February 17, 2020 – Hammerfest

February 17, 2020 – Hammerfest
There wasn’t much going on this morning until 10:15am when the Exploration Team showed us the natural gas plant. It is on the island next to Hammerfest. They have 5 lines that bring in the gas from wells on the sea floor. They chill it to -160°C where it becomes a liquid. They ship it as a liquid to many countries including the U.S.
At 10:45am we landed at Hammerfest. Peter took us on a walk around the city center and up to the church. It was snowing and 28°F. The church was designed to look like the racks that they dry cod on. I went into the Polar Bear Society museum. It was very interesting. All aboard time was 12:45pm just in time for lunch.
At 3:30pm Peter did a lecture about the Sami people and reindeers. Only Samis are allowed to own reindeer in Norway.
Dinner was risotto with dried cod, pollock with potatoes and turnips, and beet root and chocolate cake with ice cream. Those of us that prefer not to eat fish got plain risotto and chicken breast with turnips and potatoes.
At 15 minutes before midnight, I’ll be going ashore in Tromso to hear a concert in the Cathedral. More about that tomorrow.