2023 Oceania Arctic Cruise

4-5 Aug 2023 Video: Arriving & Exploring Tromso Norway Prior to Cruise
6 Aug 2023 Video: Exploring Tromso Norway Prior to Cruise
Cruise Day 1
7 Aug 2023 Video: Oceania Marina Embarkation
Cruise Day 2
8 Aug 2023 Video: Cruising Norwegian And Greenland Seas
Cruise Day 3
9 Aug 2023 Video: Longyearbyen, Svalbard Norway
Shore Excursion: Dog Sledding On Wheels
Cruise Day 4
Cruise Day 5
Cruise Day 6
Shore Excursion: Jewels Of The North
Cruise Day 7
Shore Excursion: Myvatn Nature Baths and Lunch
Cruise Day 8
Cruise Day 9
Cruise Day 10
Shore Excursion: Nanortalik Walking Tour
Cruise Day 11
Shore Excursion: Kaffemik In A Private Home
Shore Excursion: Taste Of Greenland
Cruise Day 12
Shore Excursion: Walking Tour Of Paamiut
Item	Updated
Marina Current Location	Realtime
Marina Restaurant Menus	26 Aug 2023
Photo Album	23 Aug 2023
Hyperlinked Excel Itinerary	26 Aug 2023
Google Map	23 Jul 2023
Google Earth KMZ File	23 Jul 2023
Daily Info	23 Aug 2023
Media Files	6 Sep 2023
Daily Log:

- 22 Aug 2023 (Monday, Cruise Day 16) Disembark in Reykjavik Iceland & Return Home (Time Zone UTC): Early start...up at 5:45AM. Quick showers, no breakfast, but went to Terrace to visit with Pam and David and had some tea. Then back to the room for final packing of a few things in our carry-on bags. Checked bags were already off the ship. We awaited our bag tag color and number call-out while standing in the lobby on Deck 5. John & Kathy and David & Pam soon joined us. Final stateroom key scans as we left Marina with a tear in our eyes...too short of a cruise! Out in a big tented area were all of the bags for those in the 1,200 passengers disembarking (many continued on with Marina). Easy to find ours, as they grouped them under signs by color and number. Porter helped us haul bags to the bus, which took us on an hour-long, scenic drive to Keflavik Airport. It was cool to see lava fields among buildings and homes as we drove through Reykjavik. Coastal areas were also scenic. Renee remembered the odd sculpture in front of Keflavik Airport from our stop there on return from our Baltic cruise some years ago. The process for check-in and transit through security was not a well-oiled machine, but we made it to our gate in plenty of time. Kathy & John Granger were on our flight, so we bumped into them several times before the flight and at baggage claim in JFK. The flight was about 5 1/2 hours. Views of Iceland (a volcano and glacier especially) and the Southern part of Greenland (lots of icebergs and glacier) were spectactular from the plane. Since we'd let Oceania book the flights, we had a very long layover at JFK, but we killed time walking around. Stopped at a taco place for some lunch, and bumped into John and Kathy again. Kathy mentioned that she had left her watch at the TSA security check and had to go back to find it. Funny thing was that I'd found a watch and turned it in to TSA...it turned out to be hers! Delta does a nice thing by allowing Active Duty and Retired military board first, so we took advantage of that to make sure we could stow our carry-ons on the small plane for the flight to Pittsburgh. Renee's brother, Mike, was there to pick us up when we arrived. So...our day went from 1:45am Eastern to about 11:00pm Eastern when we finally hit the sack at home. Nice trip!

- 21 Aug 2023 (Sunday, Cruise Day 15) At Sea (Time Zone UTC-1): Renee was first up this morning, hoping to get some laundry done before the mad rush by other passengers to do the same. Laundry service is included with our stateroom class, but she prefers to do it for us. We met with Pam & David and John & Kathy for a final breakfast in the Grand Dining Room for this cruise. Good food, great service, and fun conversation. I meandered back to the room with a stop at Barista's coffee bar. We met back in the room, then went to the Oceania Club Ambassador's office to place a future cruise deposit (which we may or may not use, but best to do so while on a current cruise). This also earned us a $100 credit which we applied to our current account on this cruise. We're interested in ensuring we preserve the option to take the 2026 world cruise, as they book up extremely fast. OC Ambassador recommended that we call after this cruise and talk with a world cruise representative, impressing on them our desire and intent to make that manifest. Then back to the room we went to pack, as luggage needs to be tagged and outside of our stateroom by 10:00PM tonight. Seas are not smooth, but still a mild state. Mostly sunny with a few clouds. We've really had great weather this whole cruise...far less cold than we expected!

