Gilmore Girls and the End of the World
September 11-17, 2016
Part of being a scientist is keeping current with what is state-of-the-art in your field. One of the easiest ways to do this is to attend conferences that are specific to your area of research, where notable scientists present their current results that may or may not already be published. While looking for conferences related to thermoelectrics, Mazz’s current area of interest, she stumbled across a small conference in Norway that would have some of the top scientists in the field presenting and organizing. Ever a fan of Scandinavian culture, it wasn’t difficult for Mazz to decide that she wanted to attend. The deal was sweetened when she found out that the entire conference would be held on a cruise ship that followed along the coast of Northern Norway. The irony of hosting an energy-related conference on the least energy efficient form of transportation, a cruise ship, was quickly pointed out by one of her coworkers, but this did not deter Mazz from wanting to be shuttled between the artic towns of Norway on a big old boat. After a bit of digging, Kirb figured out how expensive it would be for him to tag along, and decided to sit this one out. Mazz was going on a solo adventure to Norway.
The MS Finnmarken would be departing early on Monday morning, so Mazz had to stay the night in Trondheim the night before to make sure that she didn’t miss the boat. She arrived in Trondheim early enough to have most of a day to explore the town. The first thing she noticed after stepping off the plane was that everyone else who had been onboard was flocking to the duty free shop. Always interested in a deal, and worried for her pocketbook based on how notoriously expensive Norway is and the locals’ reactions to duty free, Mazz convinced herself to buy a pint of whiskey and a few beers that she didn’t need. After dropping off her bags at the hotel, she made her way to Nidaros Cathedral, the northernmost gothic cathedral in the world. This cathedral is notable as the traditional location for the consecration of the King of Norway, in addition to being featured on the cover of Mayhem’s 1994 album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Unaware of this before going, Mazz mostly went because it was something to do inside while it was pouring down rain. She later went to lunch at Baklandat Skydsstation where she sampled traditional Smørrebrød and read a book until the rain stopped.
Later in the afternoon when the skies cleared up, Mazz found that there were plenty of local trails on which to go hiking around the city. She chose one that followed a series of waterfalls up a hill over the town. All of the locals gave her strange looks – presumably because they are not used to seeing people hiking solo, although maybe there was just something on her face. Eventually she came back down the hill and went for a stroll along the waterfront, before making her way to the old town bridge for golden hour. There was a Seahawks game that evening, so she grabbed one of her airport beers and settled into her hotel in time for kickoff.
The next day was the beginning of the cruise on the MS Finnmarken. It began with some plenary lectures, followed by an awkward meet and greet between the scientists. You will probably never meet your next BFF at a science conference. We were given our itinerary for the week, which included several daytime stops at various port towns along coastal arctic Norway. Each day of the cruise/conference was much the same. Wake up early, eat breakfast, go to lectures, stop in a port town and explore for a few hours, then back on the ship for more talks, followed by dinner, and sleep. Repeat. It seems mundane for sure, but there were definitely some notable sights. The first evening was an early one, with Mazz mostly hanging out by herself and watching old episodes of the Gilmore Girls with a couple whiskey cokes, because it turns out that scientists are not the funnest group of people to be on a cruise ship with.
Early the next morning, the captain announced that the ship was passing into the Arctic Circle with a couple short blasts of the horn. The Arctic Circle is at a latitude of approximately 66°33’46”, and in Norway this happens to cross Vikingen Island, where there is a statue of a globe to mark this latitude. On the evening of the second day, we got to eat dinner while passing through the Lofoten Islands, a place that Mazz can’t wait to return to, but on land next time. That evening was spent drinking a beer alone in a hot tub on top of the cruise ship, chasing the Northern Lights. They didn’t show up while she was out there that night, but that didn’t deter her from trying again (although they did end up eluding her for the entire trip).
On the third day, the ship stopped in Tromsø for an extended time. Mazz and several of her new scientist acquaintances went for a walk from the port, across the Tromsø Bridge, to the Arctic Cathedral, which maybe sounds more impressive than it was. While it is called a cathedral, it is actually just a small parish church that was built in the 1960’s, but hey, it was something to do. When it was time to walk back, it had started pouring rain. Most of the scientists wanted to explore some other areas, so Mazz split with them so she could see more of the ships facilities. The facilities of interest were mostly the gym, followed by the bar. Mazz excels at making friends while drinking by herself at bars. The cruise ship bar, however, turned out to be an exception. She quickly learned that Norwegian cruise ships are largely filled with groups of senior citizens, most of whom don’t want to day drink on the top floor of the boat with Mazz. Naturally, she made friends with the bartenders instead, and enjoyed some free drinks before returning to her responsibilities as a conference participant.
The next day was the final full day on the cruise ship. The conference organizers planned that all of the conference participants would go on an excursion hosted by the cruise ship out to Nordkapp that day. Nordkapp sits on a 307 meter high cliff overlooking the Arctic Ocean. At a latitude of 70°58′41″N, it is commonly referred to as the northern most point in Europe. However, this is a fallacy, as you can actually see the northernmost point, Cape Nordkinn, from Nordkapp. We stopped after breakfast in the town of Honningsvåg, where we were loaded onto tour buses for the outing. On the drive out to Nordkapp, we passed by numerous reindeer grazing in pastures. The Sami are the native people of Scandinavia, and many of them practice a form of semi-nomadic reindeer herding. During the summer, some Sami can be found with their reindeer near Nordkapp. They are happy to offer handmade souvenirs to the many tourists visiting Nordkapp, and to show off one or two of their favorite reindeer. Nordkapp itself turned out to be quite nice, with a large globe statue on top of a cliff. Mazz walked around the grounds and enjoyed the cultural center, before having a cappuccino at the end of the world.
Following the outing to Nordkapp, the conference continued. Until this point in the journey, the boat had mostly been sheltered from the elements by islands to the west. As we rounded the Northern tip of Norway, however, we became largely exposed. It was pretty entertaining to watch the scientists who had to present their research in the choppy waters of the Arctic turning green and trying their hardest not to lose it.
The next morning all of the conference participants departed the MS Finnmarken in Kirkenes, just a stone’s throw from Russia. All of the connecting flights from Oslo to Berlin were sold out when Mazz booked her return flights, so she got to spend an extra day in Norway. Surprisingly, there was pretty good shopping in Kirkenes, and Mazz was able to buy several presents for herself and Kirb. She closed out her final evening in Norway by ordering room service pizza, finishing the last of her airport alcohol, and watching the Gilmore Girls - a very Mazz thing to do in the Arctic.