Almost familiar

“But if you close your eyes

Does it almost feel like

Nothing changed at all?

And if you close your eyes

Does it almost feel like

You’ve been here before?”
-- “Pompeii” by Bastille

Friends, I come to you now from the research vessel Helmer Hanssen, currently underway in the waters surrounding Tromsø, Norway. In the past 24 hours, I landed in Stavanger after a trans-Atlantic flight, unpacked a suitcase, packed another suitcase, jetted north to Tromsø, and boarded a ship. I snagged a few hours of sleep along the way, but to be perfectly frank, I am exhausted.

Tromsø, Norway, as seen from the ship

I passed through Tromsø briefly in 2011 and 2012, each time at the end of a polar expedition aboard the German icebreaker Polarstern. In 2011, my colleagues and I had enough time to walk around downtown, but that’s the extent of my experience with the city. I actually know the fjord much better. In fact, Tromsø is my favorite port city in the world for this reason alone: the entry to the fjord is absolutely stunning. Steep mountain peaks rise on both sides of the water, and now that I’m seeing these cliffs for the third time, I can tell you they look magnificent in any weather - fog, sun, or snow.

Tromsø looked significantly different this time compared to the last time I saw it. Sure, the pastel wooden houses were all in the same places, but they were sprinkled with snow and only dimly lit. When I got to Tromsø at 11 am, the eastern horizon was pink. I never actually saw the sun because it stayed too low on the horizon, and a mere two hours later, the sky began to grow dark again. Two hours of gray dawn light – that’s all I got.

I’m very excited to experience the polar night as we steam further north. I got to see the midnight sun in 2011 and 2012, so I feel it’s only fair that I now am subjected to 24-hour darkness. We’ve got a full day of steaming tomorrow, and we’ll arrive in Longyearbyen, Svalbard on the 7^th. Here’s to a good expedition!