“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 10

Sunday, January 30th, 2022

Overnight we sailed toward Tromsø and docked before 8:00 AM.

Looking out over Balsfjorden, a fjord that is over 35 miles in length.

Tromsø has been called the “Paris of the North”! This is because of its lively atmosphere, varied nightlife, cultural activities, and restaurants abound. It is also the largest city within the Arctic Circle and is also considered to be another great location to view the Northern Lights.

This morning we had an included tour of Tromsø.

Our first stop was the planetarium on the Tromsø campus of the Arctic University of Norway and it was the first Norwegian planetarium open to the public. We went in and watched in the dome a movie from a photographer’s clips from his trips to watch and photograph the Northern Lights.

We passed by the Arctic Cathedral which was a Norway parish church and not actually a cathedral. Its construction was from concrete and metal.

The city also had an underground road system called the Tromsøysund Tunnel. It was an undersea highway tunnel and even had a roundabout! This road system connected the island of Tromsøya with the main suburb of Tromsdalen. Our bus driver took us in the tunnel and through the roundabout several times! The residents of the area have two ways to cross the water: the bridge and the tunnel.

Up a hill we stopped at a school where we had a great view of the town and surrounding area!

Even though it was dark, it was just a little after 3:00 PM, when we took a shuttle into Tromsø. There was snow all around but the sidewalks were perfectly dry and clear and that was because the sidewalks were heated.

In town we were able to visit two stores. The ship wanted to keep us in a bubble so the shops were closed to everyone except Viking passengers. We were given about 45 minutes to look around.

As we left the ship we saw a masked snowman created by some of the Viking Venus crew. There were many members of the crew that had never experienced snow!

This evening we went on an excursion called “Chasing the Northern Lights”. At first the aurora borealis was faint but given time it danced across the sky and put on a show for us. We were lucky to see them three nights in a row! We got back to the ship very early the next morning.

Watch the three videos below to see how the Northern Lights danced, changed and filled the night sky!

Northern Lights Movie 1

https://videopress.com/v/V1FSt8ZK?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Northern Lights Movie 2

https://videopress.com/v/DjE2KsD3?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Northern Lights Movie 3

Below are some of our favorite pictures from tonight’s views of the aurora borealis!

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 9

Saturday, January 29th, 2022

It is much colder today with a high of only 5˚ and sunrise was at 9:27 AM and sunset at 1:53 PM. This morning we went on an excursion called “Northern Norway during WWII”. We traveled to the Tirpitz Museum in Kåfjord.

The museum was a timber building from 1880 and was built in Lillehammer and then it was taken down and moved to Kåfjord in 1945 to help rebuild the war-ravaged area. When it was rebuilt, it first served as the first nursing home and stayed as one until 1961 when a new nursing home was built.

Nearby Altafjord was the largest German naval base outside of Germany. After the sinking of the Tirpitz and the Germans were losing the area, they destroyed Alta. It was part of the German Nazi’s “scorched-earth” policy when they retreated.

The Tirpitz was a huge Nazi warship. This battleship was the heaviest battleship and weighed 2,000 tons more than the Nazi Bismarck. It weighed 42,900 tons or 52,500 tons when it was fully loaded. It was the heaviest ship built by a European Navy at that time. In 1942 she sailed into Norway to be a deterrent against an Allied Invasion. Also she was to intercept Allied Convoys to the Soviet Union.

In September 1943, while anchored in Kåfjord/Altafjord, she was attacked by British midget submarines and put out of action for the first time. There was quite a Norwegian resistance against Hitler and the Germans so they helped to inform the British of Tirpitz’s location! On the other side of the hill with the thigh-high snow is where the Tirpitz tried to hide.

Over the hill is where the Tirpitz was anchored.

The war museum was filled with many relics from the war and had the largest collection of photos and artifacts from the Tirpitz. Below were a few of them that from the museum.

We also visited the Kåfjord Church nearby. It was the oldest standing church in Alta. The Rallar family statue in front of the church was a symbol of the poor families that lived and worked in the copper mines in Kåfjord in the 1800s. Cooper mining was popular in this area after it was discovered.

The beautiful Altafjord as we head back to the ship

The picture below shows what they call “Arctic Smoke” and it was caused by the water temperature being warmer than the outside air and it was really cold today.

The sun was shining on Alta’s two ski jumps as we headed for our afternoon snowmobile adventure. They look very intimidating!

This afternoon we traveled by bus to the Igloo Hotel in Sorrisniva where we geared up for our snowmobile adventure. They had all the clothing, boots, and helmets that we needed to be comfortable during our ride. Before we got on our snowmobile we had a thorough safety instruction from our guide.