- 20 Aug 2023 (Saturday, Cruise Day 14) At Sea (Time Zone UTC-2): Slow and easy day at sea today. Had breakfast in our room with provisions from the Concierge Lounge just down the hall on our deck. Renee took a walk around the ship, then we looked through our Google photos to delete and add photos to the album for this cruise (link on this page). I decided to treat myself to one more soak in the hot tub in the Spa Terrace retreat area. Had the whole front deck to myself! Boiled adequately, then headed back to the room to shower. Renee was roaming the ship on various missions during this time. We met David & Pam for lunch in Terrace Cafe, then stepped just outside on Deck 12 in a nice, quiet area shielded from the wind where we could finish our game of dominoes. Lots of fun, with Pam ending up as the winner. Our final round left me with many tile dots to count! Renee and I took a walk around the upper deck for a while, then went for tea time in the Horizons Lounge (top forward on ship) for nice views of where we were heading, plus soothing string quartet music. I also lightened the load on the roaming pastry cart, adding to my spare tire calorie reserves. We had dinner in Red Ginger for the second time with David & Pam. We all had the Sea Bass, as it melts in your mouth and is glazed with a flavorful sauce. The whole experience is fun as well, from selecting our food weapons (chop sticks), to the handcloth watering ceremony, and each course of the meal. Lost another hour as we head East, so right to bed after dinner.

- 19 Aug 2023 (Friday, Cruise Day 13) Nuuk, Greenland (Time Zone UTC-2): Leasurely morning at sea. Had breakfast in the Grand Dining Room with David & Pam Lathrop and John & Kathy Granger. Great conversation, as always. I'm looking out the veranda door as I sit here typing this. Clear, sunny skies, birds skimming the surface of swells and light chop, and distant mountains of Greenland with glacial features in clear view. This has been a relatively short cruise, but we quickly remembered why we like the experience. Fun places and fun times with friends, old and new. Can't wait for our 51-day South America, Antarctica, and Amazon River cruise that starts in February! Renee attended a shopping event on Deck 5, then hit the gym for a workout. Sea swells and chop have increased, so we're all walking like drunken sailors now. I took advantage of our sea day and a special at the Aquamar Spa to get a 75-minute package deep tissue massage plus. Therefore had my first facial massage. Imagine Spock doing his alien mind meld, only with multiple variations all over my face. Massage was good, but Ruthie, my petite masseuse from Northeast India, could not quite summon the bone-cracking intensity I got from a Thai masseuse on our previous cruise. Thinking about it now...perhaps I'm better off. We finished our evening with an Oceania Club Private Cocktail Party with the General Manager Evan (who lives on Crete!), then to Polo Grill for dinner with David & Pam.

- 18 Aug 2023 (Monday, Cruise Day 12) Paamiut (Frederikshab), Greenland (Time Zone UTC-2): Another early start and 20-minute tender to shore. Paamuit is a small fishing town (about 1,100 people), so our ship doubled their population for a day! There were several small tour groups on walking tours around town. Scenic, but a bit less maintained than previous port towns we visited. Cruise Director announced, before we departed, that we'd be pulling up anchor and leaving about an hour early to avoid some weather expected later today. After walking around a bit, Renee explored a couple of grocery stores with Pam and David, and I tendered back to the ship to take advantage of our cellular access, manage some photo backups, and update this log. Renee returned with another tupilak carving...this one of a fishing scene...on reindeer antler. Received some disappointing news from the ship's captain. Gale force winds were expected enroute to Nuuk, so decision was make to scrap that port and simply head to Reykjavik. Unfortunate, but we've seen some amazing sights here in Greenland already, so we'll settle for the Prince Christian Sound, Nanortalik, Qaqortoq, and Paamiut and trade Nuuk for safety and smoother sailing. Had dinner in the Grand Dining Room tonight and chose to share a table. Met a nice couple from Denver Colorado, both transplants from elsewhere. Michael was a Brit who moved to Denver with his first wife. He was a pilot in the Royal Air Force, then commercial airlines. Quite some interesting stories he told. Even flew 777s before retiring. Tina was an asset manager for a financial firm, with family in the Chicago area. She moved to Denver from California and met Michael on a ski trip at Winter Park. We traded a lot of travel and family stories. Great food and great company!
				
