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TROMSO |
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| TROMSŲ was once known, rather preposterously, as the "Paris of the
North", and though even the tourist office doesn't make any pretence to
such grandiose titles now, the city still likes to think of itself as
the capital of northern Norway. Certainly, as a base for this part of
the country, it's hard to beat. It's a pleasant, small city set in
magnificent landscape - dramatic mountains and sea and surrounded by
almost bare wilderness. With two cathedrals, a clutch of reasonably
interesting museums and an above-average (and affordable) nightlife,
patronized by a high-profile student population. In the centre of town,
the Domkirke (June-Aug Tues-Sun noon-4pm; free) reflects the town's
nineteenth-century prosperity, the result of its barter trade with
Russia. From the church, it's a short walk north along the harbourfront
to the most diverting of the city's museums, the Polar Museum (daily:
mid-May to mid-June 11am-6pm; mid-June to Aug 11am-8pm; rest of year
10am-3pm; 30kr), whose varied displays include skeletons retrieved from
the permafrost of Svalbard and a detailed section on the daring deeds of
the polar explorer Roald Amundsen. On the other side of the water, over
the spindly Tromsų Bridge, the white and ultramodern Arctic Cathedral
(May & mid-Aug to mid-Sept daily 4-6pm; June to mid-Aug Mon-Sat
10am-8pm, Sun 1-8pm; 15kr) is spectacularly original, made up of eleven
immense triangular concrete sections representing the eleven Apostles
left after the betrayal. |
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