Category: Travel

Because of polar winter, it was really hard to tell what time it was when we awoke. It had snowed quite a bit the night before.

This is what the apartment's parking lot looked like as we headed out.

I had planned two nights in Tromsø just in case we missed seeing the Aurora Borealis on the first night. So, since we'd been rather successful  the night before we had a free day to just wander around. Most of Tromsø is located on an island (Tromsøya) and we wanted to see what options for tours and such were available, so we headed down to the TI.

Storgata and Kirkegata are two of the main streets in this city of about 70,000 people. We'd prepared rather well for this trip; I found that my silk base layer, in spite of being very light (a plus when travelling light), was actually quite warm. I only needed the bottom layer during our time in Norway, but the top layer was used during the whole trip. So we walked along the streets down to the TI near the port area.

Along the way we passed Tromsø Domkirka (Tromsø Cathedral), the northernmost Protestant Cathedral in the world.

The Cathedral was completed in 1861. And can hold 800 people.

It started snowing a bit as we neared the TI.

This is a memorial for Richard With a Norweigan businessman and politician who was born in Tromsø. You can see the snow as it blew by the memorial stone.

And yet, this didn't bother us much…..we were enjoying the novelty of it all. Also, the rather stark grey and white made lights and colors really stand out.

I wasn't quite sure what the significance of the statue of famous Norweigan explorer Roald Amundsen was to Tromsø.

Until I read that he lived his final years in Tromsø. In 1928 set off on a rescue mission, it was his last expedition as his plane crashed and the remains of the crew were never found.

We got to the TI and inquired about some tours; but most were either all day affairs or something we really weren't interested in doing. The really nice young man suggested walking across the Tromsø Bridge to visit the Arctic Cathedral. So we decided on doing that. So, that's the bridge and the cathedral from where we were at the port.

So we headed off……

It really didn't take too long to reach the very striking Ishavskatedralen (Arctic Cathedral).

You get a great view of the city from here.

Though I was distracted by the rather random "Artic Phone Booth".

I think the stark background really made the red color of the phone booth really stand out.

Meanwhile, the Missus was distracted by the trees.

We really had a great time just walking around and taking photos. Of a place so different from San Diego.

After a short while we decided to head on back.

While crossing the bridge I looked up. I saw the dark clouds approaching and said "oh-uh". Just as the high winds and flurries hit us.

I think the cars crossing on the bridge must have thought, "there's two more crazy tourists….."

The snow flurries stopped just as we finished crossing the bridge (of course) and I shook off the snow that had accumulated on my shoulders and head…shaking like some bear awakening from slumber.

We headed back towards the apartment on Grønnegata.

As we walked past Bardus, where we had a late lunch the day before, we saw this striking building to our right and decided to take a look.

The building is the Kongsbakken Upper Secondary School and that area in front of it Kongeparken (Royal Park).

For some reason, the statue of King Olav V seemed dark and brooding, staring at us. It kind of creeped us out.

We walked along the street named Verstregata where I noticed that the view looked really nice near some apartments. We then noticed that there were some stairs leading to an outdoor area. We enjoyed the view of the city from here.

Worried that we might be trespassing, we quickly took photos and headed back to the street.

Heading back down to Grønnegata and decided to make dinner reservations at Mathallen which was literally one block from our apartment. We'd be taking things easy this evening.

After making our reservations, we decided on getting lunch from Mathallen's Deli which was right next door. For some reason, the cold really dampened our appetite.

We got the Baked Cod and Creamed Fish Soup.

Of course the fish was very good, fresh, moist….though fairly bland overall.

We actually enjoyed the potatoes.

I wasn't sure what the Creamed Fish Soup was going to be like; but this was very good. Not too thick, fairly light, yet hearty.

The fish was very tender; the vegetables, especially the celeriac were delicious. I'm not a big fan of cream soup, but this was just right…..warming and hearty and quite good with bread.

Mathallen Delikatesser
Grønnegata 58-60
Tromsø, Norway

A very nice pre-nap meal.

Thanks for reading!