- 17 Aug 2023 (Thursday, Cruise Day 11) Qaqortoq, Greenland (Time Zone UTC-2): Early start with first tour at 08:00am. With a population of ~3,000 people, Qaqortoq is the largest town in Southern Greenland, 3rd largest in all of Greenland. We had to tender to shore, where 8 of us met with Viviana Hu, our 19 year old tour guide. She walked us up to her Aunt Nana's home, where we were invited in for tea, coffee, fruit, ruhbarb cake (ruhbarb from her garden) and carrot cake. The tradition is called a "Kaffemik", which is a gathering at a home for special occasions. She told as about life in Qaqortoq, about her family, and about her art work which was everywhere in her small, but very nice, home. She also showed us some native clothing made of seal skins and other materials. After the visit, we tendered back to the ship to refresh and regroup, then quickly returned to town for our second tour, "A Tast of Greenland". Larger group this time (38 people). We had a short walk to a community center, where we were treated to small samplings of freshly caught minke whale meat, seal meat, fish row on sour cream and bread, two large shrimp, and potatoes with cod fish. Liked most of it. Whale tasted sort of beefy! Seal tasted like you might expect it to taste if you licked a seal, so not our favorite. After the food tasting we hiked on our own up to some scenic overlooks, then down along the shoreline of a large lake. Took that for about a half mile, then doubled back and hiked up a bunch of stairs to another overlook location where we could see the town, our ship, and the lake. Then walked around a bit more, hit the souvenir shop (bought a traditional curved knife and a Tupilak carving from reindeer antler), and tendered back to ship. We decided to soothe our aching muscles (okay...my aching muscles) in the spa terrace hot tub at the front of the ship. Seemed a popular place, so we squeezed in with a Japanese guy and an Italian brother and sister. After chatting for a while they all left, so we had the hot tub to ourselves. Adequately boiled, we returned to our stateroom and showered up, then met with Pam & David Lathrop and Kathy & John Granger up in Horizons Lounge for happy hour (club soda and lime for us). We talked about our day and about many other things, though the live music was pretty loud so hearing each other was a bit of a challenge. We then fought off the hoards in Terrace Cafe for dinner. This is the ship's buffet venue, and on this cruise it's much more crouded than it was on the Insignia for our world cruise.

- 16 Aug 2023 (Wednesday, Cruise Day 10) Nanortalik, Greenland (Time Zone UTC-2): Anchored just offshore of Nanortalik (which means "Land of the Polar Bears") and tendered in after a leasurely breakfast. Could not get on the RIB excursion to see the icebergs, so just walked around town for a while. Wonderful views of the brightly colored homes, boats, shorelines, mountains and icebergs. Nanortalik is a poor community. We helped out the local economy by buying handmade items, donated to the local school fundraiser for a trip to Denmark, and purchased a sketch from a local artist. We saw a number of young children and, with parents' permission, took some photos. Took the tender back to the ship for a refresh. On the way to the tender we passed a guy playing guitar and singing. He was not very good, but we tipped him anyway. Returning to shore, we joined our walking tour (couple of miles) which was pretty good. Guide provided some interesting insights into the community. Tendered back to the ship and took more iceberg photos as we departed. Showered up and had dinner in Terrace Cafe with David and Pam. We took in a comedy show by Mark Palmer in Marina Lounge at 9:15pm. He was pretty funny. Hit the sack for an early start on Thursday.

- 15 Aug 2023 (Tuesday, Cruise Day 9) Cruising Prince Christian Sound (Time Zone UTC-2): Just getting started on the day, so trying to post some things on FaceBook, but taking forever! Will update the Google Photo album (link on this page) as well sometime today. Saw lots of icebergs of various sizes as we cruised through Prince Christian Sound. Several glaciers flowing down to the water, and cirque's and other glacial features all along the passage. We snaked our way through the passages toward Nanortalik. The steep mountainsides were close to either side of the ship. Took lots of photos and videos.

