Another Scandinavian country... with Northern Lights this time!

I warned y'all in the last blog post that you should watch this space!

Growing up in Alaska, I saw the Northern Lights a few times. I thought it'd be a cool thing for the boss to see, so we decided to head north and see if we could get a decent view of them. Much shorter distance from Germany to see them than traveling somewhere once we're back in the states!

Last Saturday, we took the subway down to the main train station in Frankfurt and caught a bus out to a neighboring airport. The airport is generally referred to as "Frankfurt Hahn," but it's about an hour and a half out of town, and is closer to Luxembourg, Belgium, and France than to Frankfurt. Only the lowest of the low priced airlines fly out of there (who don't want to pay "big city airport" fees). You know, the cheapest of the cheap, that Spirit and Frontier aspire to be. Yeah, the Taco Bell of airlines - see, that's what we in the biz call a "callback!" Ryanair.

The family travel agent was concerned about possibly missing the plane, so we had reservations for a bus that got us out there plenty early for our flight. Three or four hours early. Did I mention that there's nothing at this airport? I think there's a McDonalds and a kebab place before security, and a coffee shop after security. That's it. She's insisting that I include this anecdote: One of her coworkers (and his family) had missed a flight from Hahn due to traffic backups on the way to the airport, and she wanted to insure that we arrived with plenty of time to spare. We arrived with plenty of time to spare, and spent a few hours irritatingly staring into each others eyes while trying to come up with other things to do, while she repeatedly reminded me of her coworker's story. Much fun was had by all.

Next stop: London. Not what you think of when you think "London" though. We flew into a remote airport a ways out of town, London Stansted. You know how when you're shopping for flights, there's usually a selection you can make for "transfers?" For those of you in the states, think about flying into Dulles and flying out of Reagan National... or flying into DFW and flying out from Love Field. That's what we had reservations for. We flew into Stansted Saturday night, and were flying out of another airport the next morning... we had missed the bus between airports, so we took an Uber straight to the hotel. We'd been on the road for a while (between being at the airport so early, the flight, and the hour and a half or so to the hotel), so we just ate in the restaurant in the lobby and went to bed.

Next morning, we checked out and hiked the half mile or so to the other airport, Luton. From here, we boarded another low priced airline, Wizz Air. Next stop: Tromsø, Norway. Yeah, yet another country with funny letters.

Norway is right across the North Sea from the northern tip of Scotland, so I guess I figured it'd be a pretty short flight. Turns out that (continental) Norway is around 1100 miles from one end to the other, and our destination was on the far end - the northernmost commercial airport on mainland Norway. So the flight was about 3 hours - not terribly long, but longer than I was expecting.

We weren't allowed to land when we first arrived. It was snowing at the airport, and by the time the plows had cleared the runway, too much snow and ice had continued to accumulate, so they had to plow again. This little game continued for close to an hour, while we burned holes in the sky, (im)patiently waiting. 

We finally landed, deboarded, and picked up our bags. The hotel was within a mile of the airport, but we'd had a long day and just took a cab to the hotel, rather than trying to figure out the bus system.

Let's talk for a moment about some of the planning and preparation that went into this trip. The boss and I had each researched different brands and model of cold weather boots. We both ended up selecting Sorel boots... while they might not necessarily be the "be all, end all" winter boots, If you're talking about some of the most rugged, water and snow proof boots around, Sorels will definitely be in the conversation - if not the outright winners. 

We made a couple of other purchases in preparation... while we both have big hefty coats, neither of us had snow pants. We spent a significant amount of time shopping for some at stores locally, but didn't have any luck. I purchased a pair from Amazon, and the boss ended up buying some from someone who was leaving Germany and heading back to the states. We initially weren't able to find any, so we put together a backup plan as well - we both bought rain pants, with each of us independently deciding that we could always layer up, but we wouldn't be able to stay warm (in the actual Arctic Circle, I must remind you) if our pants and legs got soaked. Additionally, we each purchased a set of spikes that strap onto your shoes/boots, as we'd heard that when you're basically walking on a sheet of ice, you're pretty much guaranteed to fall, no matter what kind of boots you're wearing. Here's a pic of my boots, with the spikes on one of them:

With all of the purchases we made, I'd say that the rain pants were the most significant, closely followed by our spikes. We didn't end up using our ski pants a single time. We just layered up, usually long underwear underneath jeans, and then pulled the rain pants on top.

I'm going to briefly touch on the weather: It sucked. For almost the entire time we were there, it rained and sleeted. It would warm up to a couple of degrees above freezing while it rained during the "day," and overnight all of the rain would freeze into a sheet of ice. The weather was consistent enough that you can assume - unless I explicitly tell you differently - that every paragraph for the rest of this entry starts out with telling you how bad the weather was. I just don't want to (a) keep retyping the phrase "The weather sucked," or (b) having to come up with new non-repetitive ways to say "The weather sucked."

