This is the view from the plane on our way into Tromsø. As you can see, the sun is setting and making the sky look really cool.
Again, the pinkish/ aqua sky against the mountains is really pretty.
And how about another picture from the plane for good measure.
This is the harbor in Tromsø. It is a very nice and cute city. It is apparently known as "the Paris of the north" because it is so pretty.
Plus there is a random walrus statue there, so obviously Tromsø knows what's up.
Also, at the Tromsø Museum there is a giant "Thumbs Up Lizard" for no apparent reason. Ten points for Tromsø.
From Tromsø we went on our camping trip about 30 minutes outside of the city. This is a lavvu, or a traditional Sapmi (indigenous arctic people) tent. This is where we spent the night.
Here is the inside of the tent. Don't let the fire and reindeer pelts fool you, it was f**king cold in that tent.
Here is me in my sweet winter gear. While the snow suit was actually very effective and comfortable, the boots weighed about 10lbs a piece.
This is one of my dog friends. They were all really friendly and loud. We played with the dogs and then had reindeer stew for dinner. Then we waited for the main event of the night...
The Northern Lights! Considering this night was the only night all week that had good solar wind activity, we were really lucky we got to see them. And I actually got a picture, which is supposed to be impossible with a point-and-shoot camera!
Oh, you know, just huddling under some reindeer hides, like normal...
This is where the sled dogs live. There were a ton of them here.
Getting ready for the ride.
Here we go! It was really fun, and the dogs are so excited to run that they try to run the other sleds down. Our driver Robert was also very friendly and informative.
Thanks for the ride, guys! It was super cool. After this we were off to Alta and then Karasjok - on a 12 hour total bus ride...
This is the Sapmi Parliament. It was a cool looking building in the tiny town of Karasjok. I also got to see some reindeer on the way to Karasjok on the bus, but I didn't have my camera out :(
And then this painting tried to steal my soul. Contemporary Norwegian paintings (the ones at this particular museum anyway) are creepy. Sorry to stereotype, but seriously...
So, yeah, that is my trip in a nutshell. As you can see, I took a lot more pictures in Tromsø than in Alta or Karasjok. So much of the end of the trip was spent traveling between places that I really didn't get a chance to take pictures. Overall the trip was great. We didn't get to do any reindeer herding this time (due to the fact that the herds are in the mountains at this time of year - a fact that I was unaware of because I did not plan this particular part of the trip...), but oh well, no trip can be perfect. I feel like the trip was overall successful, and while I didn't get to spend time with the reindeer, I ate enough of their brothers and sisters to last me a lifetime. Seriously, everyone in Northern Norway pushes reindeer on you like its some sort of street drug. The rest of my winter break should have been spent grading papers, but I really just laid around and planned more stuff for my Ireland/ Scotland trip. Considering half of my students haven't even came back from break yet, I don't feel too bad for not having their papers for them. Well far away friends, I think this is it for now. Until next time...
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