- 14 Aug 2023 (Monday, Cruise Day 8) Cruising the Denmark Strait (Time Zone UTC-1): Relaxing day at sea. Spent time in the morning fighting with shipboard internet access. Was able to make some investment updates and work on photos a bit, but then gave up and hit the Spa Retreat area top forward deck to relax in the hot tub under sunny skies. Renee ran on the track and had breakfast with Pam & David. She then went to a cooking demo with the head chef and a lecture on Greenland. Had lunch in Waves Grill...satisfied a hankering for a malted shake and rueben sandwich! Met up with Renee for a bit in our stateroom. Saw some critters from off in the distance from our veranda, but could not make out if they were dolfins or whales. Then headed back to the spa for a nice massage. Really needed it! Had a military veterans meetup in Horizons Lounge. Met some good folks. Had dinner with Pam & David and Kathy & John Granger. We closed the place, then relocated up to Horizons to talk until about 10pm when the band started playing.

- 13 Aug 2023 (Sunday, Cruise Day 7) Siglufjordur, Iceland (Time Zone UTC): Short cruise over to Siglufjordur, which has the distinction of being Iceland's northernmost town. Early breakfast at 6:30AM in Waves Grill. Saw the General Manager, Evan Willemse, there and we chatted with him for a while. He and his wife have lived on Crete for the last couple of years, so lots to talk about with our upcoming trip there next year. Nice guy. He's going to think about some places we might check out while there and let us know sometime on the cruise. Shore excursion was long, but we really enjoyed it. We left Siglufjordur to head back East along the coast to where we were yesterday. The route provided beautiful vistas of glacial features, mountains, fjords, towns, etc. Went through several long tunnels (4-7 Km each). Got to the Jardboden geothermal bath and spent about an hour soaking in hot Icelandic mineral water. After boiling ourselves adequately, we headed back to the same restaurant that we ate at yesterday for pretty much the same meal, but it was good. We met a couple from the DC area, former State Dept folks, and also a couple from Adelaid, Australia. The latter, Kaleb & Teneal (A.K.A Capt and Teneal) were young travel agents. Took in some views of the lava labyrinth that we traversed yesterday, then saddled back up on the bus for a drive to Godafoss (Waterfall of the Gods). This time we saw it from the other side, and the sun actually broke through to give us some fantastic views. After that, another long ride back to the dock where we took a tender back to Marina.

- 12 Aug 2023 (Saturday, Cruise Day 6) Husavik, Iceland (Time Zone UTC): Husavik is the oldest settlement town in Iceland. Quick breakfast, then boarded a tender to shore. Our "Jewels of the North" tour started with a bus ride through the countryside, with first stop at Namaskard geothermal field. The contrasting colors and shapes of the volcanic fumaroles and landscape were fantastic! Heavy smell of sulfur the whole time. Next stop was lunch, where we had a nice soup and some atlantic chard which was really good. After lunch we walked through a volcanic labyrinth of lava fields and still had a bit of time to shop prior to reboarding our bus. Next stop was the Skutustadir pseudo crater fields at a farm. We walked the craters for some great views over the lake, which is named after the swarms of midge flies that plagued us most of the day. They did not bite, but always in our faces and hair. Many folks wore netting hats. We took advantage of the farm-fresh Icelandic ice cream at the site. Really good stuff! Note to bring one next time! Final stop was at Godafoss, water falls of the gods. Beautiful place! Hiked around and took many photos. It was a full day, returning at around 6:30 pm. Headed straight for dinner at Terrace Cafe, then back to our rooms to shower and wrap up the day.

- 11 Aug 2023 (Friday, Cruise Day 5) Cruising the Greenland Sea (Time Zone UTC+1 ship time, UTC actual time): Nice morning. Smooth seas, but more fog, so Marina's fog horn has been sounding. Nice breakfast in Terrace Cafe. Wait staff was as effecient as ever, but seemed a bit stressed, so I told them they were doing a great job and that we really appreciated all they were doing. Saw many smiles and a more relaxed and fun mood from them after that! At 11:15 ship time, passengers engaged in a "Bluenose Ceremony", originated by the Royal Navy, commemorating first crossing from the Arctic Circle. Plunge, then shot of vodka, then blue gue applied to nose...then a quick run to the spa hot tub to warm up!!

