Wednesday, 13 March
Steps: 8525 with 8 flights
Songs: Ave Maria and Sami joik
Cruise day 5
Stokmarknes – Sortland – Risøyhamn – Harstad – Finnsnes – Tromsø – Skjervøy
Most of the above stops happen in the night. The ship docks and delivers mail, picks up cargo and sometimes new passengers. We see new faces on board all the time.
This morning, I slept in, the went for a lecture on the Sami culture. Again, very informative, but not lively.
Our longest stopover was in Tromsø. We decided to go on a tour of the town. We were taken to the cable car and went to the top of the mountain that overlooks the city. The view was impressive. I started out on a walk along the edge, but when my whole foot started sinking into the snow, I turned around.
After that we were taken to the Arctic Cathedral, which was not as exciting as it looked. You have to pay to go in. David reckons this is just extending the collection! However, the acoustics are incredible. Our tour leader whistled Schubert’s Ave Maria perfectly which was impressive in spite of the acoustics, but you could hear him clearly, loudly throughout the church. It was amazing.
From the church we went to the Polaria Centre. Interesting architecture, that is shaped as icefloes pressed upon the shore. Unfortunately, it is rather shabby inside. We saw 2 short films on the so called panoramic screen and then a brief tour of the aquarium and the seal pool, which houses 2 large bearded seals and 2 harbor seals in a pool smaller than the seal pool I remember from PE in the sixties. It was rather sad.
What I learnt: Joik has been part of the Sami culture since ancient times. Joiking is used to express relationships to people and nature. Traditionally, there are no words. the music is beautiful and haunting.
Kim's journey 