Tromso without a line through the 2nd "o"

Trees and snow on the hills and mountains outside the city but the same cheerful, healthy-appearing citizens.  By this time, I had stopped asking ,"Do you speak English?" because apparently EVERYONE does and does so cheerfully. 

I did not book a tour as I wanted to wander and wander I did, up hill and down dale, down one of the main streets and up and down most of the side streets - about 4 hours.  I discovered that baking soda, used to clean my teeth and my clothes, has the same name in Norwegian as in German - Natron.  I went to a grocery store, part of a chain also in Germany, later, found a travelling elk-burger stand featuring elk and reindeer steaks, sausage (smoked or cooked), hamburgers cooked while you wait.  I declined but photographed the truck.

Then, on to a yarn store with a bicycle outside.  The bicycle seat had a cover - a knitted sheep's head, knitted mice on the pedals and an amazing supply of knitting yarn inside, all at Norwegian prices.  Since I did not have a house to mortgage, I only bought enough for a round. 

For years, I have collected yarn from different trips, all either purple or lavender, with a note as to where I got it.  Now, I think I have enough to make a sweater on round needles using all the yarn.  It will be gorgeous!

As with much of the rest of the trip, I got wet, got dry, got wet, got frizzy hair and did not care!  See the Muppets "I Love My Hair" on youtube.

The library, which from the front looks like a shark's jaw, wide open has an enormous number of books in English, another reason for the ease of language, added to not dubbing tv shows and movies.   There were a few empty buildings which did not bother me as much as the usual chain stores which infect most inner cities or shopping malls.  Fortunately, there seems to be enough money around to keep the small shops in business.  Good place for a job??

The Methodist Church

 

The Tromso Savings Bank

Market Square and Whaling Monument

Two explorers

The King Crab Safari

What I thought was our boat.

 What was really our boat!

July 20, 2012

I booked a tour because I found the name intriguing - for no better reason than that.  And after, my initial shock, I was fascinated and "amazed".

QM2 anchored in the outer harbour and took tenders to the small dock.  Just across the street was a shop - 71 degrees North - our outfitters.  There were 16 in our group and we were taken inside and bundled into waterproof suits - bright orange with flotation devices integrated into the fabric.  We looked like tubby elementary school pupils going out into the snow.

 

Instead of snow, we crossed the street through a windy mist or a misty wind and hopped - yes, me too - into a Zodiac, just like Jacques-Yves Cousteau.  The boat is a rubber, bullet-shaped, shallow, very fast speed boat.  It rides above the waves, bouncing at the crest of each.   Wheeeeeee!!!!!  What a rush!
A rush, that is, after the initial "What the hell am I doing here? "  I noticed that the "mood" ring was jet black - stress pure.

But, it was stress without distress.  The best word is exhilarating.  We bounced and bobbed along for about 20 minutes, through the fjord to open water (I think - my glasses were full of salt spray) then to another fjord.  There were two boats and we circled an area marked by an orange buoy.  Then, the two men in charge of our boat hauled up an enormous crab pot - about a meter square, full and very heavy.

For those who don't know, I grew up around the Chesapeake Bay - the most beautiful and probably most mosquito-ridden bay in the world.  Summer memories of my childhood include lots of itching, freckles, sun-bleached red hair and more itching, fishing with my grandfather and never ever catching anything with a hook but lots of blue crabs in the crab pot.  They seem so small in comparison.

The flap on the underside of the shell tells the difference between males and females and one female had thousands and thousands of eggs, most of which will never grow up.  Unlike the Chesapeake Bay blue crabs which are completely consumed except for lungs - gills - shell and inside chitin, the king crab claws and legs are the only parts eaten.  The rest is sometimes used as fertilizer or as bait for other crabs.  As a matter of fact, if the trap is not emptied before the bait is completely consumed, the crabs will eat each other.  There didn't seem to be a good reason why the rest of the crab is not eaten or I did not hear it.  I was too busy avoiding the claws while holding the crab - wait until you see that photo!!

Our driver who spoke excellent English was very knowledgeable and personable, a most attractive combination, talked just enough to inform and encourage questions which he answered enthusiastically and competently.

He took the scenic route getting back because all 8 of us had wanted to stay.  But, after about 10 minutes of "fjording", he saw a squall coming from the open water and wanted to outrun it.  He didn't, despite the very fast speed.  We had spray from the front and rain from the back and it was wonderful.

Once back at the dock, we took our time undressing - it was not possible to removed thick, wet clothing quickly while reliving our adventures in English, German and a combination of both.  We were all "high".

That evening there were only about 20 people in the ballroom so I went to the Chart Room to hear the jazz trio and had a very interesting conversation with a retired German manager.  The next time I see him, I am sure he will ask about Aurora, Colorado and the lack of gun control - damn.

