#Tromso

[nevver]

Magnetic north, Benjamin Juhel

#Tromso

[wgm-beautiful-world]

T R O M S Ø

#tromsø #tromso #hålogaland #norway #noruega #europe #europa

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Aurora Jellies

Beneath the northern lights, moon jellyfish appear to glow in a fjord outside Tromsø, Norway.

by Audun Rikardsen

Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice Award

#audun rikardsen #photographer #wildlife photographer of the year people's choice award #aurora borealis #northern lights #tromso #norway #fjord #landscape #marine life #nature #moon jellyfish #jellyfish

[pangeen]

“ PRESTVANNET LAKE “ //  Philippe Jankech

#PRESTVANNET LAKE #Tromso #Norway #Autumn #Fall

[dopescissorscashwagon]

Why do I spend so many nights outside? Well... here is the answer ⬇️

📸 by Vincent Beudez

Most of them were taken around Tromso, but otherwise in Senja Island and Northern Norway

#Northern Lights #Tromso #Senja Island #Northern Norway #Amazing #Beautiful #Night Skies #Nature #Travel #Photography #Adventure

[aurora-daily]

AURORA @ Buktafestivalen by Giorgos Kournoutis // 20.07.2023 // Tromsø, Norway

#aurora #aurora aksnes #festivals #europe #tromso #svabø #thea

[randomberlinchick]

Tromso, Norway 🇳🇴😍🇳🇴

#norway #tromso #hurtigruten #solo travel #adventure #memories #my pics

[haveyoubeentothiscity]

Population: 64,448

Hours of daylight today: none

Latitude: 69°39'N

One submitter commented, “Also called the Paris of the North or the Gate to the Arctic”

#city poll #tromso #tromsø #Norway #europe #submitted #winter solstice theme day

[merifl]

On top the world 🗻❄️

#adventure #landscape #nature #photography #travel #norway #tromso #wanderlust #traveller #cityscape #city #on top of everything else #photographers on tumblr

[dichtefichten]

leaving

#dichtefichten #analog photography #35mm photography #artists on tumblr #filmsnotdead #street photography #ishootfilm #black and white #tromso #norway #fjellheisen #storsteinen #ice desert #winter #polar night #silhouettes #snow #liminal #kentmere pan 400

[naomitours]

Tromsø, Norway: The North Above the North

I am not a "cold-weather" person, both in personality and in personal inclination. So you might wonder why someone like me would go to Norway in December. And if you asked me this after I actually got there, it would've been a damn good question! But I had a single reason, and a good one:

That's right, I went to see the northern lights. The green lady. "A-AURORA BOREALIS??", in the words of Superintendent Chalmers. People much smarter than me say this is caused by the sun's upper atmosphere emanating a solar wind that reaches *our* upper atmosphere. While not the most consistent place in the world to see it, Tromsø is one of the easiest and largest to try your luck.

Disclaimers from the Top of the World

The first thing you should know about Tromsø is that the sun doesn't come up for most of winter. You'll have light for a few hours, sure, but it's not the same. The meaning of darkness is different when it's ever-present, and those brief few hours of light mean everything. I found myself wanting to shed my coat and soak the light in through every pore of my body.¹ Depression is a real problem here, so is alcoholism. (I was even told by a local that they track alcohol purchases via card, to make sure nobody is drinking too much in the dark months!)²

The "sunset" over the Tromsø harbor, 1:35 PM.

The second thing you should know is that you need traction on your footwear. Pack your snow boots, or buy some shoe spikes because otherwise you'll be spending a good chunk of your time here on the ground, cursing the ice. My dumb-ass had decided to come to Norway on a whim, without thinking or preparing, so I showed up in my Doc Martens slipping and sliding. I almost couldn't make it to my Airbnb, my host having to come down and help me up the hills!! Thankfully I was able to borrow boots from my, again, incredibly lovely host³, but my god you've never appreciated gravel so much!

The Tromsø Troll Museum

That's right, the main attraction in the city, the reason you flew hundreds, perhaps even thousands of miles! This tiny museum with a bunch of trolls scattered all around!

It's a cozy space, and if you're as fascinated as mythology as I am, it's really a must-see if you're in town. Also, there's a replica of a hulder. According to local lore, these were beautiful women who would often try to lure men away from their human homes, to live in otherworldly pleasure with them⁴, or they would marry human men and join our world, retaining their otherworldly strength⁵!

Aurora Borealis

The biggest disclaimer I'd offer for the northern lights is this, you are never guaranteed to see them, even if you do everything "right". This was such a huge source of anxiety for me until I finally had a good sighting, then I was able to relax. I recommend doing some guided tours, these are not necessary (I saw them once right outside my Airbnb!) but it's going to maximize your chances by getting you away from the city's light pollution. There's many different modes of transportation for this, I myself took a bus and a boat, but I saw advertisements for planes, helicopters and even dog sleds*. The first time I ever witnessed the northern lights was on a sleepy little boat tour, New Year's Eve 2023.⁶

The interior was very cozy, more importantly it was warm, essential on a night with subzero wind chill. I enjoyed cookies and coffee and hot chocolate with marshmallows!

