Tromsø New Year’s Eve 2022/2023
Inhalt/Content
Off to Tromsø!
Early in the morning, we went directly to the airport. The flight was slightly delayed, so we could only check in a little later. However, the BER airport was well designed. Instead of having all the check-ins lined up next to each other on one wall, they were divided into quadrants, making it easy to queue up. After checking in our luggage and going through security, we slowly made our way towards the gate. Along the way, we passed through a small bookstore. We didn’t plan on buying any books since we had already brought some from home, but the store had lovely small fabric bags for storing books during transport…and since I usually used a small plastic bag for this (which was already falling apart), I couldn’t resist and bought one of the fabric bags.
The real highlight at the airport came shortly after when we suddenly encountered a very special cleaning robot named Franziska. What made Franziska so special was that she not only cleaned the floor, but also engaged in conversation with people who crossed her path. She talked, sang, and told jokes. We followed her enthusiastically for almost half an hour, which led to the creation of these video recordings.
Finally, we boarded a flight to Oslo. Unfortunately, the delay had accumulated by this point, so we had less than an hour until our flight to Tromsø departed. As it turned out, we were not the only ones worried about our connection to Tromsø, and a whole group of people rushed with us to the boarding gate just in time. It turned out that the flight to Tromsø was also delayed. The delay was due in part to many people transferring from different flights (so luggage had to be loaded quickly from all directions), and the plane had to be de-iced, which was very interesting to watch. The plane was sprayed with a liquid from the outside, almost like a plane wash.
During the second flight, we realized that our stomachs were growling. We had planned to eat properly in Tromsø, but with arrival, transportation, shopping, and cooking ourselves, it would have taken forever. So we did something completely new and ordered lunch on a short-haul flight. This seemed to surprise the flight crew a bit, as they had to search for the menus throughout the entire plane. We ordered green curry and lasagna, which seemed to be the only two items they could find. I don’t need to tell you that the food was so-so, but at least it temporarily satisfied our hunger.
Interesting to mention is that besides looking at the menu, we also checked out other products that were available for purchase on the flight. A backpack caught my attention as it was supposed to be lightweight and foldable. Unfortunately, most of the products were not available on short-haul flights, but I will come back to the backpack later…
In Tromsø, we arrived on time and our luggage was one of the first ones to come out on the baggage carousel. From the airport, we had to walk a few meters to reach the nearest bus stop. There was a shuttle bus that went directly from the airport to the city, but it was quite expensive and our Airbnb was located right next to a regular bus stop, which we could reach directly from the airport without changing buses. Using an app, we purchased our bus tickets and arrived at our accommodation in about half an hour. We did take the bus route that goes around the city in a larger circle, but it gave us a good impression of winter in Tromsø.
The accommodation was relatively easy to find, we just had some trouble rolling our suitcase because it kept getting stuck in the snow and one of the wheels was unfortunately broken beforehand. The apartment was located behind a fence on the third floor of a building with several other apartments. The AirBnB was essentially two stories (just like our duplex apartment), but the upper floor consisted only of a small area with a bed, which could only be reached by a somewhat adventurous ladder. It had already been agreed upon that Mark would sleep up there (but Nathalie was also fine with it and even climbed up the ladder herself…). On the lower level, there was a living room on one side and a kitchen on the other. Two doors led to a bathroom and a bedroom, where Nathalie and I would sleep.
In the apartment, there were also some cooking utensils, but nothing to make a whole meal out of. We had already agreed with Mark that we would first go shopping and cook something so we could eat together when he arrived in Tromsø about 4 hours after us. So we walked to the nearest supermarket (which we already knew from our last stay in Tromsø) and stocked up on things for the next few meals. Of course, we immediately noticed how prices in Norway are almost double for almost all products. Since it was also Mark’s birthday that day, we bought a small cake that is a typical Norwegian dessert and has the beautiful name “Fyrstekake”. We also stocked up on our beloved Polarbröd. In the whole-grain version, you can only find it in Scandinavia. It consists of round flat slices that are very soft and resemble burger buns but taste amazing with any topping like sausage, cheese, or hazelnut spread.
Back in the apartment, vegetables were chopped up for a warming vegetable soup. Mark arrived in Tromsø on schedule and easily made his way to the accommodation. We adorned the “Fyrstekake” with candles and welcomed him with celebration. We gave him a board game that I had funded on Kickstarter. I thought it was fitting for Mark because it had many English wordplays that we as Germans could hardly understand. After dinner and some conversations, we went to bed. After all, the next day was already planned for the first sights to see.
