After our usual buffet breakfast, we head up to the forward lounge to relax. When the ship arrives in Finnsnes, a small port, we decide to move up to the Panorama Lounge for the rest of the morning. We take it easy and enjoy the view, our books and the work on our journals. After we depart Finnsnes, we pass through low laying farm land. The light and colors are wonderful. There are dark clouds covering much of the sky, but the sun light has penetrated various parts of the cloud cover, shining bright light on various parts of the land and seascape.
We have lunch onboard finishing just before we arrive in Tromsø. We have four hours in this, considered the arctic capital of Norway and the gateway to the Arctic Ocean. The first church was built in 1252 and it acquired town status in 1794. We go ashore shortly after docking and make our way through the plain town towards our first sight - the Polaria. It is an interesting museum, with a combination of film exhibit, simulation of the Arctic environment and seal tank.
The film is an overview of Svalbard (or Spitsbergen). From there we go into a room where they have some stuffed animals and the most interesting item - the simulated permafrost. It is actually quite fun to walk over. Then it is on to the seal tank where we get to see some seals perform trained maneuvers. They also have a few tanks with Arctic sea animals, including fish, crustaceans and starfish. There are even some touch tanks.
From here, we walk back across town to the Polar Museum. Now this is a very interesting place with a wide range of exhibits about all things related to the Arctic. There are exhibits on hunting and trapping (with a trappers hut on full display), polar bears (and the hunting of them) and polar exploration (including a huge section on Roald Amundsen). In fact we run out of time - the museum closes at five and they had to come and kick us out. We still have some time left, but we wander the streets (everything is already closed). We return to the ship around 5:40 PM (it had started to rain).
We retire to the forward lounge and bring a bottle of wine with us to enjoy as we cruise along. We hang out there until it is time to get ready for dinner. Once dinner is over, what do we do? Well, return to the forward Nordkapp Salon with our unfinished bottle of wine. While we are there, the ship makes a brief stop in Skjervøy. We take a quick look around and then return to the lounge, retiring to our cabin after leaving port.