Tromsø: 17+ Hours Later

Friday, July 1

We have arrived! After a long day of travel that spanned two calendar dates we’re in Tromsø. Mui has crashed; even 24 hours of daylight is not going to interfere with his sleep tonight. Tomorrow, fully rested, it might be a different story as he prefers pitch black conditions for his nightly slumber. Good luck, Mui — it just ain’t going to happen on this trip.

I have to admit that the frisson of excitement that came from knowing we’ve arrived at the embarkation point for a grand adventure has worn off. Regardless, I have a bit more energy left in my batteries, so I’m going to try to wrap up this blog entry before I call it a day.

In the homeland of Amundsen — polar explorer extraordinaire — it’s no surprise that his image decorates the tail of this Norwegian Airlines plane.

Although late arrival of the aircraft delayed the departure of SAS Flight 4424 from Oslo by 30 minutes, good tail winds made up for the lost time. Following an uneventful 1½ hour flight, we landed in Tromsø. Yeah! Let the games begin!

Google map image showing Tromsø way up there in the north of Norway and
its location in relation to our ultimate destination — Svalbard.

The 50F (10C) temperature with light misting felt refreshing after being cooped up in aircrafts and airports for so long. Having done my homework, I knew that the Flybussen — the airport to city bus — would be on an off-peak schedule. Rather than wait around the airport, we found ourselves a taxi. The fare wasn’t all that much more than the cost of two tickets on the bus, and had the advantage of dropping us off in front of our apartment-hotel — City Living on Grønnegata.

Consistently good guest reviews convinced us to book this apartment-hotel.
(suite 502 is marked in the photograph.)

To say that our accommodations are cozy would be an understatement. In fact, the bedroom is smaller than the one in our motorhome, and that’s saying something. I’m glad I reserved a junior suite (rate was just a few NOKs [Norwegian Krones] more than a regular room).

The suite has a full kitchenette (with a dishwasher, no less) — one of the reasons why I booked an apartment-hotel rather than a regular hotel. Norway is so expensive (no kidding!) that I figured a few days of self-catering would help to stretch our travel budget. Since we don’t plan to spend much time in the apartment, the coziness factor won’t be an issue for us. Besides, the place is conveniently located, which will allow us to get around on foot quite easily. And as an added bonus, there’s free internet — not wi-fi, but a long cable is provided and the connection is instantaneous.

After dropping off our bags at City Living, we walked over to the ICA to buy groceries. Again, we were stunned by the prices, but for what we paid for lunch at the Oslo Airport we managed to get enough food for two breakfasts and dinners, PB&J fixings for two lunches, and some fruits and vegies. Overall, we did good.

Returning to the apartment, we put our groceries away and went out for a recon walk that had a dual purpose — keep us going until a reasonable bedtime and acquaint us with the area.

Left: The still waters of Tromsø Harbor makes for a perfect mirror.
Right: Tromsø domkirke (Tromsø Cathedral) is the only Norwegian cathedral made of wood.

The refreshingly crisp temperature and the constant daylight tricked us into walking about town until 9:00p. When we finally returned to the apartment it was only because we were starving. A simple meal of pasta Bolognese hit the spot just right. That it was easy to prepare from a frozen pasta entrée in a bag was a bonus — just empty the contents into the skillet; cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally; and voila … a tasty dinner. A few bites of a Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate bar for dessert (no, we didn’t eat it all) and we were quite satisfied with our meal.

Too bad I can’t share the aroma coming off the skillet as the ingredients warm up.

Oh my! It’s 11:30p. I really did meet my goal for staying up late to counter any effects of jet lag. I’m going to have to guard against the constant daylight. I had the same problem in Alaska where my body (and mind) wanted to keep going because it couldn’t tell the difference between day and night.

I’ll bid you God Natt and head to bed.