Leaving the Arctic Circle

We were lucky to have seen the Northern Lights on our first night in Tromso, for they did not appear again - presumably because of cloud cover. The downside to seeing them so early in our trip was that it was a sort of anti-climax, as we were left with no great sight to anticipate. Tromso is a magical sort of place for someone who has never seen solid snow before, and the surrounding mountains are breathtaking, but the great problem at this time of year is the few hours of sunlight, the weather and the fact almost every shop and restaurant is closed for Christmas. This meant that for a great part of each day we were confined to our (albeit very nice) hotel, entertaining ourselves with ever more competitive games of Uno! As Simon said, the experience had the slightest touch of The Shining to it, thankfully minus the sinister spiritual presence! 

From Tromso

We were able to find one restaurant outside of our hotel that was open Christmas Eve - the hotel next door! On offer was a traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner - buffet style - including salted lamb chops, pork ribs, Christmas sausage, salmon, spiced cabbage and a lot more. Each of us ate more than our fair share, complemented by a Christmas beer from the local brewery (Mack's)!

Sadly it rained almost all night, washing away the snow so that Christmas Day was not white. We dined in the restaurant hotel for Christmas lunch. Rebecca, Simon and I all went for the reindeer (yes, we ate Rudolf!) and were rewarded with tender, flavoursome meat. Rebecca and Danny even came bearing gifts, which helped bring a little more Christmas to the occasion.

On our final day in Tromso (Boxing Day) we got to see bearded seals (see Simon's photo) and a panoramic film of the Arctic at the Polaria museum before being treated to the sight of snow falling while tucking into pizza at the Norwegian equivalent of Pizza Hut (Peppe's Pizza). The day ended with a snowfight and beer!

A 4am start on Saturday for the first flight out of Tromso. It had been snowing most of the night and the city was covered in a thick, white coating. We were a little worried the snowstorm might prevent us taking off, but no fear, the airport was well set up for this with a de-icing vehicle that sprays aircraft with a special liquid to prevent snow and ice from sticking to the body and wings.

Each of us chose window seats one behind the other and were greeted by a gorgeous red sunrise after takeoff. As we headed south and into daylight high above the clouds, I have never so appreciated sunlight and its natural warmth. Tromso was a great place to visit, but I don't think I could survive the long winter nights!

 

I was glad to get back to London, although something is amiss when you start thinking the UK capital is reasonably priced. I suppose that's what happens after you've just paid the equivalent of £3.50 ($7 Australian) for a bottle of Norwegian water!