DAY 12 – 1st DAY SOUTH

DAY 12 – 1^st DAY SOUTH

Not much happening today. Tonight, however, we are going to a midnight concert at the Arctic Cathedral in Tromsø.  This was not a big photo opportunity – it was night and no photos were allowed during the concert.

The front of the cathedral was clear glass.

The back was also clear glass – originally.  The light was so strong coming off the mountain that parishioners wore sunglasses to services.  They installed a stain glass window.  When the architect saw the horrifying results, he left and never came back.  It looked OK to me – better during the day, I understand, from fellow cruisers, who saw it on the way north.

The walls are a series of concrete slabs, propped against one another.

There is an organ loft and choir space opposite the altar (church front).  The organ has 2940 pipes and the bellows are made of reindeer hide.

The acoustics were tremendous – in my talentless, uneducated, can’t-hear-when-the-water’s-running opinion.  There was a singer, a cellist and an organist/pianist.  I don’t think they were miked, and the sound filled the hall, especially the singer.  It was pretty neat.