And, while I am at it, many Germans rightly complain about the foreigners who come to Germany and demand signs, forms and the rest of everyday life in their own language.  Yet many Germans (more than 1600 at last count) demand that everything on this ship be in German. 

Apparently, it's not enough that all announcements are repeated in German, there is a German host or hostess stationed at the purser's desk and others scattered throughout the ship, the menu and daily program are in German, there are parallel tours in German and on and on.  And it's still not enough for too many Germans who, because they cannot imagine that I understand them, do not hesitate to vent in my presence.  the most common complaint I have heard is that the summer weather in Northern Norway is horrible.  I guess they think Cunard did promise them a "rose garden."  Their problem, not mine.  Every minute is a joy!

Trondheim tv and pilgrimage

Trondheim:  small, perfectly located on a fjord - dynamic, innovative while maintaining the best traditions especially friendliness.

Shuttle bus and last of the snow

One of the best looking rubbish bins in the world.

Part of the original city wall, behind the Bishop's palace

The Bishop's Palace

A very strange statue

Entrance to City Hall

 

As I got off the ship, a reporter from tvadressa.no asked me what I expected to find in Trondheim.  Of course, I was not as well-prepared as I was 2 hours later after thinking about it but I managed to stammer out something vaguely intelligent.

Side of the cathedral

Front of the cathedral

Then, I set off for the city.  First thing:  the cathedral has an entrance fee which I always refuse to pay in countries where the churches receive their money directly from taxes collected by the state.  The American system of not taxing churches or church property is not better.  Imagine how rich some governments, especially state governments, would be if church property were taxed.  My fantasy is that it would mean lower taxes for the rest of us but ....fat chance of that happening.

Founder of Trondheim who forced Christian conversion

 



Most important is that the cathedral is dedicated to St. Olav and is a pilgrimage site in both the Catholic and Lutheran churches - something I had never heard of.  St Olav is the patron saint of carvers but the literature did not explain why.  His axe is in the Norwegian coat of arms.

Garden behind Bishop's palace

Houses along the inlet

Drawbridge

Votive candles in a Lutheran church

Bell tower of a chapel

Seal of Trondheim

Back to Trondheim.  I walked, got wet, got dry again, met about 10 friendly, helpful citizens, including a French woman who spoke Norwegian then English with a French accent.  When I responded in French, she beamed and answered slowly - I was looking for earphones for my ipod.

M and M will remember how healthy and cheerful the people we met in Sweden were - they seem even more so in Trondheim.  I had a serious conversation over tea and biscuits with a college student.  He had heard me in the tourist office saying that I was an English teacher.  The conversation ranged from "why don't you come to Trondheim and teach here" to the horrific Oslo bombing and subsequent massacre.  His hope and mine is that neither that massacre nor the radicalization of some of the Moslem immigrants will change the openess of the Norwegian society.

I was also interested in the impact such a large influx of German tourists would have.  He said that it was a matter of no concern to people his age but it bothered his parents and had bothered his grandmother greatly as she had lived through the very brutal occupation.  John Steinbeck's THE MOON IS DOWN is a brilliant fictionalized account of it.

So, I wandered, taking shelter in shops and at one point, in a hands-on children's science museum, creating electricity, waves on water and measuring radio waves.  Also, I bought a "mood" ring which changes color.  According to the chart, black means stress and it turned black the next day, at North Cape.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Aboard the QUEEN MARY 2, sailing from Bergen to Trondheim

Apparently this run is very popular with Germans - of the 2620 passengers, more than 1600 are German.  Most of them, when they notice me, look at my skin color and curly hair and assume, incorrectly, that I do not understand German.  The casual racism of some of the older Germans has already irritated me but as I cannot throw them overboard, I have decided to ignore it or answer in German.  More worrying is that because my stateroom has a lifeboat in front of it - obstructed view - there is a ladder attached to the bulkhead and last night two drunken men were debating climbing it, to get to a lifeboat.  One actually started but the rungs were very slippery  They would have reached my balcony before reaching the lifeboat so no more sleeping with the door open.  Damn!!

More positively, Bergen, despite the monsoon, is a lovely city, beautifully placed, with a seemingly completely multilingual population.  I saw an information office, blundered in and discovered that it was information for the city transport facilities.  The agent, however, told me in unaccented English how to find a post office - back on my mission from God.  The clerk in the post office, much older than the bus agent, also spoke English as did the owner of the yarn store and on and on.  The rain didn't bother me a bit - you get wet, you get dry. And, my dinner companions - there are 9 of us - are positively delightful.  We are the "laughingest" table and the last to get up meaning the waiters sometimes have to cough a bit but we get the message.

Last night was the BLACK AND WHITE BALL and tonight is the BIG BAND BALL.  My "son", Irv, is playing.  More on that story tomorrow.  Now, I gotta dance.