Tromsø & Aurora Borealis

Tuesday, March 21 was our last full day in Tromsø. We would leave early the following morning for Oslo. It was also our last chance to see the northern lights. and we were keeping our fingers crossed. Our destination for the day was Tromsdalen, the mainland suburb where Tromsø has spread its reaches in recent years. We could have taken a bus, but I wanted to walk across the bridge. It turned out to be a nice walk. I was even sweating as we walked along with the sun shining on us.

El martes fue el último día completo en Tromsø para nosotros. Saldríamos muy temprano por la mañana el día siguiente para ir a Oslo. Fue la última oportunidad para ver la aurora boreal en ese viaje también, y teníamos los dedos cruzados. Nuestra destinación por el día fue Tromsdalen, un suburbio de la ciudad en el continente adonde Tromsø se ha extendido recientemente. Podríamos haber ido en autobús, pero yo prefería cruzar el puente caminando. Al final fue una caminata bonita y estaba sudando mientras caminábamos con el sol brillando en el cielo.

Bridge from Tromso to TromsdalenBridge from Tromso to TromsdalenBridge from Tromso to Tromsdalen

On the other side of the bridge was the Ishavskatedralen, or the Artic Cathedral. It is the most famous building in Tromsø and was built in 1965.

Al otro lado del puente está la Catedral del Ártico, Ishavskatedralen. Es el edificio más famoso de Tromsø y se construyó en 1965.

Ishavskatedralen - the Arctic CathedralIshavskatedralen - the Arctic CathedralIshavskatedralen - the Arctic Cathedral

The cathedral was closed when we got there, so we were only able to take pictures of the outside. We planned to walk around for a while and come back in a few hours when it would be open.

La catedral estaba cerrada cuando llegamos, así que sólo podríamos sacar fotos del exterior. Decidimos caminar por un rato y volver cuando estaba abierta.

Ishavskatedralen - the Arctic CathedralIshavskatedralen - the Arctic CathedralIshavskatedralen - the Arctic Cathedral

From the cathedral, we decided to go to the Fjellheisen, or cable car. I had been watching it since we arrived, and I had never seen the cars moving, so that morning I was excited to see that it was in use. GPS told us that it would take us fifteen minutes to walk there. On the way we saw several women out running errands on sledges. I did not want to be rude and take pictures of these women, so I held the camera down by my waist and snapped a couple of shots, hoping that I could show you what they looked like. Later that day, I saw one parked outside a shop. They were fairly common and would be easy to use since the streets and sidewalks are not fully plowed.

De la catedral resolvimos ir al teleférico, Fjellheisen. Yo había estado mirándolo desde nuestra llegada y nunca había visto movimiento, pero esa mañana vi que estaba en uso y me emocioné mucho. El sistema de posicionamiento global me dijo que tardaríamos quince minutos en llegar. En vía vimos a varias mujeres quienes hacían sus mandados en trineo personal. No quería ser maleducada y sacarles fotos abiertamente, así que mantenía la cámara a nivel de mis piernas y saqué unas fotos a escondidas. Quería tener unas fotos para mostrarte cómo eran. Más tarde ese día vi a uno afuera de una tienda. Eran bastantes comunes y muy útiles para viajar en las calles cubiertas de nieve.

women on sledges running errands in Norwaywomen on sledges running errands in Norwaywomen on sledges running errands in Norway

The cable car took us up to Storsteinen, which in English means the Big Rock. It was beautiful up there and gave us a spectacular view of the city. Now you can really see that Tromsø is an island. This picture came from Wikipedia.

El teleférico nos llevó a Storsteinen, que significa la Gran Roca en español. Era muy bonito allí arriba y nos dio una vista espectacular de la ciudad. Ahora puedes ver que Tromsø es de verdad una isla. Esta foto la tomé de Wikipedia.

Storsteinen, Tromso, NorwayStorsteinen, Tromso, NorwayStorsteinen, Tromso, Norway

I was a bit nervous up there. As you can see, there were fences protecting us from falling to our deaths in some areas, but in others the cliffs were completely open. Douglas had refused to wear his boots that day and had been slipping and sliding all over the place much to my consternation. I was so mad at him for not wearing the appropriate footwear. It was particularly dangerous for him up there, but luckily we both survived.

Estábamos un poco nerviosos allí arriba por que había unas cercas en unos áreas para asegurar que la gente no se cayera a su muerte, pero en otros sitios no había nada entre nosotros y la muerte. Douglas se había negado llevar sus botas ese día y había estado deslizándose mucho aún en la tierra plana. Me molestaba mucho que no llevara el calzado apropiado y especialmente allí donde era muy peligroso. Teníamos suerte y sobrevivimos.