While I'm admitting and clarifying things... the vast majority of the pics included in this post were taken at night. We had to learn some new tricks with our phones to be able to take (halfway) decent pictures at night, and as a result most of the night pics don't really look like nighttime pics.

The next day, we started out by buying week long bus passes. There was a bus stop a couple hundred yards away from the hotel, and a "real" bus terminal about a quarter mile in the other direction (we'll talk a little more about that later). We'd planned on getting around town primarily by using the bus. As I mentioned, our hotel was pretty close to the airport, on the opposite side of the island from the downtown area.

Let's talk about the geography of the area real quick. Tromsø actually refers to the municipality (think "county") and to the main city within the municipality. The municipality covers parts of the mainland, the island of Tromsøya (where the majority of the city is located), and parts of several other islands. The municipality covers a little less than 1000 square miles, about twice the size of New York City. The city of Tromsø itself is located mostly on the island of Tromsøya, with parts of the city on the mainland. The island of Tromsøya is situated in the middle of the Tromsøysundet strait. I'll include a couple of maps at the bottom of this post, just to give you an idea of where we were, and where we went. You might want to refer to them as you read, or you might not.... it's really up to you! I really hope you're paying attention - there'll be a quiz later!

We walked to the bus stop and rode the bus downtown, getting off at the edge of the tourist area. We explored the shops a bit, and discovered the visitor center. We purchased passes which included admission to most of the museums in town. We had reservations for a late lunch at Hard Rock Cafe... simply because it's the northernmost Hard Rock Cafe. That seemed to turn into one of the themes of this trip - participate in, go to, or take pictures of activities and places which are the northernmost, simply because they're the northernmost... that's evidently what happens when you're in the Arctic Circle.

We had reservations for a reindeer feeding and sledding experience that night, so we walked down to the Radisson hotel, where the tour would be meeting. At the appointed time, two full sized tour buses showed up, marked "Tromsø-Lapland," and we piled on with sixty or so other tourists. The buses took us about 30 miles inland, but because of the geography, it took around an hour to get there. 

We got out at a collection of traditional Sámi buildings, and all piled into the largest building, a large(ish) round building with a pointed roof and a wood burning stove in the center. There were several picnic style tables spread around the circumference of the room. The organizers came in and divided the crowd in half; one half would be sledding first and feeding the reindeer second, while the other half would be doing the same things, but in the opposite order.

Let's take a quick break and talk about the Sámi for a moment.

I'd like to apologize for any insensitive language in this specific portion of the blog; while I'm attempting to be culturally respectful and sensitive, chances are I'm actually going to be stuffing my foot further into my mouth with each word.

The Sámi are recognized (by some sources) as the only indigenous people of Europe, while some other sources recognize them as the only indigenous people of the European Union. Regardless, their activity in the region dates back some 12,000 years. They inhabit a region which encompasses large northern portions of four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. 

The Sámi people have long histories connected to semi-nomadic reindeer herding, and for traditional, environmental, cultural, and political reasons, reindeer herding is legally reserved for only Sámi in some regions of the Nordic countries. 

Having explained all of that, we were put into the group that fed the reindeer first, and would go sledding afterward. We were given little buckets half-filled with pellets, and given some basic instructions and guidelines. 

Reindeer are a lot smaller than I was really expecting - I guess I was picturing closer to caribou... but perhaps caribou are larger in my memories than they are in real life. Reindeer are what I'd consider small. Tiny, even. Our last Saint Bernard was only a little smaller than the reindeer that we met in Norway.

Part of their guidelines were that all of the animals have their own personalities; some only eat out of the buckets, some only eat from your hands, some are quite timid, some are just jerks. There were probably a couple hundred of them in this big pasture, and most of them were quite friendly. I think we all started out trying to feed them by hand, and discovering that about half of them would completely ignore our outstretched hands. We had around 30 minutes to wander around the pasture, visiting with different reindeer - some were a little skittish, and while I'm certain that they have other sources of food, I know I personally spent lots of my time trying to gain the trust of some of the more bashful ones. None of them that I encountered seemed to care about being petted one way or the other - after a mouthful or two of food they'd move on, and you could pet them as they walked away, but they wouldn't slow down at all, they'd just go about their business.

