From Oslo to Tromso

Our flight from Oslo was scheduled to leave at 1135am. I picked our hotel specifically because it was next to train station; the Flytoget High Speed Train to the airport leaves the train station about every ten minutes arriving at Gardermoen Airport in about 20 minutes. Another reason for picking the hotel; well breakfast. In this case breakfast was served in the Scandic Byporten location of the Egon Restaurants chain right across the walkway from the hotel.

It was still pretty dark at 730 in the morning here in Oslo.

Every breakfast features smoked salmon and-or pickled herring in these parts. Something I really enjoy for breakfast. The Missus enjoys the dark and dense rye breads and soft boiled eggs.

Nothing fancy, but enough to keep us until dinner if necessary.

We checked out, walked across the way to the train station, bought our tickets to the airport from the ticket machine (180 NOK – about $20/each) and got to the airport in no time.

Our flight to Tromso was quite punctual taking off on time. The flight was a quick two hours. It was quite interesting to see the landscape rapidly change as we headed North.

As things changed to what looked desolate a far as the eye could see.

As we got closer to our destination; Tromso, things looked even colder.

Our flight arrived at 125pm sharp. As we only do carry-on, we found the Flybussen; the Aiport Express Bus in rather good time, paid the driver and got aboard.

So here's what things looked like 145pm

Tromso has what they call Polar Night. During this time of the year, while it's not completely dark during mid-day, the sun never rises above the horizon. To quote this nice piece from Atlantic Magazine by Kari Leibowitz (date July 1, 2015):

    "Located over 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Tromsø, Norway, is home to extreme light variation between seasons. During the Polar Night, which lasts from November to January, the     sun doesn’t rise at all."

We found it quite fascinating, somewhat disorienting, and quite different. Like the article says; we found the folks in Tromso to be quite friendly and cheerful, in spite of the almost constant darkness. For some reason, the movie 30 Days of Night kept coming to mind.

Anyway, the airport bus stopped a couple of blocks from the apartment we were staying at. The owner was a very friendly guy. The apartment was spacious, with everything we needed in walking distance.

It also had a view of the street below that I would find mesmerizing.

We decided to take a short rest, then go ahead and grab something to eat.

There were plans for a very busy night ahead of us!

Thanks for reading!