Storsteinen, Tromso, NorwayStorsteinen, Tromso, Norway

I was able to venture much closer to the edge, since I was wearing my boots. He watched me from behind.

Yo podía acercarme más al borde porque llevaba las botas. Douglas me miraba de detrás.

Storsteinen, Tromso, NorwayStorsteinen, Tromso, NorwayStorsteinen, Tromso, Norway

Words cannot even express how stunning the view was. We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to go up. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have our skis or snow shoes with us. We saw many people with both skis and snowshoes, and it made us jealous.

No existen palabras para expresar qué tan hermosa era la vista. Teníamos suerte de haber podido subir hasta allá. Lo único que me hubiera gustado más sería tener los esquíes o las raquetas para la nieve. Vimos a mucha gente con esquíes y raquetas y nos daban celos.

Storsteinen, Tromso, NorwayStorsteinen, Tromso, NorwayFjellheisen, Tromso, Norway

The only problem with visiting Storsteinen in the winter was how cold it was up there. It was very windy, and despite wearing several layers, we were quickly starting to freeze. We went inside, and I ate lunch while Douglas had three beers. Our view wasn’t that great, but we managed. 😉

El único problema con visitar Storsteinen en el invierno es que hacía mucho frío allí arriba. Hacía mucho viento también y a pesar de llevar mucha ropa estábamos congelados en poco tiempo. Entramos en la estación y allí yo almorcé y Douglas tomó tres cervezas. La vista no era tan bonita, pero sobrevivimos. 😉

Fjellheisen, Tromso, NorwayFjellheisen, Tromso, NorwayFjellheisen, Tromso, Norway

Back at the bottom, we started the walk back to the cathedral. I took a couple of pictures of houses. One thing that fascinated me in Norway was that most house had big picture windows or lots of smaller windows and that almost all of those windows had a lamp or hanging pendants in front of them. It made for a cozy look.

De vuelta abajo, empezamos a caminar a la catedral otra vez. Saqué unas fotos de las casas que pasamos. Una cosa que me llamaba la atención en Noruega era que todas las casas tenían ventanas grandes o muchas ventanas pequeñas y siempre había lámparas en las ventanas. Se veían muy cálido.

Houses in Tromsdalen, NorwayHouses in Tromsdalen, NorwayHouses in Tromsdalen, Norway

Here are some pictures that I took later that night from a moving bus. The pictures are blurry, but you can see that there are lamps sitting or hanging in all of the windows. My mother said that people used to do that in the United States when she was growing up, but it seems to have grown out of fashion.

Aquí hay unas fotos que tomé esa noche del autobús. Son borrosas, pero puedes ver cómo había lámparas en todas las ventanas. Mi mamá me dijo que eso se hacía aquí en Estados Unidos en el pasado, pero hoy día se ve muy poco.

Houses in Kvaloya, NorwayHouses in Kvaloya, Norway

While we were eating on the top of the mountain, the clouds had covered the skies. That made our walk much colder. The cathedral was still closed when we got there, but it was schedule to open in ten minutes. We waited twenty minutes, but it never did open. I was frustrated standing there in the cold and decided that I wanted to leave. Therefore, I do not have any pictures of the inside of the cathedral, except what I could take through the windows. You can visit this website to learn more and see pictures of the interior.

Mientras habíamos estado comiendo en la montaña, las nubes habían cubierto el cielo. Entonces, hacía mucho más frío. La catedral estaba cerrada todavía cuando llegamos, pero el letrero indicaba que se iba a abrir en diez minutos. Esperamos veinte minutos, pero no se abría. Yo estaba frustrada esperando allí afuera en el frío y decidí que quería volver al hotel. Entonces, no tengo fotos del interior de la catedral, pero puedes verlas en este sitio web.

Ishavskatedralen - the Arctic CathedralIshavskatedralen - the Arctic CathedralIshavskatedralen - the Arctic Cathedral

The bus was just pulling up as we passed the bus stop. In hindsight, I wish that we had taken the bus, but the walk over the bridge that morning had been so pleasant that I could not imagine that the way back would be so drastically different. It was cold and the wind was blowing hard. My legs were getting tired from wearing my heavy boots. We did get to see this cute little car. We later saw more of them.