Afterward, our group **reunited** and headed over to where the sleds waited. The best way I can describe the sleds would be what I picture when I hear the word "sledge." Basically, two runners with a platform built across the top and a little backrest. The platform was about 3 1/2 or 4 feet across, about 5 feet long. There was (what appeared to be) a reindeer pelt that we sat on, and we were given a wool blanket to cover up with. Our reindeer pelt came pre-moistened with slush (no doubt thanks to the previous riders), so we got to sit in an icy puddle - such fun. Each sled was connected to a single reindeer with 6 foot long wooden planks, with the reindeer tied to the sled in front of it with a rope... The guide handled the reindeer (and sled) at the front of the line, and every other reindeer just followed along. Probably 15 or 20 sleds total. The reindeer seemed to have the whole procedure down pat - they'd see the line ahead of them moving, and they'd start moving on their own. One of the fun things was that with each reindeer connected via rope to the sled in front of it, there was no dedicated space - the reindeer could get as close as it wanted to the sled in front of it; the reindeer behind us liked to be pretty close to our sled, and spent most of the half hour ride with his head within inches of the wife. Kinda funny to look over at her, and see a reindeer's head right next to her.

They led the lead reindeer on a big loop, and we ended up right back where we started. We all dismounted, and worked our way inside the big central building. After a few minutes warming up (and drying off), they brought soup around. 

As a quick aside, we had two choices for dinner: vegetable soup, or reindeer stew. I'd chosen the vegetable soup, because I thought it'd be a little weird feeding some reindeer, riding a sled pulled by a reindeer, then eating a bowl filled with reindeer. Is this what happens to the ones who can't hack it as sledding reindeer? I did try some of the boss's stew - comparable to venison, I'd say. Vegetable soup was good though. I fully understand and appreciate that this is their culture, and they treat the reindeer respectfully, using every part of the animal. I also know for a fact that I could never be a rancher, getting to know cows, chickens, and (God forbid) pigs personally, then putting them on my table.

After dinner, one of the workers came in and gave a talk about the Sámi people.  He shared information about their history and culture. I won't bore you with a bunch more regurgitated information about the Sámi, but I will share one more thing we learned:

There are recognized Sámi Parliaments in Norway, Sweden, and Finland to insure that Sámi concerns are addressed with the governments of Scandinavian countries. The Sámi Parliament in Russia has no standing, and is considered a 'separatist organization,' but negotiations continue with the government of Russia. Members of Parliament are elected by the Sámi people. I just think it's pretty cool that the natives have a seat at the government table. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Afterward, we piled back into the tour buses and headed back to town, then caught a city bus back to the hotel.

The next morning, the wife had a make-your-own glass blowing thing that I opted out of. She left the hotel and headed downtown, I followed an hour or so later and met up with her when she was done. We had lunch at a burger place downtown, and popped into a gallery owned by a local artist. The family art collector bought a picture to add to her collection, then we headed back toward the glass blowing shop to go to the aquarium next door.

Polaria is the world's northernmost aquarium, and is a small(ish) aquarium facility that focuses on arctic animals and showcases their... Herd? Squadron? Gaggle? Colony? Must research real quick. Turns out, one of the acceptable collective nouns for seals is "bob." Therefore... Polaria focuses on arctic animals and showcases their bob of bearded seals.

(Now y'all know why it's so exhausting being inside my head!)

A few tanks filled with different kinds of arctic sea life, and a pretty good sized central tank for their bob of about 6 or 7 seals. You could watch the tank from above the water level, or from a few different underwater windows or tunnels, watching the seals swimming circles. Based on a short movie that showed on a loop it's a pretty good aquarium, focused on conservation and care for the animals there, but the facility is almost 30 years old, and feels a little bit run down - like it could use a refresh.

Afterward, we headed toward the wharf area downtown and went to the Polar Museum. The museum is situated in a wooden building on the dock which was originally used as a customs station, constructed in 1833. The building is recognized by the Norwegian government as a "cultural asset worthy of protection," so the building remains in pretty much the same state as it's been for the last 190ish years. That's the nicest way I could come up with to say that it feels a bit run down.

The museum had a handful of things that it really focused on: hunting/trapping, fishing, and Norwegian explorers. Lots of taxidermized (yeah, I looked it up, and that's really the word!) animals, lots of mannequins from the 70s. Most of the exhibits had English translations, so we did end up learning some new stuff.

We killed a bit more time before our next tour: an adults only Light Chasing tour. We met a few minutes before 6 at one of the hotels downtown and found our guide, Bart. He was a Polish guy in his early 30s who'd been guiding Northern Lights tours for 9 years. The 7 guests (+ Bart) loaded into a van and headed off into the arctic. We headed around 90 miles southeast, to get away from the coast and toward the interior, in hopes of finding sky free of clouds. We stopped a few times to check the skies, and ended up in a parking lot with a couple of other tour groups. Evidently, all of the tour guides talk amongst themselves and share weather conditions. Once we'd gotten to the spot Bart selected, we hiked a couple hundred yards or so and he prepared a little campsite for us, digging a 10 foot wide (or so) hole in the snow a couple of feet deep, and laying out folding pads for us to sit on, making a fire in a metal fire pit he'd brought along.

He passed out thermoses of soup and we settled in while he gave us the scientific explanation for the Northern Lights.

