Norway Day 5 & 6 - Tromsø
I had planned on embarking on a 10 hour northern lights photo safari today, however I was feeling a bit under the weather and worn down, and spending 10 hours in a small van or sitting out in the cold waiting for the lights just wasn’t going to be on the menu for the day. So after resting up most of the morning and catching up with the world, I set out to venture to the cable car across the Tromsø Bridge into Tromsdalen (the area across the Tromsøysundet straight/fjord). I was told by a number of locals not to bother walking across the bridge and to take the bus instead as it is usually windy and unnecessarily long to walk across. I’m glad I ignored this advice, as the walk yielded some unbelievable views (not that they are hard to come by in Tromsø) and while cold, the walk was only 15 minutes long.
On the other side of the bridge is a striking building, nicknamed the Arctic Cathedral. I’m not one for churches, but the architecture is really unique, and is both interesting in its own right, and blends into the surrounding scenery with ease. I’m glad I walked past it, because it really is something special to look at, and I may not have gone out of my way otherwise to visit. The cable car is somewhat amusingly situated in an otherwise residential area - the cable car consists of two gondolas, that are able to take about 30 people per trip according to my less than scientific estimate. The cable car increases elevation about 400 meters in a relatively short time, the ride only takes about 4 minutes. At the top of the cable car, there is a viewing platform and an area that you can hike around it. It felt good to get out and hike up the mountainside a bit, and the views were incredibly impressive. I’m not sure there is much else to say here other than to present the pictures and hope that you are able to pull at least a fraction of the awe that I felt being up there.
The next day, still not feeling in top shape, I spent some time exploring the town, as well as the local university museum. The museum was pretty standard fare as far as nature and science museums go, but they had a special exhibit on the northern lights, which was pretty neat. I was able to watch a pretty interesting documentary about the northern lights and their history in Norway, and was able to recreate the original experiment from a Norwegian scientist that proved that the northern lights were a reaction of energy particles in the magnetosphere. The nerd in me was pretty pumped on being able to create my own aurora in a box.
A magnetic sphere, simulating earth is bombarded with electric particles, which are visible around the poles of the sphere, just like on earth.
I’m not sure I’ve ever visited anywhere like Tromsø and I’m not sure I ever will. Why people choose to live here, I’m really not sure, but why people choose to visit here could not be more evident. It’s beautiful around every corner, and I still can’t get over the views that were visible everywhere.
