Transportation

One expects snow in mid-March in Tromso and--the area obliges. It snows, it gets very cold at night so roads ice over, the plows seem to be busy at all times of day but particularly at night removing snow to the sides and compacting it on the road. No salt, very little sand.  And, cars just zip by at mind-boggling speeds making me wonder why I am slipping on the slopes and they are not.

Well, winter tires and spikes--of course. Some buses even have chains on their back wheels, they must really get into icy and mountainous terrain. I was informed that what really makes it all work is the law which clearly states that if you end up on the road in a ditch or worse and your car isn't prepared for the weather, you'll get a fine, a hefty one. This also applies to freak snow storms that may happen in, say, late May. This means that winter tires will have to stay on for a long time and need to be replaced often.

And, of course, schools don't close when it snows unless it happens to be a severe storm. Interestingly enough while riding in a van through what I would consider a medium-heavy snowfall with quite decreased visibility my British neighbor announced that the world would stand still in Britain if so much snow were to fall all at once. That sounded very familiar. It all boils down to preparedness of the driver and road conditions. Chicago vs Washington, northern Norway vs Britain.

Ah, Norwegian road conditions are a dream!! I saw one pothole in the city.  I guess the others are iced over or didn't have the chance to develop yet--the roads are great, not only within the city of Tromso but all the way to the Finnish border. I can attest to that.

http://www.norwegenservice.net/tromsos-tunnelwelten

Downtown Tromso had some other surprises in store. A underground tunnel system--one enters a tunnel but one never seems to have to leave it. Indeed there are three roundabout within the tunnel system (see map to the right). On tunnel spoke leads directly from the city center to the airport, another almost to the other side of the island. In addition to all that, the area sports the undersea tunnel crossing the Tromso Sund. This tunnel system was built between 1988 and 1999 and is financed by a gasoline tax.

The tunnel also serves as underground parking lot with direct entrances to the city; about 900 cars can find parking. Not for free, of course, but for a better fare than in the city itself. There is no such thing as free parking. As a result, the streets can be kept free of the worst snow.

The video above gives a good impression of what it feels like to drive around the tunnel system.

Norwegians treat pedestrians as if they mattered--cars have to stop even if there is no crosswalk; all one needs to do is show intention of crossing the road. Obviously one wouldn't want to abuse this wonderful rule, on busy streets it is easy enough to find a crosswalk.

The public transportation (bus)  system is not only very good, it also employs incredibly nice and helpful drivers! Since my room with my Norwegian family is way out in the suburbs, I get to worry when 'my' bus stop appears--clearly I live in a neighborhood with rock names, how appropriate. 'My' stop is at Granittvegen (granite) which is after Gneisvegen (gneiss) and Quartsvegen (quartz). Waiting for the buses has taught me a lesson in adding more layers to my wardrobe, if that is even feasible.

'Hurtigruten' ships come to shore at 34 ports along Norway's
west coast
Source: Hurtigruten
 http://www.hurtigruten.com/de/Norwegen-
Reisen/klassische-seereisen/die-klassische-postschiffroute/

But this chapter wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention the shipping route along Norway's west coast. Founded in 1893, the first regular ship service connected the northern Norwegian area with the south. At first the route led from Trondheim to Hammerfest, later and still today from Bergen to Kirkenes--the latter a trip of about 1 week. This particular shipping line was called 'hurtigruten'--'quick route' and that is the name for today's cruise ship industry which has expanded from it Norwegian coast all the way to Antarctica. In Tromso, one of the 12 ships of this particular line will appear at 2:30 every day.

In the 1970's my parents took a tour with the old postal boats, the precursor to the more modern cruise ships--nowadays, mail is distributed by air and land. The boats concentrate on cruise tourism and port-hopping for the locals (a limited number of cars can be boarded as well)-an important alternative to driving in winter as the roads can get blocked due to winter conditions. The boats can transport between 290 - 1000 people; some of the boats were built in 1959, 1964 and 1983, but most hail from the 1990s and three from the 2000s.

Central Square downtown Tromso with Hurtigruten ship in background.