El autobús acababa de llegar cuando pasamos por la parada. Visto en retrospectiva, debíamos habernos subido al autobús, pero caminar por el puente esa mañana había sido una experiencia muy bonita y no sabía que no podía imaginar qué tan fea sería de vuelta. Hacía muchísimo frío y bastante viento y me dolían las piernas por llevar las botas muy pesadas. Lo único bueno fue ver este coche pequeñito. Vimos más en Oslo. Son populares en Noruega.

Tiny car in Tromso, Norway

Back in the hotel, I decided that I was done for the day. What was going to be a quick nap turned into a much longer one, but I did get up in time to go on our evening excursion in hopes of seeing the northern lights. On this trip I tried to take some pictures of the tunnel system that connects Tromsø. We had already been through it several times from the airport and then again when we went to the Villmarkssenter. I had never before been in a tunnel that had roundabouts, and there were two of them down there under the city.  I guess this takes care of the snow problem in winter.

En el hotel otra vez, estaba feliz y no quería salir más. Sólo había pensado descansar un rato, pero la siesta se extendió hasta la hora de salir para la excursión de la noche. En ese viaje saqué unas fotos del sistema de túneles que conecta Tromsø. Ya habíamos pasado por allí varias veces del aeropuerto y otra vez cuando fuimos al Villmarkssenter. Nunca había visto un túnel con una glorieta y ese tenía al menos dos.

Tunnel in Tromso, NorwayTunnel in Tromso, NorwayTunnel in Tromso, Norway

The evening was cloudy, and we were worried that even if there were lights, we would not be able to see them. We were told that the lights appear on average five out of seven days, so our odds that they would exist were good, but unless the clouds went away, it would not matter. We drove for a while out onto the island of Kvaløya to Sommerøya with the company Tromsø Safari. There we would have dinner in the cabin and wait outside for the lights. We were so fortunate that not only did they appear that night.

El cielo estaba nublado esa noche y preocupábamos que no íbamos a ver las luces aún si hubiera. Nos habían dicho que las luces aparecen cinco de cada siete días como promedio, entonces existía buena probabilidad de que habría luces, pero con muchas nubes no importaría. Viajamos buen rato en el autobús por la isla de Kvaløya a Sommerøya con la empresa Tromsø Safari. Allí cenaríamos en una cabaña y después esperaríamos las luces afuera. Tuvimos suerte y no sólo aparecieron pero que las nubes desvanecieron también.

Aurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso SafariAurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso SafariAurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso Safari

The lights were faint at first, and sometimes it was hard to tell if they were lights. The human eye cannot detect color at night, so although the lights appear bright in some of these pictures, to us they looked very faintly green. We were fortunate to be with our guide Leander. He is a professional photographer, and he took these amazing photographs.

Las primeras luces eran tenues y casi no se veían. El ojo humano no puede detectar colores por la noche y aunque las luces se ven brillantes en las fotos en persona eran más pálidas. Tuvimos la buena fortuna de estar con Leander, nuestro guía quien era fotógrafo profesional y él tomó estas fotos tan espectaculares.

Aurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso SafariAurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso SafariAurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso Safari

Just before we left the camp at 11:00 pm to drive back to the city, the lights went into overdrive. It was like the grand finale at a fireworks display. The lights were directly overhead and swirling through the air as though they were dancing. It was hard to take it all in. Douglas laid down on the frozen ground in order to be able to see all of the lights. It was an experience that we would never forget.

Justo antes de irnos a las once de la noche más o menos, las luces aumentaron a una cantidad tan impresionante que me hacía pensar en el gran final de una exhibición de fuegos artificiales. Las luces bailaban y giraba directamente encima de nosotros y era imposibles verlas todas. Douglas se acostó en la tierra congelada para verlas mejor. Fue una experiencia inolvidable.

Aurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso SafariAurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso SafariAurora Borealis Norway - Leander - Aurora Safari - Tromso Safari

Happy Travels!

¡Feliz viaje!

 

 

 

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About

I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com

11 Comments on “Tromsø & Aurora Borealis

  1. Love those little shopping sledges! Funny that they lock them up with bike locks 🙂
    The northern lights = amazing! WOW!!! What an experience.

    • Or maybe we lock our bikes with sledge locks! 😉 Hahaha. The lights are burned in my brain forever. We were so fortunate to have seen them.

  2. I’m so glad you saw a light show! The Northern Lights are truly unforgettable. I’ll never forget my experience in BC, but it was so long ago. I hope I see them again someday! That cathedral looks amazing. Bummer it wasn’t open!

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