- 10 Aug 2023 (Thursday, Cruise Day 4) Depart Longyearbyen and Cruise to Husavik, Iceland (Time Zone UTC+2 to UTC): Left Longyearbyen at around 2:00 AM, cruising toward Husavik, Iceland. Foggy later in the morning. Had a quick breakfast with David & Pam, then back to the room. Renee tossed in some laundry in the laundry room of our deck while I did some data wrangling Renee also hit the gym for a workout. I finally relented and posted some highlights of our Longyearbyen visit on FaceBook. Put together a composite image of our GPS track on a map with photo insets. Had lunch with Jack and Margie, friends from our 2022 World Cruise. Learned from them that our General Manager, Eben, lives on Crete, so we'll be talking with him about our plans for next year's 50th anniversary trip. Dinner was at Red Ginger with Pam & David. First time Renee and I have eaten here, as they did not have one on the smaller Insignia ship. We were presented with our choice of chopsticks. Ate edamame from the bean pods with our hands, then cleaned our hands with the wet towels that grew from pill size when they watered them. Very nice menu and venue. Food was great! Renee had Sea Bass in a banana leaf. The fish melted in our mouths. I had red snapper, which was also very good. Saw the timezone change to UTC from UTC+2 on our GPS unit, but ship time remained UTC+2 with a requested change of 1 hour overnight. Expecting they'll do another time change of 1 hour tomorrow night to get us on Iceland time.

- 9 Aug 2023 (Wednesday, Cruise Day 3) Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen), Norway (Time Zone UTC+2): Up at 0430 local time to watch arrival. Beautiful views of hills and glaciers. Another nice, sunny day in the Arctic! We're at 78.2 degrees North. Longyearbyen is the furthest North community of 1,000 or more people on the planet Earth! Had breakfast and headed off the ship on our own as soon as we could. Passengers had been repeatedly warned in writing and over the PA system about not walking outside of the protected area due to risk of polar bear attack...but we'd need to walk 1.5 Km to town as they had no shuttle available!!! Uneventful walk to town. Some great scenery for photos. Did see a metal sculpture of a polar bear and images on vehicles and buildings, but not the real thing. Outside of a certain area you can only go with someone who carries a rifle. Found the small indoor shopping mall and bought some souvenirs, then tried to call a taxi to take us to the Global Seed Vault. Line was busy after 10 calls, but flagged down a driver who then took us and two others to the seed vault. Very cool to take photos at the door of the vault! Tried to make a withdrawal, but no public access allowed! Then went to the mine where the original two see vaults were (now closed), then back to the Marina for some lunch and a quick nap. At 3:25 we met at the pier for our dog sled on wheels adventure. Turned out way more cool than I'd exepected! The have "Troll Carts" that a team of 6 dogs pull, and we drove! Renee sat in the seat and I stood behind to steer and brake on the way out, then Renee drove on the way back. Lead cart driver was our rifle carrier to deal with any polar bear encounters (we had none). Lot's of fun! The owners are a Vet (wife) and dog trainer (husband), and we went into their house for a nice Norwegian drink and to chat after the ride. The guy trains every dog from birth, creating a strong bond and trust with each dog. The take very good care of the dogs and have independent assessment of conditions to ensure all is good. It was clear to see how well all of the dogs (even those pulling carts way behind) responded if he called to them. They have a young son who made a few cameo appearances while we were talking. Got back to Marina and showered up for dinner at "Jacque's". Jacque Peppin is a famous chef who happens to live near the couple we dined with, so some fun conversation with them. As has become typical, we were about the last to leave the dining room as we enjoy talking with new folks we meet. Back in the room now. It's 10:47 PM as I write this in bright daylight! We leave Longyearbyen at around 2:00AM, so we may stay up to watch that. I'll post the photos in the photo album (link on this page). Great day today!

- 8 Aug 2023 (Tuesday, Cruise Day 2) Cruising the Norwegian & Greenland Seas (Time Zone UTC+2): Casual morning, since we're at sea. Nice to relax and sleep in a bit. Renee was up first to grab some breakfast before her 9:45 Aqua Mar Spa appointment. I got up soon after and headed to the Terrace Cafe for some fruit and coffee. Headed down to the Marina Lounge for the O-Life Lectures, both by Penny Goodman, a Geographer, who presented historical (whaling, mining, tourism, etc.) and geographical information on Svalbard and the Arctic ice. Increased my anticipation to see Longyearbyen and sights thereafter. Renee joined after her Spa session, then we met up with a couple we'd recognized from our 2022 World Cruise to catch up a bit. Went to lunch with David & Pam. Renee did some laundry and helped less experienced passengers on use of equipment, then went and checked out the boutique and specialty restaurants. I spent some time charging devices (GPS, batteries, laptop) and updating information like this log entry;) WiFi is still limited, slow, and quite a challenge to use, but we're managing. Really a business opportunity for telecom providers to update capabilities on cruise ships! Given capabilities like Starlink, etc., there is no reason other than contract negotiations and cost, keeping cruisers in the stone age with internet access! Renee and I did a quick workout. Gym was pretty busy, but did not have to wait for anything. Hit the showers then met David & Pam for dinner in Terrace Cafe. Not taking in the show tonight, but did discuss staying up all night to watch our approach into the archipelagos. Beautiful sunny skies and relatively calm seas for most of the day. Saw a whale spout and glimpse some kind of whale while dining, but could not make out what type. Will likely see more before cruise is done. At 9:36PM, as I write this, you could be getting a sunburn if out too long on the deck!