Dave was an excellent snowmobile driver! Our ride followed along the Sorrisniva River. About halfway through our ride we stopped and enjoyed the views and if you wanted it was an opportunity to switch drivers. We did not.

Upon returning to the snowmobile hut and getting out of our helmets, boots, etc… we visited the Igloo Hotel. It was first built in 2000 and was Norway’s first ice hotel.

Since then the ice hotel was rebuilt in late December and lasts through the beginning of April. Local craftsmen built the igloo hotel and inside it had amazing ice sculptures, an ice bar and an ice chapel. The hotel was the world’s northernmost ice hotel! We were given an explanation about the building of the igloo hotel by one of the craftsmen who had been a part of it for over ten years. He also poured us our shot of Aquavit in an ice shot glass at the ice bar! It was very cool to roam through the igloo hotel. No guests were in their rooms so we were able to walk throughout the hotel.

After dinner we checked the temperature at 9:00 PM to see how cold it was outside.

Tonight’s entertainment on the ship was an evening with our assistant cruise director. His show was called “Scott Nichol- Caledonia”. He sang some of his favorite tunes and also discussed more about his background.

After the show we went back to our stateroom and bundled up because it was very cold and windy out on deck. It was worth it because we were able to watch the northern lights for a second night in a row! We were still awestruck watching them!

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 8

Friday, January 28th, 2022

Of course today started with our 2 ml. of saliva in our test tube for our COVID test, our health survey and our temperature check.

When we looked outside the ship decks had drifts from the snow and wind as we traveled to Alta, Norway. Around 11:00 AM we docked in Alta.

The ship sailing in the Altafjord, 23 miles long, had beautiful views.

Being this far north, the sunrise was at 9:33 AM and sunset at 12:47 PM. It was 23˚ when we arrived in Alta. It was windy too so it felt colder than the temperature indicated.

After lunch we had a three hour excursion that was a tour of Alta which has about 2,000 inhabitants. An interesting fact they shared was that Alta is on the same longitude as Athens, Greece!

Our first stop was the Northern Lights Cathedral. We listened to the Cathedral guide give us a brief history and explanation about the building itself. It was a parish church of the Church of Norway and was located near the center of town. If you walk down Alta’s main shopping street you will run into the cathedral. The church was built in 2013 and seats 350 people and it is made of concrete and wood. The exterior was made of titanium in a circular shape.

Inside was an impressive organ and a bronze statue of Christ that is a little over 14 feet.

The Cathedral’s lower level had an exhibit about the aurora borealis and it included a ten minute video that was a compilation of Northern lights viewings. It was beautiful!

A statue of Kristian Birkeland (1867-1917) was located outside of the cathedral. He was a Norwegian scientist who first tied the northern lights with electromagnetic storms from the sun. One is currently heading our way and we hope to see the northern lights this evening!

The Alta Museum and World Heritage Rock Art Centre was another of our stops.

It would be best to visit this museum in the summer. It’s known for its thousands of rock carvings. These carvings are from a settlement dating from 4200 to 500 B.C. It’s also an UNESCO World Heritage site. Unfortunately for us, all of the carvings (petroglyphs) are covered by several feet of snow!

Instead of looking at them outside we went through the exhibit, Traces in Stone, explaining the carvings. This exhibit did have some loose rock carvings that gave us an idea of what was outside!

These rock carvings are between 4,000-5,000 years old.

The stone below was named after the popular fictional children’s book character Pippi Longstocking who was known for her pigtails! In 1950, this stone was discovered in a potato field about 12 1/2 northwest of Alta.

The museum had an exhibit called “Natural Born Killers- Predators in Norway”. It showed the thirteen species of natural predators, from the smallest, a snow mouse to the largest, the polar bear. The exhibit talked about the lives of these animals and their role today in Norway. The exhibit had each predator represented by a taxidermist version of the animal.

A temporary exhibition was of Sami (native Norwegians) clothing and traditions and crafts. Jorunn Løkvold spent three years researching the use of mica which in the Sami language is called “fox gold”. The clothes were beautifully decorated.

A permanent exhibition about Bjorn Wirkola, one of the world’s best ski jumpers, and he was from Alta. The exhibit included his medals, awards, skis, boots, etc… It was quite a tribute to him.

The museum had a cafe where we enjoyed a mug of hot chocolate and the views out the back.

At 8:30 PM we left full of excitement because we were heading out in search of the Northern Lights! It was an hour drive out of town to our stopping spot. The roads were narrow and steep!

When we got off the bus at 9:30 PM the aurora borealis was dancing in the sky. The night sky was full of stars and “dancing lights”! We were in awe and for awhile we just enjoyed the spectacular show. We had until 11:30 to view the lights. We were back on the ship after 12:30 AM.

