Day 8 – Norway 2017. My last day in Tromsø

After dropping off Evan at the Barnehagen, we headed to the northeast, with the intention of reaching the small town of Oldervik, on the Ull Fjord. It was a pretty ride, but the wind was blowing and the whole landscape looked uninviting and very cold. We finally reached the tip of Oldervik, where there are three small mountains that look like young volcanoes, with crater lakes and all (who has heard of young volcanoes in Norway???). We bravely got down, and took a few photos, but truth be told we were freezing even though we were all well padded in our big jackets. Alas, temperature alone is not what will freeze you; it is the wind chill factor that will be your undoing.

Back in Tromsø we stopped at the funicular that goes up Fjellheisen, a mere 400 m geain in elevation, but one that affords you a fantastic view over the island of Tromsø, the Grøtsundet (the fjord channel to the north), and the Bals fjord to the south. Behind Tromsø, the jagged peaks of the Lyngs Alps form a breathtaking frame to the glacial landscape in the foreground. We were there at about 11:30 am, and although we never saw the sun, sunlight was approaching its maximum, and the scene extending below us was bathed in a golden glow. All these obervations we had to make in a hurry, because a fierce wind was blowing and we were all very grateful to accept Ceci’s invitation to hot coffee and waffles at the funicular complex.

Back we went to the home to have lunch, which each one composed to his or her own taste out of the multiple leftovers. I had a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce, together with some stuffing. Yumm! I also took some of the leftover bones, neck and gizzards, and got a nice pot of turkey soup going.

When the time came to go pick up Evan at the Day Care we left a little earlier to go visit the Tromsø Museum, which has a very nice section on the archaeology of the area, followed by a series of dioramas that showed the local wildlife. A mounted skeleton of a whale neatly complemented the natural history display. The second floor was devoted to the ethnography of the area, largely on the Sami people whose historic range has extended from northern Finland into the northern parts of Sweden and Norway. A different ethnic group, the Kvens, emigrated out of Finland over the last 1,000 years, and now is found exclusively in northernmost Norway. Oh, and there was a section explaining the form in which the Reformation progressed in Norway in the mid 1600’s (basically King Christian III of Denmark one day decided that his empire was going to turn Lutheran, and that was the end of that).

Back at home we had a nice dinner of turkey soup. Evan has a good appetite for those things he likes (soup being one of those things) and is a master of the spoon, but when he got frustrated with the small servings of the spoon picked up his bowl and ending wearing half of the remaining soup all over his shirt.

As I am writing this note little Evan is taking a bath. We already said our goodbyes, because I will leave early tomorrow morning for Oslo. I have had a great time visiting with Evan, Greg, and Ceci, and look forward to a future visit. I have also invited Evan to come spend some time in California with Ronnie; perhaps we can all go in a camping trip!