The lights don't look like the pictures, that should be stressed. The vast majority of aurora borealis photos are taken via long-exposure, and our eyes just don't work the same way. But on a good night you can see a faint green distortion in the sky, as if a riff into another dimension. It's like you expect an alien spaceship, or the giant hand of a monster to come ripping out of it, changing our world forever.⁷ But for the natives of Tromsø, it's just a day like any other.

View of the Aurora Borealis, from my Airbnb the next day.

I also recommend booking a few different tours, if you're like me and only really need to see it once, many will let you cancel on 24hrs notice if you pay extra. I recommend this as a good way to save money, but I'm kinda a cheapskate, so what do I know?

Also, please don't be discouraged if you don't see the lights on any given tour, you still do get some really beautiful photographs. It's important to keep a sense of relativity about you, you are standing at the top of the world, in the freezing cold. And in this moment you are having a novel human experience, regardless of whether or not you see some pretty lights on top of it.

What I Ate

Now, you might think the food is very bare-necessities in this sleepy arctic city, but you'd be surprised! One of the first things I had was something I had actually failed to find in Oslo, a delicious Norwegian donut called a skolebolle:

With a custard center and coconut flakes trimming the top, it's a deliciously sweet treat that I found in a Eurospar for the equivalent of a dollar. I recommend enjoying it with black coffee! Not pictured are the other things I got from the store, including paprika-flavored potato chips (highly recommended) and a large bar of Freia milk chocolate, which you'll not be disappointed by.

There's also an abundance of little convenience stores that will get you hot meals for relatively cheap (Northern Europe is expensive!) On the right you'll see a pepperoni calzone that was pretty good, along with a Norwegian soda that was less so. But if you're looking for a finer taste of Tromsø, stay with me:

This is a sampling I did of Aquavit, the signature liquor of Scandinavia. All of it was made right here in Tromsø, and I had a lovely guide for this tasting. To name a few, lingonberries and reindeer meat, not to mention a small slice of grapefruit.⁸ It's a little skimpy, however the point isn't to eat, but to taste!⁹

Conclusion/Takeaways

It can be a very scary thing, to be so far away from home. In all my years of travel, though that uncertainty has diminished, it never truly goes away. Maybe travel is just like any other experience, your tolerance to it builds until you only feel the original high when you get even further out of the world as you've known it. In this way, travel is much like a drug. But what moves me most about travel is its capacity to help us understand not just the planet we live on, but our own place within it. And if you ever feel lost for purpose, I might recommend standing on top of the world, hunting for otherworldly apparitions in the sky //

Footnotes:

¹ Of course, if you actually try to walk around in Tromsø without a coat, you will a)freeze to death and b)look stupid

² LITERALLY 1984

³ Of course, I had to return the boots when I left for the airport, meaning I fell not once, not twice, but THREE times trying to get down the hills to the bus stop. Seriously, you can't wear your Docs, no matter how fashionable and punk rock they are!

⁴ But why would you want to do that, when society is sooooooo good?? Like, who wants to live in a fantasy world where there is no suffering or want when we have Pizza Hut here, right now?

⁵ A hulder also features prominently on the cover of that one metal album by the murderous Nazi that your friend still listens to, despite knowing he's, you know, a MURDEROUS NAZI.

⁶ I would later go on to watch a man in lederhosen play The Weeknd, Cher, and at midnight ABBA's "Happy New Year", all on a keyboard. Dude was a one-man entertainment MACHINE, the vibe was immaculate.

⁷ As seen in Avengers 17: We Saved the World Again, in theaters this summer! Go watch it. Right now. The corporations demand it. DO IT. CONSUME.

⁸ Make sure your meds don't interact with grapefruit. Grapefruit may cause side effects including sour taste. Ask your doctor if grapefruit is right for you.

⁹ You know, like, a tasting menu or something!!

#travel #norway #tromso #tromsø #northern lights #aurora borealis #traveler #travel blog #traveling #places to visit #travel guide #footnote comedy for your soul

[anotherlongstoryshort]

#I took a trip #Norway #Andalsnes #Tromso #Narvik #Haugesund #Ryvarden #Trollveggen

[quo-usque-tandem]

Tromso, Norway

#nature #nature photography #Tromso #Norway #travel #travel photography

[sitting-on-me-bum]

“An Explosion Of Color”

Tromsø, Norway.

By Vincent Beudez

Northern Lights Photographer of the Year

#vincent beudez #photographer #northern lights photographer of the year #tromso #norway #landscape #northern lights #aurora borealis #nature

[undercover-witch]

she gambled and won.

#video #fresh from the source #pigeon #my video #norway #tromso

[willcodehtmlforfood]

8 éve voltunk Tromsø-ben

#throwback #norway #tromso #2016 February