Hammerfest, Norway

For the first time on the trip, we got to sleep without an alarm. Also our first breakfast on board. They had lox, but no bagels or cream cheese. I'm having trouble restraining myself as I want to experience it all at least once. Must say for a working ship, they take pretty good care of the passengers and our tour group has had couple of special privileges, such as free bottled water at lunch and dinner.

Some of the most hardy had the opportunity to leave the ship at 5:30 AM! to do some mountain hiking, then catch up with the ship two ports down the coast. Since I was asleep, don't know if anyone went. 

Our first stop today was Hammerfest, Norway. An old town whose structure isn't very old because of hurricanes and the Germans. At the end of WWII, when the Germans were expelled from Finland, they entered Norway. In Hammerfest, they proceeded to destroy the entire town except for a chapel in the cemetery. The thought was that there was something spiritual because of it being in the cemetery. We have a tour of Germans on board the ship. Wonder how they feel. 

One of the big industrial endeavors here is the discovery and refining into LNG of a large oil field off shore. Liquifing was believed the only method to process and deliver the product. Curiously, Texas takes a large amount of the product. The plant is the largest in Europe. 

An aside, I found a supply of ice, but don't know how many days I'll be allowed to tap it. 

The polar bear is the symbol for the town, though no polar bears exist in the area. They even have a Polar Bear Society. They also have an Arctic Bike Race, but didn't learn where the route was.  A very mountainous area as I'll try to show in pics. We can't decide if snow in mountains is from winter snowfall or glaciers. 

Seems to be a bit prosperous here in this most northern city in Europe. Since the center city is located at the bottom of steep mountains, snow slides are a major concern and fencing has been erected to protect the buildings. 

Must share that we are traveling as a group of 10. Seven of us have traveled together before. We have in the past gathered at various places to party or just talk. Usually we have some drink. With the cost of drink being so high in Finland and Norway, we bought wine in NY Duty Free and I bought some beer in Finland before we boarded the boat. The big problem is that the boat will not allow us to drink in public places, so we have resorted to gathering( all 10) in someone's cabin. Though pretty close, it has been fun/we seem to be able to make the best of it. Tonight was harder as we had a meeting before dinner and the midnight concert. 

Think I'll sign off, so I can publish this as it will be too late after concert. 

Alan-Bruce, Fred and Jim were inadvertently left off my list, so if you are serious about discussion, please forward them the link.