Rotterdam (or Anywhere)

We came back from Crete a week ago – we had a wonderful time there, swimming in the sea every day, eating outside for every meal, lots of sunshine and temperatures between 20 and 28 degrees. Coming back to Tromsø was a bit of a shock – it was 5 degrees and raining when we arrived. I had planned to change clothes in the airport on Crete, but didn’t get a chance – so I stepped out of the plane in Tromsø still wearing shorts and tshirt, brrrrr :D. Two days later came another weather shock – SNOW! It’s been snowing quite a lot in the last week, we’ve had about 10 cm. It’s not cold enough to stay on the ground for very long though. Unfortunately I haven’t taken any good photos of the snow (and today it warmed up and started raining), but I did take this photo of Polaria reflected in a large pond created by melting snow. Polaria is a museum, and Paul works in the building behind it.

We took lots of photos in Crete, I’m still trying to sort them for on the blog. Today I am leaving for a mini cruise though, taking the Hurtigruten from Tromsø to Kirkenes and back. I will travel on one of the older ships, the MS Lofoten. I’ll be back in Tromsø on Tuesday night. I’ll publish the photos from Crete when I get back. Have a nice weekend!

The sunset this evening was so beautiful… We walked over to Telegrafbukta, and watched the sunset reflected in the calm fjord. There were lots of people enjoying the beautiful evening, both on the shore and on the water 🙂

We’ve had another couple of days beginning with morning fog, followed by sunshine and a crispy clear evening… this autumn has been so nice! It’s coming to an end though, most leaves have fallen off the trees and there is a chill in the air announcing that winter is near. Not for us though – our bags are packed and the taxi is booked, Crete here we come! Back in a week, with lots of photos I am sure 😀

After 4 weeks at sea, Paul came back to Tromsø yesterday, on board the R/V Lance. They first had an “open ship” in the centre of Tromsø, where people could come on board and learn about the ship and the research. After that, the ship moved to Breivika. They went underneath the bridge, and I decided to walk up there to get some pictures of the ship passing underneath, while Paul and his cruise mates were standing on the helicopter deck waving 😀

He’s got some really nice photos from his cruise and hopefully will share them at some point. Not sure it will be very soon though, as we’re leaving for a week of holiday on Saturday. We’re going to Crete, hoping for a bit of sunshine before the dark period arrives here. We’ve never been to Crete (or Greece) before and are very excited 🙂