Meander Ingwa

Kirkwall I would make every effort to get a private guide to visit the prehistoric Skara Brae and the stone circles. Also, dont miss the Italian church, built by WWII POWs. As far as weather, you could have anything from dreary gray and rainy to stunningly warm. Expect wind Expect damp

having spent a lot of time at SeaTac waiting for a parking garage shuttle, hotel shuttles seem unrelenting. Check with your chosen hotel to find out what their shuttle circuit is. Some are timed on the half hour, so 2 per hour. If you just miss one you many have 1/2 hour wait. Others may be on demand. Many of the airlines use the local hotels for their flight crews . Be aware that some people will complain about a 10 minute wait so their expectations may drive the tone of their opinons and willingness to complain about them.

you can ride the link rail from the airport into the core downtown where you have a wealth of choices for hotels. Easy enough to return to the train station the next day. Or you can make use of Uber/Lyft/taxi . If you wish to stay right at King Street then the two hotels mentioned are your choice. Do pay attention to game day or special concert events at the stadiums close by, as mentioned. Being further uptown you are also closer to places of interest to enjoy if you have time. sit on the left hand side of the train for best views on your journey north

I find windy dot com to be very useful for global weather. on the current map, you dont need a degree in Atmospheric Sciences to understand what that bullseye in the middle of the Atlantic is ( or means). It is particularly good for finding lightning and tracking storm fronts. The map includes a "waves" layer that you can click in to

OP i have spent a lot of time in small hotels in this neighborhood extensively. Cotswold is spot on, I was going to post the same. This is a very basic place with little to no amenities . Most if the buildings there are not going to have elevators and you will have to drag bags. If that is OK, then you are fine. Encourage you to do the Premier Inn for a more reliable and comfortable stay. Other options some of the B&B on Cartwright Gardens, though they don't have lifts either , a mire pleasant surround

that is what I have heard. The water is not properly hot enough for most black teas. Green tea is typically done at 175F and that is the lowest end of the brewing temps that I know of. Most black tea need just off boil

there are many stores around the area ranging from bodegas to wine sellers with tasting rooms. BCLiquor at Harbor Centre has an extensive offering of international bottles as well as spirits and beers

Rome2Rio app is handy it has bus routes and times The visittromso dot no has info for bus ticket machines

AMEN It is a horrible thing to do to any coffee let along good coffee

some chains like Safeway Target and WalMart carry the Fevertree line, but it is by order and ship rather than on the shelf at the store. Total Wine and More carries it so dont limit yourself to grocery stores but check out your bottle shops, too

I broke down and got a Keurig. I was a French Press / Pour thru Melita for years and have grown tired of the coffee ground mess. I find I drink slightly more coffee than before. I considered Nespresso but find the purchase of pods ( direct stores and on line) and price point a little to precious.

I would only trust a refrigerator in Sickbay over the small units in rooms. There are small units that are specific for maintaining a constant cold temp desired for medication. Contact and find out about special accommodations, include your needs on your customers forms

Was going to suggest looking for a botillaria if you are staying someplace the night before but you say you won't have time

THANKS!!! I appreciate your recipe for the coffee maker. When I retired I think I missed the coffee machine the most.

Like Alices Restaurant, you can find almost anything your want on Google Maps. It is my most used app. It took me a long time to jump in to the navigation feature. But these days I am often in strange places using rental cars and it can certainly be a lifesaver.

Do the machines they use have a specific type pod or are Nespresso pods universal across their machine line? I am NOT a 4 level coffee drinker, more likely to want to take it to 11 ( LOL)

Do you have Google Maps? Zoom in on your city, select search here and enter ATM. It will show you where the bank ATM are. Tromso has one a few blocks from one of the common docking areas. Stavanger, being larger has many more

Having both Uber and Lyft on call is handy in busy areas. I often summon rudes on bith then select the closest

Perhaps you can visit roll call and ask if someone on any ship currently under sail could kindly check for you .

@loeytalldog you were fortunate. A semi-truck flipped on southbound I5 at the Tukwila curve the area just before the exit to the airport. It landed sideways across all the lanes. Things were a mess for quite some time through the afternoon The driver was OK and thankfully did not spill the load. One historic flip was on the viaduct ( waterfront highway back then) where the cargo spill was salmon. The southbound was completely shut and the resulting gridlock was historic . A year later a truck spilled a load of frozen crab legs. I guess when we spill seafood we go large. I think a city day of mourning would have been called if it had been Dungeness Crabs

You can use Google Flights to see your options. Norwegian air flys direct to Tromso from Oslo. It is a relatively inexpensive flight. The airport is west of the island

and conversely, in my state, it was reported this morning that about 250,000 people do not have a bank account and no access to electronic type payments. There are efforts to block vendors from refusing cash. there is also a well established anti-bank / mistrust, among our immigrant population. prohibiting the use of cash is one way to marginalize and weed out people

You can go on Google maps and enter car rental while zoomed in on the town. All the major American agencies are there. None of them are far, though that is also particular to your own opinion and mobility. Only you can judge if you can easily walk .

Call a Lyft ride when you are at your pick up point unless you are talking about an advance booking for a site pick up like the port. Go to the Lyft web site for directions to advance book

To optimize northern light chances you need a lot of dark sky hours along with the blessing from the sun. I am going in January. February is also a high prospect. October would be the early part of the dark season and you will be exploring at midnight. I suspect off season Med will be more to your liking