20260324 Viking Vela Northern Lights and British Isles - Day 9/32

Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 8/32 – Tromsø, Norway - Gateway to the Arctic and more Northern Lights

We awoke this morning almost in Tromsø.

The sail-in was beautiful

We docked in an industrial port about five kilometers north of the city center.

A couple of ski jumps were directly across from our balcony

Tromsø is known for its large number of wooden houses

We could see the Northern Norwegian Science Center and ‎Northern Lights Planetarium, one of our stops on this afternoon's included tour, Panoramic Tromsø

We watched as the skies changed from vibrant blue to overcast and snowing, and back to blue skies, all in about ten minutes. Weather. They have it here. A lot, and all kinds. The temperature was hovering around 33°F, so it was a little colder than it was yesterday in Alta.

Alta, at 69.9687° N latitude, is the farthest north that we've ever set foot on this planet. We were a little farther north, at just over 70°, as we sailed into Alta. Tromsø is about 100 miles, as the crow flies, east and a little south of Alta. We are now at 69.6498° N latitude. One degree of latitude equals roughly 69 miles, so that means we are about 22 miles farther south than we were yesterday. The Arctic Circle is at 66.6641° N, so we are still 206 miles north of the Arctic Circle. In simple terms, we're still really far north! That definitely justifies Tromsø's nickname as the Gateway to the Arctic.

Our tour was scheduled at 2:30. That didn't give us enough time to explore the town before, so we just hung out and watched the temperature drop. By noon, it was down to 31°F with a feels-like temperature of 23°F. Brr. But our tour was all indoors, except for walking to/from the bus, so it was no big deal.

Our first stop was at the Northern Norwegian Science Center and ‎Northern Lights Planetarium for a 30-minute video. The video was shown in the planetarium and was filmed by a local photographer. It was an intensive view of the Northern Lights with multiple time-lapse videos filmed over five years. Seeing it overhead as if we were lying on our backs, outside, was quite immersive and beautiful.

The planetarium

The Vela

After the movie, we headed across the Tromsø Bridge toward the Arctic Cathedral.

Tromsø Bridge

The back of the Arctic Cathedral - some say it is reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House - we think that is a stretch

Technically, it is a parish church and not a cathedral, and was built in 1965

A beautiful sun halo was shining over the water

A look back at the Tromsø Bridge from the front of the Arctic Cathedral

The front was originally clear glass, but the rising sun during morning services was blinding parishoners so they swapped in this stained glass

The architect was furious and never returned to the building

This is a baptism tree - every child baptised in the year gets a dove hung on the tree, and at the end of the year, a party is held for all families with a newborn that year

The organ

We drove to the south of the island and then north to the airport.

We passed the northernmost Burger King in the world, near the airport

We also toured the town center. We look forward to taking the shuttle there tomorrow and exploring. We returned to the Vela after our tour.

The setting sun put a lovely glow into the sky

We enjoyed drinks in the Explorers Bar and dinner in the World Café per usual. Then, we did a thing. We booked our first 2028 travel. In October 2028, we will sail on Viking's Wonders of India and do a post extension to Kathmandu, Nepal, to see, but most certainly not climb, Mt. Everest.

After we returned to our room, the phone rang with a recording stating that the aurora had been spotted. We bundled up and headed upstairs. I tried using my main camera to see how it went. It didn't go well. I am not traveling with a tripod, and hand-holding three to four second exposures was really tough. Cell phones are much better suited to the task of aurora photography unless you want to travel with a lot of equipment. I've included some of Arlona's cell snaps and my camera snaps. It's pretty evident which is which, and you'll see my blurry lights and ship details.  It was an interesting experiment and worth a try. I figured it would be a challenge, and it was.

It was another fun, albeit chilly, night of aurora watching.

We will remain in Tromsø all day tomorrow, sailing early tomorrow evening. We plan to take the shuttle into town and explore.