Tromso – The Punta Arenas of Norway

Sorry for the hiatus on blogging. Internet access proved difficult at the end of the trip and the last couple of days were jam-packed. Now that I’m home, I’ll write two more blog entries recapping our last two days of tour.

Tromso was a wonderful little town. Felt very much like Punta Arenas, Chile. Our hostel was more like a hotel, which was a treat for the last stop. The nicest thing was all the rooms had bathrooms. No more squeegeeing!

After checking in and a delicious dinner, we headed to Tromso’s famous park, which conveniently was in walking distance to our hostel. I’m not sure if the pictures will do it justice, but take it from me, it has to be the most beautiful park on the planet. The boys had a ball running around playing football frisbee, volleyball (with the Princess ball!!! – ask your son!), collecting shells (tidal water) and swinging on swings. (yes, they are all still little boys). I’m sure this was the first time your sons played in a park until 10pm in broad day light. Weird and cool.

Wednesday morning we headed to the Den Norske Kirke and did a logistical rehearsal. Great old wooden church. Great acoustic. We then went off to the one and only shopping mall in Tromso, had some lunch, busked for audience members, and then decided to do an impromptu concert in the middle of the mall. At the last minute, Martha went to get permission, and as the security walked her to the spot where they suggested we assemble, we were already assembled and ready to sing. Funny. We were a huge hit.

After a little nap in the church, we got dressed and had our concert. As usual, the audience was enthralled by the boys’ performance. I had an attire malfunction of sorts! My formal attire got left on the bus earlier in the day and we couldn’t reach the bus driver. We collected some extra formal attire in grad garment bags in attempt to piece together something I could wear, but no go. (Depressing! I’ll be hitting the gym this week.) I ended up sitting in the audience and letting Fitz conduct from the piano. Nice to sit back and enjoy the boys, although I had to sit on my hands. I was proud at how well they did without a conductor. At this point on tour, the boys are a well-oiled musical machine.

Following a pizza dinner (we ate in the pews!) we headed to our second concert of the day and our final venue of the concert tour – the Arctic Cathedral! Very cool space. We began a new tradition by letting the graduated seniors pick pieces they wanted to sing for the last concert of their KSB career. A handful of them were no longer in our repertoire, so we dusted things off earlier that day. My favorite choice was “Old Dan Tucker.” All the grads sang it with all the current trebles in their treble voices. Great fun for everyone. Incredibly nostalgic for the grads. And for Fitz and me and all the adults who have watched these guys grow up. For three minutes these young men were little boys again, singing and clapping away. A wonderful gift. Some of the other pieces the Grads requested were “Hold Me Rock Me” (an all-time KSB favorite) “Make them Hear You,” and “I Need You To Survive,” which we dedicated to the young Norwegians who lost their lives last July.

Oh, and perhaps another new tradition has been born. At the start of the concert, each senior lit a candle. At the end of the concert, after we sang “Here We Stand,” the seniors blew the candles out to signify the end of their KSB career. Very moving. Not only were most of the seniors crying, but most of the trebles were too. The tears continued well after the concert had ended, where a big hug fest commenced. When one of our youngest trebles was asked why he couldn’t stop crying, he said “I’m just thinking about how much everyone will cry when I graduate.” Another trebled wouldn’t let Dean Bloomingdale go and said as he hugged him tightly, “you can’t leave, who will sing the ‘We Are The Boys’ solo.” Too funny.

We ended the very emotional evening with a cable car ride up to the vista over Tromso. Ridiculously beautiful but to tell you the truth, the boys spent more time in line for ice cream. I think they had finally fallen victims to BSSO. (Beautiful Scenery Sensory Overload.)

More later…