As a quick aside the owner of the company, Wandering Owl, is vegan, so all of the food they provide is vegan. The soup honestly wasn't bad though.

We got some halfway decent pics of the light show, and Bart dropped us off at the hotel at around 3:00 in the morning.

After the late night, we slept in a bit the next morning, then headed to the shopping mall next to the hotel - y'all know how I love a good shopping mall! Right next to the mall is a bus terminal; I told you earlier that I'd tell you about that.

Not necessarily a "bus terminal," per se, but a big waiting room with 4 different areas for busses to pick up and drop off. There were electronic signs at each of the four areas, telling which bus line would be arriving at what time. Several different lines converged there, rather than just the single line that passed our hotel.

After wandering through the mall for a little while, we went out to the bus terminal and took a bus to the south end of the island to the University Museum. I was quite impressed with this one, very well laid out, with different exhibits on the geology of Scandinavia, the Sámi, the Northern Lights, and flora and fauna native to the area.

We took another bus back to the downtown area to stimulate the local economy a bit, then went for dinner to the tapas restaurant in town - quite tasty, with good variety.

We had breakfast in the hotel the next morning, then took a bus downtown for our next tour: a landscape tour with the same company as our (first) Northern Lights tour. I was crossing my fingers that we'd be in a larger bus/van than the previous tour, but it was not to be. Eight people (+ Max, our driver) in what I'm pretty sure was the same van from the tour with Bart. This tour took us in a new direction though, we went north and west, exploring some of the fjords along the coast. Quite picturesque, quite windy. He brought sandwiches for us... vegan, of course.

He took us back to the meeting point at the end of the tour, and we took a bus across to the mainland to visit the Arctic Cathedral. Very picturesque church, constructed in 1965. Mostly known for its architecture. 

The cable car to the top of the nearby mountain was closed due to wind, so we just went to a local pizzeria, right down the street from the cathedral then bussed back to the hotel.

We had breakfast the next morning and the boss checked the status of the cable car online. Turns out, it'd be open from 11:00 to 2:30. We hopped on a bus and arrived there around 11:45 or so... and got in line behind a couple hundred other people who had been waiting for days for it to be open as well. We waited for a few minutes, and ended up giving up, as I was pretty sure that the line was long enough that we wouldn't get a chance to go up anyway. A little disappointed that we didn't get to go up the whole time we were there, as the view is supposed to be spectacular.

We bussed back over to the downtown area and had a bite to eat in a coffee shop, then split up for a while. Tromsø evidently hosts the Tromsø International Film Festival in January of each year, and the wife decided she wanted to participate for 2 reasons: (1) She'd never been to a Film Festival before, and (2) I'm pretty sure (but haven't seen any documentation) that it's the Northernmost Film Festival in the world.

She evidently read the subtitles of some artsy-fartsy foreign film, while I wandered over to the visitor center to get a "Polar Certificate," a 'suitable for framing' certificate that says we conquered the Arctic Circle. She evidently stopped for sushi while I was relaxing. I took a bus back to the hotel and relaxed for a while, then bussed back over to the downtown area and bought a sandwich and drink to take on our final excursion.

We showed up at the meeting place a little before 6 again, and met up with Bart again. This time though, we got a real tour bus - yay! Our previous tours with this company were in a passenger van with 3 rows of seating, with 3 people across each of the back two bench seats. This bus was much nicer, with 2 seats on the left side and one on the right, and an aisle from the front to the back. Additionally, there were two others from the company - Lucas and Isaak. Lucas drove, and Isaak helped Bart with carrying stuff and keeping our gaggle together.

We went into the same area as our previous Northern Lights trip, but further. We drove all the way into Finland chasing the lights, then ended up backtracking a little bit and making "camp" on a frozen lake which formed the border between Finland and Sweden. We got some pretty good pics of the Northern Lights this night, but honestly, conditions weren't optimal. We had more vegan soup and hot chocolate in an attempt to stay warm, and eventually headed back to town, arriving at the hotel around 2:30 in the morning.

We'd gotten two tickets for the cable car when we purchased our tourist pass the first day, and since we weren't going to be able to use them, we gave them to someone who was checking into the hotel, with the caveat that if she wasn't able to use either or both of them, to please pass them along to another set of visitors.

The following day, we woke up a bit late, checked out, and called a cab to get us over to the airport. The flight back was uneventful (with the exception of the family photographer getting some spectacular sunset pics from her window seat), and we caught the metro from the airport, transferring over to a bus to make it the rest of the way home.

No big trips scheduled for right now, but as always..... watch this space, just in case!

Here's the legend for the inset map below - please pardon the crappy photoshop skills!

• Red circle = Tromsø
• Blue star = Reindeer feeding
• Yellow shading = Fjord tour
• Dashed black line = Northern Lights chasing
• Blue diagonal fill = Finland
• Red diagonal fill = Sweden