Welcome to the ‘strange’ world of northern Norway, where June feels more like January in London and where the photographic rewards are great if you’re happy to brave the chilly fingers needed to press the shutter!
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The Hurtigruten line is first and foremost a postal service and ferry, although it caters well to tourists too with a cruise-like offering of quality food, excursions and on-board lectures. Many of the stops the ships make are brief, typically twenty minutes. Supplies for these small coastal towns and villages are off-loaded, post and parcels collected. A few passengers embark or disembark. Most are locals, visiting family or returning home after time away. Only a handful will be tourists, hikers perhaps.
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The most famous sight in Tromsø is probably the Arctic Cathedral … except it isn’t actually a cathedral. Despite the popular name, this is a parish church, but a very substantial and eye-catching one.
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Much of the Norwegian landscape looked a little unreal to me even in its natural colours. The drama of its mountains, the almost eerie light around midnight, even the snow and rain. All these lent it a magical air.
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Trondheim’s Nidaros Cathedral is the world’s northernmost Gothic cathedral. It was built over the tomb of King Olav II (reigned 1015–1028), the Viking king who converted Norway to Christianity. He reigned from 1015 to 1028 and later became the country’s patron saint. It is here that Norwegian kings are crowned, not in the capital Oslo.
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In Viking times this was the capital of Norway. Today it is a busy modern city with an impressive cathedral. It lies where the Nidelva river meets Trondheim Fjord, creating an excellent sheltered harbour. Although south of the Arctic Circle and therefore experiencing neither Polar Night nor Midnight Sun, in the summer months it remains light enough all night for artificial lighting only to be needed in poor weather.
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Sometimes little details can be as evocative as the complete picture, and perhaps never more so than when contemplating the past. Visiting the iconic sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii back in 2007 I found myself as intrigued by the small details of life in these cities as I was in the grand civic buildings.
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If you’re looking for summer warmth this isn’t the place to come. On my recent trip to Trondheim (south of the Arctic Circle) and Tromsø (north of it) I experienced some sun, yes, but also rain, hail, sleet and snow!
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In Britain Amundsen is somewhat notorious as the guy who beat Captain Scott to the South Pole. In Norway however, and especially in Tromsø, he is regarded as a national hero.
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As we passed the point of the limit of the Arctic Circle on our Hurtigruten voyage we coukd see this otherwise invisible line marked on a globe on the small islet of Vikinge.