So, you might be wondering why Tromsø? Well, seeing he Northern Lights was a "bucket list" item for the Missus. We missed out on the Northern Lights in Iceland the previous year. I wanted to have the best shot at seeing them on this trip. Granted, there are many great places to see the Aurora Borealis from above the Artic Circle, but I chose Tromso for several reasons. I'd be the first to tell you that I'm not much of a roughing it kind of guy. So while your friendly neighborhood mining town, no matter how large would be great for some, I wanted something that would be more suited to the soft American in me. Tromsø while being 250 miles above the Artic Circle is home to the world's northernmost university. The city has an international airport and I'm not much of an outdoorsy kind of guy. I just figured Tromsø would be a better fit.

So did we see the Northern Lights?

More on that later…..

If you looked at the last photo in my previous Tromsø post, you'd notice how wet the streets were. Yes, it was drizzling off and on as we awoke from our short afternoon nap. It was 3pm, but could have just as easily been midnight. Most "Chasing the Aurora" tours are large motorcoach kind of things. I paid a bit more for a small group (no more than 15) tour. Since these tours can be up to 10-12 hours long, I thought it best to get something to eat.

It was still drizzling outside, so we decided to head on over to Bardus Bistro which was three blocks away.

While I'd heard that Bardus can get pretty full, it was fairly quiet at 330pm, so we easily managed to get a seat. Plus, they serve up the lunch menu until 4pm.

You really can't go wrong with fish in Norway, so the Missus ordered the catch of the day. In this case it was Pollack.

You couldn't complain about the fish; it was nicely seasoned, cooked well, very moist, and very mild. It was the barley risotto that we really enjoyed. Nutty, with a great "chew", we both enjoyed it.

I had wanted the Reindeer Steak, but they were out, ditto the Duck Confit. I really wasn't very hungry, so in the end, I just went with the soup of the day….Cauliflower.

This was a good sized portion. I wasn't too much of a fan though as it had too much cheese, almost stringy, like a fondue, too salty, and really didn't have any cauliflower flavor. At least it was very hearty and could hold me over all night.

Bardus Bistro
Cora Sandels gate 4
Tromsø, Norway

This is how the place looks during the day.

We were to meet outside the Tourist Office at 6pm for pick-up. The rain had turned to sleet. When we arrived at the now closed TI it was getting pretty cold.

By the way, that's a usual bus chasing the aurora tour you see across the way. Overcast skies meant that things didn't look very promising. But we were here….

Our guide worked really hard using both what was available in terms of weather forecasts and maps. We were also told to bring our passports, in case we'd have to drive all the way into Finland.

Eventually, we found a clearing, a place that's a usual stop. And while it was difficult to actually see the Aurora Borealis with the naked eye, our cameras, with the right settings were much more successful. In fact, I would scan the sky with my camera and the sensors would pick up the Northern Lights.

Meanwhile the folks leading the tour would provide tripods and help folks get the settings right on our cameras.

I'm sure the Missus wanted the ultimate pulsing Northern Lights she saw at Aurora Reykjavik, but this was nature, the real world, I'd take whatever it would give to us.

The second part of the tour was to have a campfire and soup in the wilderness. So we stopped somewhere….I'm not sure where, and hiked into the forest from the road. I've never walked in knee-high snow before so it was quite different. No matter what your dad said about walking in two feet of snow uphill both ways; it ain't easy. One of the more portly women fell face first in the snow……man, it was really hard getting her upright! We finally found a clearing…..

 

A fire was started and soup was passed around. We had reindeer soup, which was fine if a bit salty.

And then of course, there's me, in a thermal suit……looking like a Ultraman wannabe……

And having a couple of young males on the trip; well, they had to compete at things like; how fast can I climb crawl up the hill in two feet of snow……which was kind of funny.

All in all, we spent about nine hours on this tour. There was a couple who had tried the previous night, a total of ten hours with no results, so I felt pretty lucky. Most folks were sleeping on the drive back, but I watched as we drove thru two snowstorms. It was so fascinating to me, so different from where we live.

We got back to the apartment at 2am. After taking a shower I sat with a cup of tea and watched the waves of snow come in.

There would be a flurry, then it would stop. A few minutes later, the next flurry would come in.

We live in such an amazing world; I felt blessed to be able to be here and experience some of it.

Though there we buses, shuttles, and taxis queued up as we disembarked from the overnight cruise we decided to walk to our hotel.

Our hotel was located in the Byporten (City Gate) Shopping Mall. Since we'd only be spending one night in Oslo, this was the perfect location as it was next door to the Central Train Station, with direct service to the airport.

