latitude, well inside the arctic circle . . . ]
[An even closer closer upper of the bridge . . . ]
[Ship window shot of the Arctic Cathedral . . . ]
[In the atrium, getting ready to go ashore . . . ]
[Tromsø is a 2,521-square-kilometre (973 sq mi) municipality, the 18th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Tromsø is the 9th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 75,638. The municipality’s population density is 30.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (79/sq mi) and its population has increased by 15.9% over the last decade. It is the largest urban area in Northern Norway and the third largest north of the Arctic Circle anywhere in the world (following Murmansk and Norilsk). Most of Tromsø, including the city centre, is located on the island of Tromsoya, 350 kilometres (217 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. In 2017, the city of Tromso had a population of about 65,000 people spread out over Tromsoya and parts of Kvaloya and the mainland. Tromsøya is connected to the mainland by the Tromso Bridge and the Tromsoyasund Tunnel, and to the island of Kvaloya by the Sandnessund Bridge. The municipality is warmer than most other places located on the same latitude, due to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream. Tromsø is even milder than places much farther south of it elsewhere in the world, such as on the Hudson Bay and in Far East Russia, with the warm-water current allowing for both relatively mild winters and tree growth in spite of its very high latitude. The city centre of Tromsø contains the highest number of old wooden houses in Northen Norway, the oldest house dating from 1789. The city is a cultural centre for its region, with several festivals taking place in the summer (Wikipedia).]
[Anne is checking with a tour guide as whether she recognizes a picture of a house where Anne’s grandmother once lived. The photo did not indicate an address . . . ]
[Oh, I wish I could remember her name. She is a Viking crew member who always met we passengers outside at every stop to make sure we all got on the right buses. She was always as happy as her smile indicates (psst, don’t tell our president but as I recall she was from Mexico) . . . ]
[Adolph Thomsen, on the other hand, was from Norway. He was a Norwegian composer and musician (born 7-10-1852; died 7-24-19030). Thomsen lived in Tromso and from 1883 was organist in Tromso Cathedral. He became acquainted with Edvard Grieg and several of his works are dedicated to Grieg (Wikipedia).]
[And here is the Tromso Cathedral . . . ]
[And its clock spire . . . ]
[A pub . . . ]
[Burger King. Oh, and the glass front building in the background is the Tromso Public Library and Archive . . . ]
[In the neighborhood of wooden buildings, we continue in search of Anne’s grandmother’s house . . . ]
[And the Super found some more trolls . . . ]
[The former town hall beyond the bandstand on the Green. The new town hall is just to the left in this photo (the tall columns) . . . ]
[King Haakon VII (1872-1957), whose monument is in the foreground, was much revered for his resistance to the German occupation of Norway during the Second World War (https://eardleydesign.com/halls/tromso/).]
[The fisherman statue in Stortorget Plaza in the center of Tromsø, Norway; across the water is Ishavskatedralen (Arctic Cathedral) – a city landmark to Tromsø, like the Opera House is to Sydney (richedwardsimagery.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/tromso-norway/).]
[Ingvald Johannes Jaklin (22 February 1896 – 13 December 1966) was a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1950, and was re-elected on two occasions. He had previously served in the position of deputy representative during the term 1945–1949. Jaklin held various positions in Tromso city council from 1925 to 1963, serving as mayor in the periods 1945–1947, 1947–1951 and 1951–1953 (Wikipedia). It appears a member of a large avian species didn’t much care for him . . . ]
[Could anything be more Norwegian?]
[I guess they are just generically known as the running women statues . . . ]
[I could find nothing on their origins . . . ]
[Believe it, or not!]
[We found Anne’s grandmother’s house!]
[And this is the street – amazing . . . ]
[And then it was off to the Polarmuseet . . . ]
[And its neighboring building . . . ]
[With the statue of Roald Amundsen, who was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions and a key figure of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He led the first expedition to traverse the Northwest Passge by sea, from 1903 to 1906, and the first expedition to the South Pole in 1911. He led the first expedition proven to have reached the North Pole in 1926. He disappeared while taking part in a rescue mission for the airship “Italia” in 1928 (Wikipedia).]
[And his pet dog . . . ]
[The museum extends out on a pier . . . ]
[And now let’s go in . . . ]
[Oh, but first pay . . . ]
[Let’s just enjoy the displays and exhibits . . . ]
[The skeleton of Amundsen’s dog, full-size?]
[It’s all about Amundsen, as it should be . . . ]
[Yo, bear!]
[To readily enjoy this, you have to read the caption (and look at the guys behind) . . . ]
[We discovered it when we heard Bill laughing, re the Swedish popstar . . . ]
[Back outside, we’ll continue our tour of Tromso in Part 2 . . . ]
There’s a lot of crappy music that people like, you know, all over the world, and Norway is definitely not an exception. ~ Sondre Lerche
Up Next: Part 2
alexandriacardinals2.wordpress.com 