The Olympiad Trip - Day 11

Today was the first rest day of the event ... but before I get to that I should make mention of the Bermuda Party held the previous night (and the reason for the delay in posting my previous day's report).
This was my first time to a Bermuda Party (being my first Olympiad I have attended) & I must admit to being underwhelmed by the experience. Essentially the party was held in a nightclub, with a DJ playing largely dance/house music upstairs (which turned out to be so crowded that later in the evening people were left to wait outside as the area was filled to capacity). Although I stayed here for a bit over an hour & said hi to a few people, it seemed to be mostly people standing around drinking & trying to talk over the music, with a few people dancing near the front of the room. Later I moved to the downstairs area, which also had a bar, but plenty of chairs & lounges to sit at & did not have the thumping dance music of upstairs. I spent the remainder of my evening in this area & chatted with most of the Australians & New Zealanders who were there (which was good as I have had very little chance to catch up with them at the chess, somewhat surprisingly).
Anyway, I did attempt to take a few photos, but bear in mind that it was rather dark ...

DJ playing mostly House & Dance tunes

There was a small balcony area above the main dancefloor

The main dancefloor early in the evening ...

This left the rest day, although the usual bus schedule was still in place. I decided not to set an alarm today, so when I woke up just before 10am, I had to have a reasonably quick shower to make the 10:30 bus, or else be stuck in Malangen Brygger for the whole day!
Once in Tromso, I grabbed lunch from the usual hotel before heading for a walk around the town.

There were a number of market stalls in town & there seemed to be quite a lot of people walking about the town ... and not just chess players!

There's quite a few statues of various famous Norwegian people around the town ...

Helmer Hanssen, Norwegian explorer

Roald Amundsen, Norwegian explorer

Ludwig Mack, founder of the Mack Brewery, where the tournament is being played

Ingvald Jaklin, Norwegian politician who was also major of Tromso on a number of occasions

Adolf Thomsen, Norwegian composer

Former mayor Alfred Hansen, who died in a plane crash according to the inscription
From there I walked across the Tromso Bridge towards the Arctic Cathedral, which is an amazing looking building.

Looking south from the top of Tromso Bridge

Looking north from Tromso Bridge, back towards the chess arena

A view of the Arctic Cathedral from Tromso Bridge

View to the south from outside the Arctic Cathedral

View to the north from the Arctic Cathedral, towards the city of Tromso

Tromso Bridge from the Arctic Cathedral

Front of the Arctic Cathedral

Side of the Arctic Cathedral

Another view of the side of the Arctic Cathedral

Next on the trip was the cable car not far from the Church, although as I left the church, a thunderstorm hit Tromso, which made for a walk in the rain, as well as some interesting photos from Mount Stor­stei­nen, which overlooks the city. 

Schematics of the cable car in the waiting area

View across the water from the building at the base of the cable car

The trip to the top begins

View across to Tromso Bridge from the cable car

The Arctic Cathedral from the cable car

The café at the top of the cable car ride 

View from the top, with fog & clouds on their way ...

Another view from the top with some fog

The chess arena, from the top of the mountain

The non-view when the fog rolls in ...

Compared to the view once it passes

Mount Stor­stei­nen selfie, with Tromso Bridge behind me

Cable car at the top of the mountain

A view down the cable

The other side of the cable, with city below

Ready for the return trip back down the mountain

Heading back down, above the fog 

On the way down the mountain

Heading down the mountain

Heading down the mountain

Another view of houses on the mountainside

 

After a bus trip back to the main city (after all it was raining by then), I took a few more photos before finally heading home for the evening

 Tromso Cathedral

Inside the Nerstranda Shopping Centre in the middle of Tromso

Not a job I'd look forward to ... cleaning the hotel windows ... when a storm comes in!

Back to work tomorrow, so more chess photos & less tourist photos next time!