I woke at 4:30 and it was snowing and by 7 it was blue sky and so pretty. After breakfast I had a wander in the snow and met Ari from Bali who works six months on a cruise ship. We took each other’s photos and Ari gave me some tips on travelling to Bali.
Our flight was at 18:35 so we had the day to fill in and it was cold. We decided on a daily bus pass which allowed us to visit the Tromsdalen Church, also known as Ishavskatedralen (The Arctic Cathedral). Designed by architect Jan Inge Hovig, and featuring a lovely glass mosaic by artist Vitor Sparre, it was dedicated in 1965 and it has an impressive organ which unfortunately we didn’t hear.
Skirri Restaurant was adjacent to the hotel and Arctic fish and chips were on the menu and we had previously enjoyed lunch of a prawn sandwich and fish soup so we thought we would try again. The fish was cod. We are very spoilt on the Sunshine Coast and no seafood has measured up to Red Sea as yet and this was no exception, still it was OK.
The bus stopped at the covered carpark at the airport, and we made our way following people who obviously knew where they were going. The terminal is undergoing some serious renovation, and it was quite chaotic. People were not happy. After check-in and security, we found a café ordered a coffee and hunkered down for the next few hours. Outside a snowstorm began to rage. Then we noticed passengers walking across the tarmac.
Oh, there was something wrong with the walking bridge so we too had to venture into the storm to board the plane. Even though we were close to the front of the queue, John’s jeans were soaked by the time he got to his seat. People had to deduce the extraordinary numbering pattern they use on planes, put their stuff in the overhead bins, they had to reorganise the seatbelts, have a discussion about the pros and cons of Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich…this is what it feels like when the warm and dry are comfortably taking their time and the rest of us are standing in a snow storm. By this stage the flight was thirty minutes late. We did inform the hotel we would be there after 10pm, so no worries.
The aircraft taxied to the runway, and we waited…and waited…and waited. I had a window seat just in front of the wing. I jumped when the first jet of antifreeze hit my window. The most peculiar machine – a tanker with a cherry-picker on top and then a long line with a hose and metre long rigid tentacles and a very bright light on the end, sprayed the wings of the plane for about fifteen minutes. We were being de-iced!
Eventually we were airborne. The flight was supposed to be three hours and somehow the pilots got us to Hamburg in two and a half. I would hazard a guess that there is not much air traffic on our flight path so they could have gone for it.
We were tired. It was late. It was cold. It was raining. And basically, were just too brain dead to figure out the public transport system. Really, we were just too old and too lazy. We grabbed a taxi and within half an hour we were ensconced in our Executive Studio at the Madison. John had gone all out!!! BUT I have to say we encounted the best mini bar ever. Totally free. Yes I know …I should say …included in the room price…. but it was such a treat. A couple of chocolates, soft drinks, two beers, two bottles of bubbles 0.21L, a red and a white a bottle of apple fizzy stuff and fizzy water! All to be restocked each day. I can handle this!! Well, I couldn’t really. I had the small bottle of red and collapsed into bed, asleep, before my head hit the pillow. it had been a long day.