The Aurora Borealis

Seeing the Northern Lights was definitely a highlight of our trip! It was a “bucket list” item that we were lucky enough to check off and also experience a new country, Norway!

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 7

Thursday, January 27th, 2022

It was still really dark as we came into Narvik and the time was close to 8:00 AM!

The ship docked in Narvik at 8:30 AM.

We had a tour that began at 9:30 this morning. It was a city tour that was included. Narvik had snow overnight and earlier in the week they had rain so under the snow was ice.

We saw a wreckage of a WWII German ship, one of the many ships sunk during the war. Narvik was occupied by the Germans because of its resources, especially the iron ore that came from Sweden and was shipped from Narwik because of its proximity to the sea.

Iron Ore from Sweden and then loaded onto ships for exporting.

There also was a German concentration camp about 10 miles outside of town call Beisfjord Camp. This camp held mainly Serb prisoners of war and later Soviet POWs. The atrocities that the Germans carried out at this camp were horrific as happened throughout all of the camps. (Look it up if you’d like to know more but I caution you it will turn your stomach.)

A stop was also made at the Ankenes Church. The church was built in an octagonal style in 1842 and seats approximately 380 people. This was the third version of the church on this site. It was damaged in 1940 due to fighting during WWII and it was repaired in 1947.

The view from the church overlooking the fjord was beautiful!

The sun reflecting on the snow covered mountains.

Below are more pictures of the mountains and the marina as we toured Narvik!

Our last stop on our city tour was at the Narvik War Museum which was all about Narvik and WWII.

The triangular shaped monument in the town center was called Trinigon 3. It was Narvik’s National Freedom Monument. It represents peace and freedom and was a gift from the Norwegian government to mark the 50th anniversary of their liberation in 1945. The monument was made of polished steel and stands 59 feet tall.

This is as high as the sun will get. Our guide was excited to see so much daylight. The northern areas of Norway are just ending what they call the “dark period” which began in November and the sun doesn’t come over the horizon. The sun comes back in the middle of February and the people celebrate!

We were back on the ship with just enough time to eat a banana and dress warmly for our trip to the Polar Park. Daylight only lasted until 2:30 PM. Our last hour at the park it was getting pretty dark! The Polar Park is the world’s most northern animal park.

The park was home to bears, moose, lynx, muskox, red deer, reindeer, wolves, a wolverine, and arctic foxes. The park’s animals had a lot of space within each of their enclosures. It was one of the animal parks in the world with the most area per animal. The park covers about 270 acres. We walked almost three miles to see these Arctic animals.

When we arrived at the park our bus had ice cleats for us to put over our boots because of the icy areas!

After our introduction and a little about the park we headed uphill and across the river to our first stop.

Stop number one was to see the Lynx and the park has four adults. The lynx were playful and can be found in this area.

The moose were eating and just hanging around! The park has 3 moose, 2 females and one male.

The Arctic foxes coats were not white! Their coat didn’t change color and our guide thought is was because the winter up to now had been on the milder side.

The wolves in the park have two separate enclosures because there are two different packs with a total of seven wolves. Our guide made wolf vocalizations trying to get the wolves to answer but they were not interested!

The wolverine was hard to photograph. He kept running around and most of the time he was at the far end of his enclosure and you couldn’t see him. Bor, his name, was born in 2018 and he came to the park in 2019.

Our guide trying to get him closer to us.

The bears were hibernating but when the warm spell came it woke them up and so the park is not feeding them because they want them to go back in their den and sleep until spring.

By the time we got to the path that leads to the Muskox it was getting pretty dark! The path was really icy and not all of us went to see them but those of us that did carefully slid toward their enclosure.

The Polar Park also had four red deer and it is one of the largest deer species. Their coat is a rusty red in the summer and brown in the winter.

The pictures are not very good but we did try to capture them. Muskoxen have such expressive faces with their horns.

After looking at the muskox we went back to the lodge. It was too dark to see the reindeer but we do have them at our wonderful zoo in Columbus.

At the lodge they served waffles and drinks. Since waffles have gluten I was served a wonderful dessert.

We returned from the Polar Park at 5:45 PM and the ship departed Narvik at 6:20 PM.

This evening’s entertainment was an “Evening with Katie Healy”. She was a singer and also the cruise director. We enjoyed her show and getting to know her background.

This evening and overnight we sailed toward Alta, Norway.

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 5 & Day 6

Tuesday, January 25th, 2022 and Wednesday, January 26th, 2022

We are combining two days because Wednesday is a day at sea. It just made sense to combine them!

We were up early just so we could do today’s saliva COVID test because we had a tour this morning, “A Snapshot of Bergen”. This was an included excursion.

