Norwegian Culture / Adventure in Tromsø and Lofoten

The Norwegian, Culture and Adventure line travels to Tromsø. The first night we walk across the bridge to the Arctic Cathedral.

The next day we visit Polaria Aquarium where we learn about the seals they have there and other plant and animal life that lives in the sea. We will also see a film about Svalbard and the Northern Lights.

At the Polar Museum, we learn about Fritjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen's polar expeditions and other expeditions that they took.

We get a fantastic experience with the Tromsø Arctic Reindeer team who drive us to a Sami camp where we join and feed 300 reindeer, drive reindeer sleds and are served the Sami dish Bidos. We are instructed and try to throw a lasso, some were better than others must be said. We get an interesting lecture where we learn about the Sami history, culture and how the Sami live today. We learn about the significance of the yoik for the Sami and also hear a yoik.

We plan to take the mountain lift up to the top over Tromsø city, but this will be closed due to wind. We still get a nice view of the city.

We get time to visit the planetarium at Nordnorsk Vitensenter where guide Anne Bruvold tells us about Norrøn and Sami starry sky while she shows us the film «Northern skies» and we see the film «Extreme Aurora» where we get an experience of being in the open air and see the Northern Lights in all their glory.

After three days full of experiences, we board the Hurtigruta MS Nordlys and turn our nose towards Lofoten and Svolvær. We still have many exciting experiences ahead.

After a good night's sleep in Svolvær, we are ready for new adventures. Our first stop is the Viking farm at Borg, Lofotr Viking Museum. Here we learn about how it was discovered that there had been a large Viking farm here, we get to see tools, utensils and ornaments that they have found and we learn about what is thought to have happened here in the Viking Age. That it was a very rich Viking chief is understood when many remains of glass and ceramics were found, which was very expensive at that time. The size of the house, supports this assumption. We also get to go into the house that is built as a copy and here we get to touch and try the equipment that is available.

At Ballstad slip, we see the world's largest mural painted by Scott Thoe. It is 3000 square meters large and covers three walls.

In Nusfjord we get an impression of how the fishermen could seek shelter from the weather in the old days and deliver the fish they caught to this small idyllic fishing village.

We visit the glass cabin in Vikten and look at the beautiful glass works that the artist had made during the winter.

In the evening we visit Rob and Theresa at the Polar Light Center in Laukvika. We get a thorough introduction to the Northern Lights. Rob also talks about how important he thinks it is that we all find our passion, something we can be passionate about. He is a living example of just this and his enthusiasm spreads to us listeners. To top it all off, we get to experience a fantastic Northern Lights just this evening right outside his house.

The experiences come in a row when we are in Lofoten. This morning we "pattern" on the "Symra" - the fishing boat for XXLofoten. We will learn about Skreifiske and seek fishing happiness. This time, unfortunately, there will only be a few small saithe and a cod - not for that, the students will be very happy with this fish as well. However, the weather is absolutely great. Almost no wind, flat sea and sun good clear blue sky.

We take the fish with us to Kalle on «Full steam». Here he serves us fried cod tongue, roe directly from the roe bag and a fish stew. He is kind and cooks our own fish catch so the students get to taste it too. Full stem is not only a restaurant, but also a museum and we learn the story of the stockfish production and what happens from the time the fish arrives at the quay until it is exported as stockfish a few months later.

Before we leave Lofoten, we make another trip with XXLofoten. This time they take us on a sea eagle safari. We are divided into two high-speed ribs and get a "one in a lifetime" experience. The weather is fantastic, the sea eagles are very hungry and we get to see dozens of eagles up close. The trip also goes to the famous Trollfjord. 

Now it's time to leave Lofoten for this time. We go on the Hurtigruta MS Polarlys which takes us along the beautiful Norwegian coast to Trondheim. You can read and see pictures of our long coastline, but nothing beats experiencing this with your own eyes.