Travels in northern Norway this past July

My goal post-operation was to be well enough to do the trip that my husband and I had talked about and more or less planned before I became ill. As luck and the divine would have it, we embarked on our north Norway trip exactly three months to the day of my operation. Our plans were to drive to Trondheim, stay overnight, and then board the Hurtigruten (coastal boat) for a three-day (two-night) boat trip to Tromsø. I have visited Trondheim twice in previous years, but neither of those visits were particularly positive or memorable. This time was quite different, thankfully, and gave me the desire to return at some point to explore the city further. 

We boarded our boat--Midnight Sun--before noon. We were extremely lucky with the weather--sunny and warm, with temperatures in the upper 70s/low 80s. The absence of wind meant that there were no waves, which made me happy since that stretch of the coastal trip (from Bodø and through the Lofoten archipelago) is often subject to wind and waves. To be honest, I had some misgivings about doing the boat trip at all because of what I had heard about the rough waters, but my fears were laid to rest when we boarded the boat amid sunny skies and placid waters. The coastal route is among the most beautiful in the world from what I've read, and I'd simply have to agree after taking the trip. We enjoyed some excellent dinners on board, and otherwise relaxed on the deck, enjoying the sun and warmth. We were lucky to be able to visit Trollfjord (Trollfjord - Wikipedia), which apparently is a weather-dependent trip; the boat captain informed us that the nice weather allowed for this trip. It was incredible to see the mountain tops at midnight, which turn reddish in the midnight sun. As we drove out of Trollfjord, we were blanketed in a thick fog that seemed to roll in from nowhere. Rather mystical and fairytale-like; one almost expected to meet some mythical creatures like trolls in the dense fog. 

This is the coastal route of the Hurtigruten from Trondheim to Tromsø, courtesy of the Hurtigruten website:

Once we reached Tromsø, we stayed two nights at a hotel near the harbor, which gave us enough time to explore the city. We managed trips to the Arctic Botanical garden and to the Aquarium during our short stay, and also visited the spectacular Arctic Cathedral. We also enjoyed a really great dinner at a restaurant called Skarven Kro; it serves a tomato-based fish soup that is to die for--stockfish (boknafisk) soup. 

We then drove on to Alta from Tromsø, driving over the Finnmark plateau (Finnmarksvidda), which is the largest plateau in Norway. Once in Alta, we visited the Tirpitz Museum, a WWII museum that details the story of the German battleship Tirpitz, which was sunk near Alta. We also visited the Alta Museum--a World Heritage center for rock carvings--which was fascinating. Before we left, I visited the Cathedral of the Northern Lights, which was lovely and very unique. The sunny and warm weather continued, which of course added to the positive experience of visiting these places. I'm not sure it would have been as pleasant in the cold and rain. 

From Alta, we drove further on to the east coast of Sweden, passing briefly through parts of Finland that we didn't particularly care for, until we arrived in Luleå, where we stayed one night, and the following day, in Sundsvall, where we stayed one night, before driving westward back toward Norway. Both Luleå and Sundsvall were lovely cities on the water, and it was nice to be there in the warm weather, walking along the harbor areas and watching people enjoy themselves. 

I would like to return to Trondheim during the wintertime to see the northern lights; we can drive there or take the train. I would not want to take the Hurtigruten during the winter months, although my friends who have done it say it is also a lovely trip. But I wouldn't want to do the trip in the darkness and cold. I'm glad we did our northern Norway trip during the summer months; it was fun to experience the midnight sun and to experience this area of Norway during a period of wonderful weather. I'll publish another post soon with photos from the trip. 

Here is a map of the entire trip, but bear in mind that the Trondheim to Tromsø route is depicted on land, because Google Maps does not allow for boat routes: 

Some people have all the luck!

Some lucky people in Norway got to see spectacular light shows last night–the Northern Lights made their appearance as a result of a lot of solar storm activity lately. We were told by the media that the Lights would be visible all over the country (true for the rest of the Northern hemisphere as well according to the media), so I was awake and ready with my camera, but Oslo had cloudy skies and little visibility–thus no Lights. So I have to be satisfied with looking at these gorgeous photos!! Time to plan a trip north to see the Lights! I want to experience them in person. I've realized lately that my particular interest as a photographer is the fascination with anything that has to do with light--the way it plays on water, in the sky, or the way it produces colors and contrasts, rainbows after a storm--all those things. 

http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.7967958


And here is another link, this time to a video of the Northern Lights, filmed by Alister Chapman on the evening of January 24th in Tromsø, Norway. It's called Dance of the Spirits, and it's a very apt name--beautiful.


http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/solar-storms-spawn-hyperactive-aurora-boreali/?smid=tw-nytimesscience&seid=auto

Dreams of travel in northern Norway

I live in Oslo and have not traveled farther north in Norway than to Trondheim, which is about 552 km (342 miles) north of Oslo, so there is still a lot of Norway further north of Trondheim to be explored. Northern Norway is often referred to as the land of the midnight sun, because during the summertime the sun does not really set. Northern Norway starts with the county of Nordland followed by Troms and Finnmark, and some of the larger cities in these counties are Bodø, Narvik, Rana, Tromsø, Vadsø, Hammerfest, and Alta, among others, according to Wikipedia. The distance from Trondheim to Alta is about 1755 km (1097 miles), and this plus the distance from Oslo to Trondheim gives you an idea of how long Norway is from south to north, and that’s just if you start from Oslo, which is not the most southernmost city in Norway. The map you see in this post gives you a good idea of how long Norway stretches from north to south.

After watching the BBC program from 2008 the other night on NRK1 (Norwegian TV channel), I thought that now it’s absolutely time, after twenty years of living here, to visit north Norway and see the land of the midnight sun as well as the land of the Northern Lights. Because that is what the BBC program was about—Joanna Lumley was the hostess and she took us on her personal search for the Northern Lights (the program was called 'Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights'). Why did she want to see them? Because it was a lifelong dream of hers from the time she was a child and had read the children’s book Ponny the Penguin by Veronica Basser from 1948; the book is unfortunately out of print or I would have purchased it on Amazon. In the book there is a black ink-drawn picture of a penguin with the Northern Lights as his backdrop. The Northern Lights look like hanging curtains with folds in them in the picture. I am including a link to the amazing video from this BBC program http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ8xd6xnZ9U –with her wonderful and moving commentary. About 5 minutes into this video (which is part 5 of her journey) you will see some fantastic footage of the Northern lights that danced for her that one evening in Tromsø. Her search for them was not in vain, and as she said in the video, it was as though they knew she was waiting for them. It is an amazing and moving experience, even just watching it on video. So I know already it will be an extraordinary experience in person. I was also curious to know if there exist Southern Lights in Antarctica, and lo and behold, they do exist, and according to what I read on internet, the Northern and Southern Lights ‘occur simultaneously and are almost mirror images of each other’ http://www.tgo.uit.no/articl/nord_eng.html.

So many other things in her documentary were interesting as well—among them her visit with the Sami people in Finnmark and her overnight stay in the Ice Hotel in Alta, which is rebuilt every year as it melts each year in the spring http://www.ice-lodge.com/Ice-Hotel-Norway.aspx. I have not been to any of these places, but I want to see them. How we are going to get to these places (train, boat, or car or combinations thereof) and when we are going to travel (time of year is important for seeing the Northern lights—preferably between September and April) will be topics for discussion in the very near future. But I have no worries about this becoming a reality, because once an idea is planted in my mind, well, then I’m on my way!