Exploring Tromso

Friday

27 September 

Day 89

7 to go

Wildcats 87 v Sydney 88 grrr

And so begins our final week of the holiday. Despite a late night, we were still up at 8am, as we wanted to be able to spend some time checking out Tromso. After having breakfast, we made our plans for the day and then headed for the ground floor. Once outside, we were blasted with the 3° temperature. Coats done up, beanies on and hands firmly in pockets, if not taking photos and we began. 

We had a 45 minute walk, that started by following the path along the water, before reaching the Tromsobrau bridge and crossing over the water. It was a little cooler here, as we crossed the span. On the other side was the The Arctic Cathedral, a large white triangular building. It looks a bit like lots of mountain peaks. 

Our walk wasn’t over here though, we still had to get to fjellheisen cable car entrance. This required us walking through suburbia. The houses were wooden and I imagined the landscape would look considerably different dusted in snow. 

Once at the cable car entrance, we paid the 830NK and waited for the car to arrive. We were fortunate that there were only Six of us boarding. It took about 3 minutes to reach the summit. We exited the platform and were straight out to the viewing area. It was cold! The phone said 3°, but with the slight breeze, it was far more chilly. 

The view from up here was spectacular. The mountains covered in snow were glowing in the morning sunlight. The area of Tromso centre was on full show. We could pick out our hotel, the bridge and arctic cathedral. I even spied a ski jump. 

We wandered around the top, taking in the views from different directions and clambering over the earth, which will soon be covered in snow, like the other peaks near by. We returned to the cafe, enjoying a hot chocolate and cinnamon scroll and the endless view and then we returned to the cable car, catching the 12noon cart back to the bottom.

We made the return 3.5km walk back into the city. It was a little warmer here about 5°. It was lovely in the sun. Paul was keen for lunch and a beer. The first place we tried was yet to open, so we continued to Olhallen, which was near our accommodation. Unfortunately they didn’t do food, so it was one beer and then we went to the nearest burger joint, ordered take out and returned to the room in time to watch the Wildcats take on the Kings. It was pretty rubbish to begin with, thankfully it did improve, but our poor start meant we were playing catch up, going down by 1. 

We were happy to go out again and explore some more of the town. There isn’t a lot to see here, a main shopping street, a couple of churches and the yellow rocket, that sells hotdogs and wine. We stopped in at a large tourist shop. It seems all of these stores in Norway have stuffed arctic animals. We posed with the reindeer, polar bear and the gigantic moose. It was a bit of fun. We picked up a couple of bits.

We stopped at Tromso Mikrobyrggeri for a beer. This was a funky little space with a dark den and wine bar. Paul finished his drink and then we went in search of food, finding Kaia, a pub that wasn’t too busy. We had a window seat with a view over the harbour. Paul ordered the reindeer stew with lingonberry. It looked very good. I had the stock standard fish and chips, but it was lovely.

When our meal was done, we returned to the hotel, enjoying the views for the last time. We began the pack of cases, ready for tomorrow’s journey. It was a wonderfully clear evening and I wondered if we would see the Aurora, but I worked out we were facing south, so it wouldn’t be visible from our window. 

With everything done, Paul went off to bed. I stayed up in the hope of going out and seeing the skies. I went through the photos and watched the view from the window slowly darken, until the lights sparkled over the water. 

I did head out at 9.30pm with my phone, but I could see no trace of green. Not keen to be outside alone for long, I returned to the room, showered and packed what I could, before retiring for the evening.