Upon completing the twenty-five minute walk from the cruise ship terminal, we arrived at the train station and Byporten. We knew it when we were greeted by this fellow.

"Tiger City" (Tigerstaden) is Oslo's nickname and this statue stands proudly in the square in front of Østbanehallen and the Train Station. We quickly stored our bags….we were too early for check-in and headed out.

The main street of Oslo's downtown area is Karl Johans Gate, which stretches from the train station to the Royal Palace. We decided to check out the National Gallery as it held a painting that both the Missus and I wanted to see.

Along the way we passed the Oslo Cathedral, which was built in 1697.

It is actually Oslo's third cathedral; the first was abandoned when King Christian IV decided to move the city west to be within the protected confines of Akershus Fortress. The second was completed in 1639, only to burn down fifty years later.

One of the things that caught our eye was this carving.

I later read that this corner stone is a thousand years old. It was taken from Oslo's first cathedral and placed here when the church was being built.

We peeked in the door and were welcomed in, but didn't spend much time as it was Sunday and there were services being held.

 

Across the way is the public square known as Stortorvet. The statue of Christian IV hovers above the square.

From there the boulevard turns into a mass of chain stores and such for a while.

Until you get to the long stately boulevard that leads to the Royal Palace.

On this day there was a lively Christmas Market right on the main street.

You couldn't help but stop at the skating rink and watch parents teaching the children how to skate….not always successfully…..

But quite charming nonetheless.

On our way to the National Gallery we took a wrong turn and ended up looking at this huge building. Turns out it's Oslo's City Hall.

A quick note; this is where the Nobel Peace Prize is presented every 10th of December. There's also supposed to be some really nice art pieces, but we needed to get to our destination.

A quick turn back and past the National Theatre.

We found the National Gallery. There are quite a number of famous works here….but of course we came to see….

The Scream by Edvard Munch. There's something so compelling about this work…panic, fear, anxiety…. To quote Munch himself:

"I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature."

There was one other work that really made an impact on us. It is entitled, "A Sick Girl", by Christian Krohg. It is a painting of a young lady dying of tuberculosis. The painting is so realistic….you meet the stare of the child who seems to look right through you. You see suffering, you see fear, you see the rose in the grasp of the girl slowly falling apart. Whoa…. heavy stuff.

We headed back to our hotel to see if we could check in. On the way back, as we walked past the historic Grand Hotel.

The hotel's restaurant, the Grand Café is pretty well known, once the hang out of intelligentsia and the elite, it just seemed a nice place to stop for some coffee so we stepped in.

The service is not overly formal, though there's definitely an old world vibe to the place. As you can easily tell by the folks having lunch and coffee when we arrived.

There's a famous mural showing some of the cafe's famous clientele (the "Kristiania Bohemians"), like Munch and Henrik Ibsen.

The Café actually closed down in 2015, but was reopened in 2016 with some modern touches….which probably included the open kitchen.

The menu seemed quite interesting so we decided to have a nice snack in addition to our coffee.

Starting with the Pork Cracklins with Parsley and Black Truffle Sauce.

The pork cracklins were very light and crisp and not greasy in the least. The sauce was on the weaker side in terms of truffle flavor; but we loved the way it coated the pork skins. Which tasted just fine on their own as well.

We also had the Horse Carpaccio.

While I wasn't sure what to make of the plantain chips; this truly isn't what I'd call a Nordic ingredient; the horse was cold, clean tasting, a hint of sweetness to it and very tender. The light mustard and sesame dressing really brought out a savory element in the dish. The carpaccio was wrapped around some lightly crisp, yet very tender salsify, which added another layer of a distinct taste to things. It's hard to describe the flavor. It's not parsnip, but almost slightly savory-briney in a way. This was really lovely!

The service was excellent; not overly stuffy, but quite professional. The prices aren't cheap, but we'd gladly return. There's a kind of casual elegance and refinement that a storied history brings….though I'm very much the uncouth visitor.

Grand Café
Karl Johans Gate 31
Oslo, Norway

The snack was perfect as it held us until dinner and fueled us for the walk back to our hotel. Our room was ready when we returned. After not getting much sleep the night before, even the coffee we had with lunch couldn't keep us awake. It was time for a short nap. Then we'd head out for dinner. This time, the Missus had chosen the place.

Thanks for reading!