- 7 Aug 2023 (Monday, Cruise Day 1) Embarked Marina in Tromsø, Norway (Time Zone UTC+2):  Up at 7:00AM local Tromsø time, met David and Pam for breakfast, then finished packing our stuff to prep for move to Oceania Marina. David and I made a recon trip to the cruise port and found that Oceania was ready to begin receiving luggage, so we refueled the rental car and returned to the hotel to pick up luggage and ladies. Fit all into the car, but Renee had to sit on my lap for the trip to port. We dropped luggage, then worked our way through the embarkation process to get our stateroom keys, check in at our muster station, and regroup with David & Pam. We've already seen a few people that we remembered from the Insigina 2022 World Cruise trip. The four of us left the ship (rooms were not yet ready) and went to return the rental car. We Uber'd back to Marina, which turned out great as there was quite a wait for taxi cabs. Our driver was there in about 10 minutes, and we were back at the port in another 10. Grabbed lunch at the Terrace Cafe on Deck 12. Somewhat different look than the smaller Insignia ship we were on, but food was as good and service as well. Definitely a different crowd than we had on the world cruise. By 1:30pm we were allowed to head to our stateroom on Deck 9 forward, and our luggage showed up shortly thereafter. Had a complementary bottle of champaigne chilling and a bottle of wine for us in the room. Spent a couple hours unpacking and arranging stuff in the room (need to be creative with use of space). Our room steward, I Komang of Indonesia, stopped in to greet us and ask if we needed anything. Nice guy. Got connected to internet. Ship departs at 6PM. We'll be dining in the Polo Grill with David & Pam at 7:30 tonight. Tomorrow is a sea day, which will be great for us to relax and settle in.

- 6 Aug 2023 (Sunday, Cruise Day -1) Tromsø, Norway (Time Zone UTC+2):
Out of the hotel at 6:00 AM for scenic drive around neighboring island in search of reindeer. Found several. Told that all reindeer are owned by Laplanders (though locals don't call them that) but they roam free for most of the time. Stopped for several scenic photos of the water, hills and glacial features. Came back to to the hotel for breakfast, then back out again for a hike and did a couple of geocaches. Next stop was the local war museum. Norway was controlled by the Nazis during WWII, so some interesting artifacts and stories there. Drove around where Pam and David Lathrop used to live and toured the university where David worked. Came back to recharge bodies and devices. After dinner we headed up to the summit of a nearby mountain. Pam and Dave took the cable car up and Renee and David hiked up. Took some photos of great views at the sun (kinda) set, though it remained fairly light out all night. We all rode back down on the cable car and headed back to the hotel for a shower and some much needed sleep.

- 4 & 5 Aug 2023 (Friday & Saturday, Cruise Day -3/-2) Travel from Pittsburgh to Tromsø, Norway Home (Time Zone UTC-4 to UTC+2):
Renee's brother Mike was generous enough to drive us to the airport around noo Eastern Time. Flight to IAD Dulles was a bit delayed as we waited for Dulles to clear a disabled aircraft from the runway, but made it there in plenty of time to catch our connecting flight. Took the infamous Dulles people mover to our concourse, then followed a very circuitous route to get to our gate. Flight to Frankfurt on a Lufthansa 747 was long, but uneventful. Crazy amount of walking, passing through passport control, and a long bus ride to the plane (no gate). Flight to Tromsø was also uneventful, and view on arrival was spectacular. Very happy to see Pam and David Lathrop's smiling faces as they picked us up at the airport and drove us to the Clarion Collection Hotel in Tromsø. Drove through a very long tunnel built during WWII that actually had a roundabout in it! Checked into our room right next to the Lathrops, with a gorgeous view of the harbor from our window. After 20+ hours of travel, Renee and I crashed for a while. Had some dinner, then took a nice walk around town with Pam and David.