A Day in Tromsø

- Sunday 9th Jan

After a good sleep in, I rolled out of bed at 9am showered, dressed and ate breakfast. It was only just beginning to get light outside and I had a day planned with Hilde to take in some of Tromsø's best sights.

We ventured off to Storsteinen Fjellheis, a cable car that takes you to the top of Mt Storsteinen. As we began the steep climb Tromsø opened up in front of my eyes. The island is surrounded by craigy snow capped mountains. Once at the top, 420m, Hilde and I suited up with warm ski pants, jackets, gloves, beanies. etc. We walked out onto the snowy mountain and took in the amazing view. Using my tripod we took a photo of the both of us, which was lovely.

As the moon rose above the mountains I photographed that too. I am going to spend many an hour creating an amazing photo journal of my travels when I return.

Hilde and I ventured up the mountain a little further before heading to the Stortsteinen lookout and then back inside for a drink and Norweigan waffles - yum! The ride back down in the cable car was just as brilliant, and the start as we lerched forward and the ground dropped away, my stomach did a little flutter.

After some lunch back in the centre of the city in a very cute old pub restaurant we went to Polaria. This is an aquarium. Hilde and I watched the staff feed the Halibut and Cod. They have teeth and lift their heads well out of the water to snatch the food. I was told that if they bite their jaws lock and you'll be in a bit of trouble. There was one Halibut that lifted a third of itself out of the water and splashed. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with my camera to turn it to video, that would have been awesome to show you.

We explored the rest of the aquarium, checking out the variety of fish, starfish and sea creatures. Concluding our visit by watching the Polaris staff train 4 seals. They're very graceful and clever creatures.

I had such a lovely day with Hilde as the conversation flowed and we laughed at all sorts of things. I have very much enjoyed spend time with Hilde and she's so generous.