Tromso town
NORWAY & DENMARK Diary : Day 4, Day 5 & Day 6 - 03rd April, 04th April & 05th April 2019
The Island town of Tromso lies above the Arctic circle, in northern Norway. It is a part of the two islands of Tromsoy & Kvaloy, lying to the west of the mainland. Due to its location, the sun is continuously visible from here from May to July. The town is a promising trade hub and hosts many Arctic expeditions. It grew to popularity due to the clear visibility of the Aurora Borealis in many areas surrounding it. The town also served as a seat of the Norwegian government during the second world war. It is linked to major lands mainly by ferries and has excellent road connectivity. Home to many Arctic studies and Astronomical institutes, it is most famous for its Auroral study & observatory. The museum in the town centre has displays of folklore and maritime exhibits.
03 APRIL 2019 : Tromso became a part of our itinerary, mainly in expectation of a mesmerising NORTHERN LIGHTS view. We were guided by the Borealis tour operator to get there before 7th April, after which the lights would get faint. We reached Tromso in 4 hours by a flight from Copenhagen on the 03rd of April 2019. I managed to capture an amazing aerial view of region from the airplane just before landing in Tromso. Please find a video in the gallery. A local bus ferried us from Tromso Airport to town centre in less than 15 minutes. The TROMS BILLET app enabled easy booking of the bus ticket, which is way cheaper than the airport shuttle bus. The bus stop is conveniently situated outside the airport, at a 5 minute walking distance. The snowy landscapes kept us engaged. We got off at the NERSTRANDA stop, in the town centre. This stop was a 3 minute walk to the ENTER CITY APARTHOTEL, where we had booked our accommodation. The roads were, however, wet with snow, making it difficult to drag our luggages to the hotel.
The booking was made through BOOKING.COM and check in process was simple. The chic and cozy ENTER CITY TROMSO hotel had allocated one self-catering unit per family with sufficient bedding. The rooms were not very big, but were so comfortable and in the heart of the town. We settled down and gathered in one of the rooms for a quick lunch. We rested till 4:30 pm, after which we set out to explore the town centre. We enjoyed the careful walk down the slippery roads. Suddenly it began to snow. We drenched ourselves in the snowfall. The weather got so cold that we almost froze. Shivering, we took shelter under a high roof of one of the bigger shops. The town seemed to go about its business despite the thick snow.
We were ecstatic about being above the Arctic circle. The snow didn't let us venture out too much, but we made it a quick one hour around the town, to get the local feel. Snow everywhere, boats anchored to the shore, big snowy hills, truly enticing. The snow fall reached a height enough to cover the KONGSBANK gardens. We passed the Tromso Church. The pier offered beautiful views of the mountains and the fjord. The town was small but was self-sufficient with latest shopping malls, stores, expensive boutiques, loads of supermarkets. It is well connected by buses. The place where we stayed was close to everything we needed. The first day was totally snowed down. Now, that is expected around the ARCTIC CIRCLE , isn't it. We shopped for a few groceries and got back to our rooms. We were hoping that the next 3 days in Tromso would be snow free. A decently early dinner coupled with a hot shower was how this day ended.
04th April 2019 : Luckily there was no snowfall or rain. The sky was bright & blue. The day began with the HUSKIES TOUR (read KVALOYA) and ended with the NORTHERN LIGHTS TOUR ( read TONSVIK).
We had a clearer view of the TROMSO CHURCH on our way to the Villmarkssenter, before the Huskies tour. We got back from the tour by 1:30pm. The evening seemed relatively free as the next tour was only at 6:45pm. By 3:30 pm we were good to explore the town a bit further. Taking a long stroll along the path decorated naturally with snow, we reached the pier side. The strait of TROMSOYSUNDET lay quite still. The views of anchored boats, the water and mountains attracted us. We were free to hop on to the boarding tracks and pose against few boats for photographs. The Arctic Cathedral could be spotted on the other side of the waters, right below the mountain range.
