What comes to mind if we write the word Arctic?
Quintals of snow on fir trees? Colorful houses with a steaming fireplace? Adorable reindeer pawing up and down the streets? Or are you thinking above all oftheNorthern Lights?
2017 gave us the two northern experiences par excellence. After seeing the midnight sun in Finnish Lapland (this is the link to the article), we couldn't but have the Northern Lights on the wish list. And so, arctic master tour operator Blueberry Travel,in collaboration with Visit Norway that is the Norwegian tourist board, decided to send us to Tromso to check that everything was in order and that the Northern Lights were still seen!
TROMSO
Tromso is the largest and most populous city in The Norge (northern Norway), and is located on one of the many islands in the middle of the fjords, in the middle of the auroral oval and that is in the area with the highest probability of sighting of the Northern Lights. This can be reached with a flight of about an hour and a half from Oslo and is undoubtedly the perfect base to play the little Eskimos and live an Arctic adventure with bows, and beautiful big ones too!
A few months later we return to the Arctic Circle. This time she wears her best dress and there are no more 24h of light per day but only 3. We expected to find a hostile environment and instead faced a modern, lively, colorful city, with trendy restaurants and clubs and lots of funny Norwegians! November is a relatively cold month for these lands, the snow is still shy and the grades are just below zero, and it's a perfect travel time for the coldest.
TROMSO WHAT TO SEE
Tromso is very small and in 1 day, calmly, you can see it all.
You can visit the Polar Museum,the Domkirke,verynice is Polaria: a small museum with an aquarium where you can deepen your knowledge about the life of the deep at the north pole(you also see a show with seals). Next door is the MS Polstjerna- an old exposed boat with which the first expeditions were made to the Arctic. Crossing the beautiful Bruvegen Bridge (do it on foot if you have time), you arrive in front of the Arctic Cathedral symbol of this city.
A few hundred meters, not to be missed, there is the Fjellheisen:a cable car thatleads to the top of a refuge from where you can admire all tromso. Unfortunately for us it was closed due to the strong wind, but it is definitely worth going up there because the view is unique. This small town doesn't have a lot of attractions to visit, but as you can see from the photos it's a gem, and you just have to walk through its alleys to fall in love with it.
TROMSO WHAT TO DO
Although the Arctic is a magical land, it needs to be experienced by doing so many activities or there is a risk of getting bored. Luckily the guys at Blueberry Travel know these latitudes very well and have made us livean unforgettable Arcticexperience. In addition to enjoying the city and its cuisine (because you eat great around here), they arranged a lot of outings for us and that's what we did (or would have liked to do), in our 4 days in Tromso.
HUSKY SAFARI
Do you know that Cost is afraid of dogs? Strangely though, when I told her we were going to do the Husky Safari, she said, "I make an exception for the Huskies!"
It leaves early to reach the snow just over an hour north of Tromso. In the center there are 200 super dogs, (they are a cross between the Siberian Husky and another breed). They bark, howl, jump, roll and can't wait to fly the sled.
WHALE WATCHING
Those who followed us in our story on Facebook (let us company also on social media this is our page) know that unfortunately because ofthose damn sardines that went too far north, we had to give up the boat trip to spot the whales. But it was right to dedicate two lines to him, also because you have to try, and we have to come back, so if we come back!
NORTHERN LIGHTS
The Aurora Borealis is a phenomenon that characterizes theArctic winter. It is an interaction of solar particles (protons and electrons) that come into contact with gases in the atmosphere and create a play of lights of various wavelengths. This occurs only in regions beyond the Polar Circle and at these latitudes is easily visible to the naked eye. The Northern Lights occur from September to March and beyond Norway, undoubtedly one of the countries most likely to be sighted,you can see it in Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Russia, Canada, Alaska and in white Greenland.
GOODBYE NORWAY