Friday, 2nd March 2012

Yesterday was a bit of a lazy day, as we hadn't got to bed until the middle of the night. We skipped breakfast and headed to the dining room for lunch, where the first thing I noticed was that the cruet set was missing from the centre of the table and little sachets of salt and pepper had been placed on side plates. Uh-oh... you know what that means... norovirus is onboard. Any object that might be shared amongst passengers is removed from usage. We no longer have a help-yourself buffet, but have to form orderly queues to be served by a waiter. The games and jigsaws have been removed from the library, and the dish of sweets on reception has disappeared.

After lunch, we ventured out into Tromso to visit the Polaria Centre for the 'Arctic Experience'. It has an aquarium, with marine life from this part of the world, including a few bearded seals. You can also sit and watch a couple of short panoramic films. The first we saw was about Spitzbergen and the second was of course, the Northern Lights. It was interesting, but the whole experience took us less than an hour.

We sailed from Tromso late last night. We changed into the Arctic gear again (it's been worth every penny!) and stood on the balcony as the snow swirled around us.

We woke to a total white-out this morning, but as the blizzard subsided, hills and a small town appeared across the fjord. We are in Alta, our northernmost port of call. We took a trip to the Ice Hotel today, where we were really glad we'd stocked up on Mountain Warehouse's finest gear! The guide told us it was colder inside the hotel than outside, and it was pretty cold outside. But our Little Hotties kept our fingers toasty warm, as did the drink of bright blue alcohol which we were served from the Ice Bar, in glasses made from ice. Someone asked what it was, and was told 'antifreeze'!

All for now

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Janet

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