We then continued our walk around the town covering a large area. There were quite a few architectural wonders. The snow managed to sink the town under it, but the larger buildings managed to showcase themselves. We passed through the town Library - the TROMSO BIBLIOTEK. It was an igloo like, huge glass structure with a fancy roof that arched every side , with their slopes merging in the centre. This type of structure is called the "candela shell ". The transparent building, lying right at the T junction of a road, is a part of the complex that also contains the Town Hall and movie theatre. This four floored building has the city's archives on its topmost floor. Next to the Town Hall was the MUSIC PAVILION (Musikkpaviljongen) . The special yellow structured cylindrical pandal, built of wood in typical Swiss style, was surrounded in knee deep snow.
It was too slippery to pose in front of. During the 19th century, The town parks came into being purely as a system for entertainment. A music pavilion was a typical feature of these parks facilitating concerts and other recreation. We came across metal statues of running women, against which I loved replicating their pose. We also spotted the dark brown coloured Metodistkirken ( Methodist church), that had a tall A shaped facade, the top of which was coloured in green. We crossed many such memorable spots and returned to our den. We then prepared ourselves for the upcoming northern lights tour (read TONSVIK).
05th April 2019 : Another bright morning. We were fortunate enough to have a relaxed morning. The itinerary for the day included the TROMSO BEACH, JEKTA SHOPPING CENTRE and THE ARCTIC CATHEDRAL. We had a day pass for unlimited usage of local transport ( booked on the TROMS BILLET app). Considering the time & weather, it would be decided later, if taking the cable car up the mountain to the view point from near the cathedral, could be included. At 11:30 am we walked to a bus stop on STORGATA to get to the SOUTHERN BEACH ( read TROMSO BEACH). After a good time by the beach, we boarded a bus to reach the JEKTA SHOPPING mall.
The bus dropped us off near the entrance of the JEKTA building. We entered the complex and were pleasantly surprised by its layout. The ground floor was huge & bustling. There were a variety of classic stores, branded shops along with loads of restaurants, coffee shops & cafes. Clothing, Kitchen items , utilities, home decor, shoes, bags the list was just endless. This was some affordable shopping. There was a big supermarket too. We were told that the mall offered 65000 square metres of shopping, split amongst nearly 135 shops on 2 floors. Escalators criss crossed few of the hall ways. The aroma of bakery, chocolate & ice-cream treats filled the floor ways. Some of the shops were upcoming, still leaving too much to see. Each of us moved from shop to shop of our own interests. We couldn't resist splurging on yummy treats and ice-cream. I had gotten better at Posing with mannequins. The ambience in the central hall of the 1st floor was fancy. The overall outcome of our shopping experience was great.
We boarded a bus outside the mall to directly get to the other side of Tromso town , crossing over a bridge, to get to the ARCTIC CATHEDRAL. The 'A' shaped cathedral is the iconic landmark of the town. Made mostly of concrete, it holds a record of being the northernmost protestant church in the world. Sitting in the lap of a snowy valley, the cathedral is one of its kind. The bus dropped us off on a road diagonally opposite to this place of worship. We crossed the road and climbed our way to the cathedral. The architectural flow of the cathedral’s roof is unique. From a distance, its side profile resembles a face wearing a hood. Unfortunately, it was just past 6 pm and the doors of the cathedral were already closed. Nevertheless, we were lucky to view a beautiful sunset here. It was nearing 7 pm. We were tired. We decided to skip the cable car ride and head back to the hotel. After cupping the Sun in our palms, we crossed the road yet again to take another bus to the city centre. Commuting was that easy. We had done complete justice to the day pass. We walked back to our hotel and called it a day. This was our last day in Tromso
06th April 2019 : Early that morn we reached the ferry port, after checking out from our hotel. Dragging our luggage was easier this time. We had booked the tickets through the TROMS BILLET (FYLKESTRAFIKK) APP the previous evening. There was enough and more place in the ferry. The 3 hour journey reached us to HARSTAD by 10:30 pm. For further story read LOFOTEN (Svolvaer).