Trondheim, Norway

Given our geographic location, we’ve had daylight around the clock for the past few days. Notice I didn’t say sunlight – I know it’s up there somewhere. It’s a strange environment. I’m a light sleeper anyway, and typically get up around 4am at home, but it’s still dark at that hour. I woke at 2am this morning because today’s a very special day, which I’ll get into momentarily. At 2am, you’d think it was mid-afternoon…no difference in brightness. Cheryl didn’t share my same level of curiousity & excitement but instead I heard, “close the drapes, dammit”! There’s that name again…my mother for years calling me “dammit” and Cheryl continuing the tradition.

I’m particularly excited today because as I write this, the drum corps I’m associated with (Carolina Crown) is competing in their first show of the season back in Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium. With a 9-hour time difference, I should be able to pull the competitive scores in a couple hours, but I’m like an expectant father pacing the floors, and have been for several days. This is the first (and last) season-opener we’ve missed in years. I’ll share the results with you later today.

When I was up in the Lido getting my first cup of coffee, I met a gentleman by the name of Derrick – probably my age or a little younger. He’s an employee of Holland America, and goes from ship-to-ship inspecting the various exhaust systems. We struck up a conversation and after learning of his Polish roots, I asked him to share some of his childhood memories, knowing he must have had challenging times. His most memorable was the nuclear incident at neighboring Chernobyl and as he described, the tremendous cloud of ‘dust’ that descended on his tiny town, and no one knew what it was until several people had been exposed to intense radiation, himself included. He described the panic…the devastation of trees…of vegetation…of infrastructure. Then he shared a few scars of his own, covered by a thick jacket. Several severe radiation burns. But he was lucky. He lost two younger brothers and a sister. A very interesting & educational conversation to hear, firsthand, of not only the incident itself but how it affected his community in the weeks, months, & years thereafter. Tough life for this guy and thousands of others. It sure makes you stop and count your blessings. 

UPDATE

This is another new one for us – Trondheim, Norway – population about 187,000. They tell us it’s the third most populous municipality in Norway, although the fourth largest urban area. The city itself lies on the south shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the Nidelva River. We entered the river at about 8:30 this morning, and dropped anchor at Noon.

Before sharing some info on the city and posting pictures, I received an update from Indianapolis and we placed second in our first competition, one that was broadcast live to hundreds of theaters across the country. Not to worry – we don’t have our full show on the field yet, and we were within a couple points of last years world champion. We’ll get there.

A full sun finally emerged and although there was still a chill in the air, I was able to wear shorts for the first time since leaving Amsterdam. Cheryl wasn’t quite as brave and in fact, was insistent on wearing a new heavy jacket she bought earlier in the morning. It wasn’t on long.

We were off the ship by 12:15 and heading to the city on foot – about a 15-minute walk. What a clean place! Just adjacent to the pier is Rockheim - The National Discovery Center for Pop and Rock. It was built back in 2010 inside an old warehouse, but characterized by an easily recognizable roof in the shape of a box. "The box" is decorated by thousands of tiny lights that change in a variety of colors & patterns, and is a landmark in the cityscape. Also adajacent to the pier – a HUGE indoor waterpark with see-through plexiglass. There must have been a couple hundred folks in there!

The city is dominated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research (SINTEF), St. Olavs University Hospital and other technology-oriented institutions.

We’re told the city has experienced several major fires. Since much of the city was made of wooden buildings (similar to Alesund we visited a few days ago), many of the fires caused severe damage. In fact, back in 1650 or ’51 (don’t recall) 90% of all buildings within the city limits were destroyed. 

During World War II, Trondheim was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1940 until the end of the war in Europe, 1945. Other than a coastal battery opening fire, there was no resistance to the invasion. During the occupation, Trondheim was the home of the notorious Norwegian Gestapo agent, Henry Rinnan, who operated from a nearby villa and infiltrated Norwegian Resistance groups. The city and its citizens were also subject to harsh treatment by the occupying powers, including imposition of martial law in 1942. During this time the Germans turned the city and its environs into a major base for submarines, which included building the large submarine base and bunker DORA I…again, DORA 1 is a German submarine base that housed the 13th U-boat Flotilla during the World War II occupation of Norway. Today the bunker houses various archives, among them the city archives, the university and state archives. More recently, DORA has been used as a concert venue.

As mentioned, Trondheim is situated where the Nidelva River meets Trondheim Fjord with an excellent harbor and sheltered condition. The river used to be deep enough for most boats in the Middle Ages. An avalanche of mud and stones made it less navigable and partly ruined the harbor in the mid-17th-century. The municipality's top elevation is the Storheia Hill, roughly 1,900 feet above sea level – absolutely beautiful. 

Most of the city center is scattered with small speciality shops. However, the main shopping area is concentrated around the pedestrianised streets of Nordre gate, Tryggvasons gate and Thomas Angells gate… even though the rest of the city center is provided with everything from old, well-established companies to new, hip and trendy shops. The streets are very easy to navigate and again, VERY clean. In the mid- to late 1990s, the area surrounding the old drydock and ship construction buildings of a defunct shipbuilding company was renovated and old industrial buildings were torn down to make way for condominiums. A shopping center was also built, known as Solsiden (The Sunny Side). Apparently, this is a popular residential and shopping area, especially for young people as we saw many.

Wandering around, we found a statue of Olav Tryggvason, the founder of Trondheim, located in the city's central square, mounted on top of an obelisk. The statue base is also a sun dial, but it is calibrated to UTC+1 so that the reading is inaccurate by one hour in the summer.

A statue of Leif Ericson is located at the seaside, close to the old Customs Building, the cruise ship facilities and the new swimming hall. The statue is a replica, the original being located at a Seattle marina. Go figure!

The Nidaros Cathedral and the Archbishop's Palace are located side-by-side in the middle of the city center. This is where we and several shipmates were heading first. They say this cathedral, built from 1070 on, is the most important Gothic monument in Norway and was Northern Europe's most important Christian pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages, with pilgrimage routes leading to it from Oslo in southern Norway and from regions of Sweden I don’t recall offhand. Today, it’s the northernmost medieval cathedral in the world, and the second largest in Scandinavia. During the Middle Ages, and again after independence was restored in the early 1800’s, the Cathedral was the coronation church of the Norwegian kings. As recent as 1991, the present King Harald V and Queen Sonja were consecrated here and then in 2002, their daughter Princess Martha Louise married the writer Ari Behn. Holland America’s price for transportation to the Cathedral and a peek inside was $218.00 per couple – we paid $20 total, which also included a 15-minute pipe organ concert. Quite honestly, and as beautiful as the exterior is, we both thought the interior was drab, dingy, and very musty compared to other places we’ve visited. We weren’t allowed to take photos, and would’ve liked to as the pipe organ is one of the largest in the world. Many photos of the exterior though. 

Then, there are Lutheran Churches – 21 of them within the city. Many are several hundred years old, with a couple which were built almost 1000 years ago.

I’ve been wondering about the government in Norway, and finally learned today that all municipalities in Norway, including Trondheim, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. Each municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. I’m still trying to get info on the tax structure.

We really enjoyed our visit and shortly after we got back to the ship, clouds rolled in and it rained buckets for several minutes – perfect timing!