Exploring Tromsø and Lunch from Mathallen Deli

Because of polar winter, it was really hard to tell what time it was when we awoke. It had snowed quite a bit the night before.

This is what the apartment's parking lot looked like as we headed out.

I had planned two nights in Tromsø just in case we missed seeing the Aurora Borealis on the first night. So, since we'd been rather successful  the night before we had a free day to just wander around. Most of Tromsø is located on an island (Tromsøya) and we wanted to see what options for tours and such were available, so we headed down to the TI.

Storgata and Kirkegata are two of the main streets in this city of about 70,000 people. We'd prepared rather well for this trip; I found that my silk base layer, in spite of being very light (a plus when travelling light), was actually quite warm. I only needed the bottom layer during our time in Norway, but the top layer was used during the whole trip. So we walked along the streets down to the TI near the port area.

Along the way we passed Tromsø Domkirka (Tromsø Cathedral), the northernmost Protestant Cathedral in the world.

The Cathedral was completed in 1861. And can hold 800 people.

It started snowing a bit as we neared the TI.

This is a memorial for Richard With a Norweigan businessman and politician who was born in Tromsø. You can see the snow as it blew by the memorial stone.

And yet, this didn't bother us much…..we were enjoying the novelty of it all. Also, the rather stark grey and white made lights and colors really stand out.

I wasn't quite sure what the significance of the statue of famous Norweigan explorer Roald Amundsen was to Tromsø.

Until I read that he lived his final years in Tromsø. In 1928 set off on a rescue mission, it was his last expedition as his plane crashed and the remains of the crew were never found.

We got to the TI and inquired about some tours; but most were either all day affairs or something we really weren't interested in doing. The really nice young man suggested walking across the Tromsø Bridge to visit the Arctic Cathedral. So we decided on doing that. So, that's the bridge and the cathedral from where we were at the port.

So we headed off……

It really didn't take too long to reach the very striking Ishavskatedralen (Arctic Cathedral).

You get a great view of the city from here.

Though I was distracted by the rather random "Artic Phone Booth".

I think the stark background really made the red color of the phone booth really stand out.

Meanwhile, the Missus was distracted by the trees.

We really had a great time just walking around and taking photos. Of a place so different from San Diego.

After a short while we decided to head on back.

While crossing the bridge I looked up. I saw the dark clouds approaching and said "oh-uh". Just as the high winds and flurries hit us.

I think the cars crossing on the bridge must have thought, "there's two more crazy tourists….."

The snow flurries stopped just as we finished crossing the bridge (of course) and I shook off the snow that had accumulated on my shoulders and head…shaking like some bear awakening from slumber.

We headed back towards the apartment on Grønnegata.

As we walked past Bardus, where we had a late lunch the day before, we saw this striking building to our right and decided to take a look.

The building is the Kongsbakken Upper Secondary School and that area in front of it Kongeparken (Royal Park).

For some reason, the statue of King Olav V seemed dark and brooding, staring at us. It kind of creeped us out.

We walked along the street named Verstregata where I noticed that the view looked really nice near some apartments. We then noticed that there were some stairs leading to an outdoor area. We enjoyed the view of the city from here.

Worried that we might be trespassing, we quickly took photos and headed back to the street.

Heading back down to Grønnegata and decided to make dinner reservations at Mathallen which was literally one block from our apartment. We'd be taking things easy this evening.

After making our reservations, we decided on getting lunch from Mathallen's Deli which was right next door. For some reason, the cold really dampened our appetite.

We got the Baked Cod and Creamed Fish Soup.

Of course the fish was very good, fresh, moist….though fairly bland overall.

We actually enjoyed the potatoes.

I wasn't sure what the Creamed Fish Soup was going to be like; but this was very good. Not too thick, fairly light, yet hearty.

The fish was very tender; the vegetables, especially the celeriac were delicious. I'm not a big fan of cream soup, but this was just right…..warming and hearty and quite good with bread.

Mathallen Delikatesser
Grønnegata 58-60
Tromsø, Norway

A very nice pre-nap meal.

Thanks for reading!