We started the day with a trip to the Perspective (Perspektivet) Museum full of beautiful photos. Just by the entrance there was a Christmas tree and we were asked to draw the flag of our country and hang it on the tree. We figured from a photo slideshow about Norwegian Christmas traditions that this must have been a variation on the tradition of decorating the tree with a tinsel made of tiny Norwegian flags.
There was also an interesting exhibition about the different religions represented in Tromso. There are all types of Protestants, Catholics (including, surprisingly, a convent of Polish Carmelite nuns), Russian and Greek Orthodox people, Baha’i followers, Muslims, Bhuddists and a Hindu lady who built a small shrine in her home (I’m guessing there are more Hindus in Tromsø, than just this lady but she was the one interviewed for the exhibition). We also learned about a Norwegian author Cora Sandel, whose old home now houses now houses the Perspektivet Museum. The lady lived most of her live abroad, firstly in Paris and then in Sweden. She initially hoped to be a painter, but when she gave birth to her son she found it was easier for her to write rather than continue oil painting, while looking after the baby so that’s what she did. She started of by writing short stories and articles for the press and only published her first book in her late 40s.
After the Perspektivet Museum we did a spot of Christmas shopping, had lunch, and went for a wander around Tromsø. We crashed a school Christmas Carol Concert rehearsal in the Cathedral for a little bit, which made David all nostalgic about the days he got to skip lessons to practice. Then we went to Polar Museum to finish looking around the exhibition. The whole museum is really good and definitely recommendable, but something that I found it particularly fascinating to learn was Nansens’ attempt to traverse the North Pole (or nearby it) by getting his ship Fram (same ship that Amundsen later used to go to the South Pole) on top of the ice and let it move with the ice. His theory was that the ice floats from north of Siberia towards Greenland. He soon realised that the ship was not going to be carried as far north by the ice as he would have hoped, so on 14 March Nansens a trusted member of his team, Johansen, set off to travel North on sledges pulled by dogs. They got as far as 86⁰N before realising they needed to turn back. During their journey they had to kill all their dogs, and eventually the adverse weather conditions caused them to stay out on the ice over winter. They built their own shelter and hunted for food – they stayed for 8 months. Eventually on 19 May 1896 they continued on their way south. In June they came across Frederick Jackson and his expedition to Franz Josef Land. They were rescued. Meanwhile the ship they left behind floated on ice for over 3 years, until a passage opened and it managed to sail out to the open sea and then back to Tromsø where it was reunited with Nansen and Johansen.
Nansen and Johansen’s story certainly made our winter camping efforts look a little tame! Having enjoyed the Polar museum until nearly closing time again we were left with a couple of hours to kill before we were due to go to the cinema. Perhaps not the most usual choice for a northern-lights expedition, but with the weather looking no better we had in the morning wondered past Norway’s oldest cinema, which was celebrating its centenary this year. As they were showing Love Actually in English in the evening we decided it would give us a great chance to see the interior (much of which has been preserved since the early twentieth century) while also enjoying a good film in somewhere warm that wasn’t our car!
Before the showing however we needed to cook which meant a trip back to the car. Throughout Tromsø city centre there is only parking with steep rates, and as we were intending to spend the whole day there we had hit upon a good solution which we would recommend to anyone visiting Tromsø in the car who doesn’t mind a stiff walk. Up on the hill where we had started our cross country skiing there is a little car park in a place called Charlottenlund where you can park all day. You can even cook on a Trangia there and no-one really seems to mind. The walk into town is about twenty minutes downhill with some great views, although it takes at least half an hour to get back up as the paths are pretty steep.
Having eaten and drank we headed back to the cinema. Unfortunately we forgot to bring either camera or phone – so we can only link you the photos of the interior including the wall paintings from 1921.
Certainly the experience was different to that of a modern day cinema – barely any adverts, grand surroundings and just the one small-ish screen through a door from the bar. Full of Christmas-y feelings, having enjoyed the film we left the cinema and decided as we were still hungry we would cook something.
We first saw this tin mentioned in a museum exhibit about Sami culture in the twentieth century, on seeing it in a supermarket we decided we had to give it a go. Although advertised as reindeer meatballs, only some of the meat was actually reindeer, and there wasn’t actually that much meat to start with! The metaballs themselves were therefore unsurprisingly nothing to write home about, but the sauce they were in was surprisingly tasty. I’d recommend trying Joika on some pasta if you’re in Norway, but be warned there’s quite a lot in the tin so make sure you’re properly hungry.
Daleks Abroad 