Trish and I hiked this mountain Keiservarden during the day. We were definitely not dressed appropriately but it was actually okay. The hike took us a good hour. We never saw the sun that day because it never rose above the horizon, but we did see sun light. we had the most amazing views of the surrounding jagged mountains and of the snowy coastline. I've never seen anything like it. The colors in the sky were stunning. The sky glowed gradients of pink, orange, red, yellow, blue, and purple. We took so many pictures but none come close to doing what we saw justice. At the top we almost flew off the mountain because it was so windy and icy. And SO unbelievably cold. We stayed at the top for 10 minutes and inhaled the indian food leftover from the night before that had actualy frozen on the hike up. We laughed A LOT because it was just so ridiculous. Luckily it was a very clear day and we had beautiful views of the entire town and a nearby island. the descent was much quicker. And i ate ice popscicle-icescicles.
later that night Christina and Andreas took us to see the world's largest whirl pool, called Saltstraumen. You have to time it so you see the current at its strongest. There are 4 times during the day when the current is strongest. We went at 9 or so at night. although it was dark we could still see the water. The noise was intimidating, and the speed of the water was incredible.
The whole day was a very humbling experience. The mountains, the cold, the wind, the ice, the colors, the light, the water, the speed, the sound. Makes you realize how small you are.
2 hours before we arrived to Bodø there was an aurora borealis show...we just missed it! At night Trish and I would go to Dama Di, a cool bar in town and drank irish coffees to keep us awake so we could catch the lights if they ever showed. They didnt. but we had hours and hours of conversations and many trips to the bathroom as a result of all the laughing and liquids consumed.
The last night in Bodø we stayed out all night just walking around town, eyes to the skies hoping for the lights. we ventured onto the docks that took us out into the middle of the water. It was cold and dark. But no lights. we got home at 5 am.
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Now we are in Tromsø staying with Trish's friend Nils. There will be no daylight during our entire stay here! HOPEFULLY we will see the lights in these 3 days. Apparently the lights happen every night if not every other night, and you should be able to see them when it's cold and clear enough. so FINGERS CROSSED!! for the perfect weather conditions. We have a lot of people sending us positive energy and hoping that we see them. Tomorrow we are going to go up this mountain elevator and hang out in this cafe wehre you should be able to see the lights pretty well. Tromsø is a university town so we will inevitably go to some pubs in the city center. There is an observatory for the nordlys (northern lights) here that we plan on visiting too.
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I realized I never wrote about the new year's party. Basically Trish's awesome friends came over and we danced our butts off. And as usual, i fell asleep on the couch at 3 am in the middle of the dance party and the party continued for 3 hours around me. New New year's resultion: dont fall asleep at parties? I think it needs to be added to the list.
I feel so lucky to have been able to come to Norway and visit Trish and meet all of her wonderful friends. I would love to come back in the summer to see the "other half" of Norway. And if I dont see the lights THIS time, i'll have to return next January and hang out above the arctic circle for the full 2 weeks :)
ok time to run outside and check out the sky! I'll add pictures once im back in Spain!
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