{"id":12278,"date":"2025-10-03T16:22:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T16:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/?p=12278"},"modified":"2025-10-03T16:22:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T16:22:55","slug":"friday-3-october-narvik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/03\/friday-3-october-narvik\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday 3 October Narvik"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was reading an article with\u00a0The Thursday Murder Club\u00a0<\/em>author Richard wotsisname last night when I realized what this cruise reminds me of: an upmarket retirement home.<\/p>\n

And to be honest, if my retirement was like this, it wouldn\u2019t be half bad.<\/p>\n

\"\"I\u2019m currently writing this as the only customer at the Cabana Bar on the tippy top deck at the back of the ship. It\u2019s chilly out here but I\u2019m wearing my long sheepskin coat. Simon has just snaffled a window seat at the Commodore Club right at the other end of the boat and ordered himself a Negroni, so won\u2019t be joining me. I should point out my cocktail is nonalcoholic, made from 0% alcohol rum. I\u2019m hoping for some more quality aurora time tonight so keeping my head clear.<\/p>\n

The new cabin is perfect, in spite of the fact it was the centre of a crew emergency drill this morning. This is what we saw on returning to our room after breakfast. I think it signifies we are safe from the collision and subsequent inferno that enveloped the rest of deck 6 in this scenario. Phew!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After breakfast we walked into the uninspiring town of Narvik, a new low in charmlessness after Troms\u00f8. Again it\u2019s a newish city based around iron ore extracted from Sweden and shipped out through its harbour that doesn\u2019t freeze over due to the Gulf Stream.<\/p>\n

We spent an hour in the war museum, which is larger than outside appearances would suggest. Norway had a complicated time during WW2. Initially it wanted to be neutral, but its iron ore meant that it got dragged into the fighting anyway. The Allies had the upper hand briefly, but then the Nazis took over and occupied it for much of the war. The locals were often relatively well treated because they were tall and fair and therefore just the sort of people Hitler liked.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ski field in the background<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the museum we wandered around town aimlessly for a while, looking for anywhere the locals might spend time. We hadn\u2019t managed to get tickets for the train ride, and the gondolas that serve the local ski field were closed, so we ended up just going back to the ship.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Disconsolate passengers wandering back home<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
At least the fall foliage is pretty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was reading an article with\u00a0The Thursday Murder Club\u00a0author Richard wotsisname last night when I realized what this cruise reminds me of: an upmarket retirement home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8Ukf-3c2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10198,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/06\/the-secret-of-youth\/","url_meta":{"origin":12278,"position":0},"title":"The secret of youth","author":"Interloper11","date":"June 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2026is to surround yourself with old people! Am at a daytime screening of a French film festival movie up the coast at retirement central, and I\u2019ve reduced the average age of the cinema patrons by several years just by being here. Actually that sentence makes it sound as if I\u2019m\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/IMG_8124-1-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11900,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/11\/hi-ho\/","url_meta":{"origin":12278,"position":1},"title":"Hi ho!","author":"Interloper11","date":"June 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Someone asked me the other day if I had any retirement plans (why do people keep asking me this??) As I said to my interlocutor, I\u2019m currently in a sweet spot at work, where I feel as if I\u2019m both good at my job\u00a0and\u00a0enjoying it, so I have no plans\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5674,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/27\/still-in-omapere\/","url_meta":{"origin":12278,"position":2},"title":"Still in Omapere","author":"Interloper11","date":"October 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Another gorgeous day. Temperature in the low twenties, a nice walk around the coast at low tide, then a swim before a glass of rose on the terrace before dinner. What could be better? Will retirement be like this? If so, then bring it on! 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Yes, it\u2019s a mind boggling amount of money, but I am gradually resigning\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/accordingtokirsty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/IMG_7555-300x265.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4332,"url":"https:\/\/accordingtokirsty.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/09\/4332\/","url_meta":{"origin":12278,"position":4},"title":"Mannered","author":"Interloper11","date":"March 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Have just been to see a midday showing of the movie Emma here in Waikanae. As it was the middle of a working day in a retirement town, the large audience were mainly elderly. 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