Our first stop was The Hanseatic Museum and Schøtstuene. It was one of the best preserved buildings in Bergen. It was the 16th century office and home of an affluent German merchant. It was located next to St. Mary’s Church. The museum consists of 3 assembly rooms and a kitchen. The first rooms we visited were assembly halls for the Hanseatic merchants. The Hanseatic League lived here from 1350 to 1750. These merchants traded stockfish and grains.

The Schøtstuene was where all the cooking of food took place. Due to the danger of fire it was placed separately behind the other office buildings. In winter hot meals were served here.

After the museum we walked through Bryggen. It was nice walking around this area again because it wasn’t raining!

The walk along the harbor was enjoyable today.

We stopped at the Fantoft Stavkicke (Fantoft Stave Church). It was originally built in 1150 in Fortun and was moved to Fantoft in 1883. It burned down in 1992. It was rebuilt to resemble the original structure.

The Fløibanen which takes you to the top of Mt. Floyen was closed for remodeling, so we didn’t get to ride it to the top which would have been great because this morning was the best weather and the sky was clear!

The clearing in the mountain where the Fløibanen is located.

After our morning tour we were back on the ship and immediately ate lunch because the ship was going to set sail at 1:30 PM and we wanted to be out on the deck as we left Bergen. As we were heading out on deck the captain made an announcement that our departure would be delayed about 45 minutes. So we went back to our cabin and out on our veranda we saw passengers disembarking with their luggage! We had heard approximately 18 people had a positive COVID result and had to quarantine in Bergen. What a shame to travel here and be excited for your cruise and not be able to go. (Travel insurance is certainly a necessity during this pandemic so you are protected.)

Of course it was raining by the time we set sail. We still went out on deck and walked forward and aft.

After the ship had sailed and we were pretty wet, we found a spot in the Explorer’s Lounge to continue to watch as sailed out of the bay. The Explorer’s Lounge is at the front of the ship and had all glass windows! Once we got closer to the open North Sea, the wind picked up considerably.

This evening was the captain’s toast and an introduction to his senior officers. Our captain was Norwegian and had a great sense of humor. He shared that there were 417 guests on board and 451 crew representing 47 different countries. The crew members outnumbered the guests!

Wednesday was a day at sea so we did not have to be up early. We did need to do our COVID test before 9:00 AM so the room steward can collect them and get them to the medical lab on board.

We attended three lectures that were offered today. The first lecture was with Dr. Kathy Stearne. She discussed the Northern Lights and if science can explain the “geomagnetic storms or if the gods are just over the horizon”.

At 2:00 PM we participated in the celebration for crossing the Arctic Circle, the “Blue Nose Ceremony”! In Antarctica we did the polar plunge where you actually jumped into the water off the ship but for this Viking Cruise they turned their hot tub into a freezing cold “sea” of water. We watched them dump load after load of ice into the water. Guests were invited to jump into the icy water and then they were given a “blue nose’ and a shot of aquavit which is the national spirit of Scandinavia. After our “polar plunge” we went back to our cabin and took a hot shower.

The next lecture was with Mr. Terence Murtagh. He spoke about the science related to the aurora borealis and also how to capture them with a camera. He gave suggestions for settings of a digital camera set on manual.

After his talk we participated in the daily afternoon tea. We each had a our own selection of tea in our own teapot and a selection of tea sandwiches and desserts!

After tea we enjoyed the views from our veranda as we sailed toward Narvik, Norway. One of the bridges the ship sailed under was very close. There was approximately three feet between the top of the ship and the bridge.

The last lecture we attended today was with Michael Scott and his topic was about discovering wildlife and the natural landscapes we might see during our cruise. He mainly showed pictures he had taken from his previous travels along Norway’s coast.

This evening we enjoyed a musical show with the four Viking singers recalling sounds of the 1960s. They sang many different songs that were popular during this decade.

The Viking Band playing with a COVID information sign behind them.

After the show we bundled up and went out on the top deck to check out the night sky for any activity. It was cloudy and no stars.

Tomorrow morning we will arrive at Narvik.

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 4

Monday, January 24th, 2022

This morning we were up early to fill our test vials with saliva for our COVID test to make sure we are negative otherwise we would not be boarding our ship, the Viking Venus! Little did we know that we would be doing the saliva COVID test every morning for the rest of our trip! Viking also had us wear a contact tracer our entire trip.

Guess what, it’s raining this morning and the forecast said it will continue throughout the day. We are to check out of our hotel today at 12:45 PM and head to the ship. There was a delay at the hotel so we sat in the lobby with the other Viking guests for close to an hour! Finally we boarded a bus for the port which is within walking distance! The passengers on the bus were limited to 25 so we were happy that they didn’t load it to full capacity!

The rain has stopped as we head to the ship and there is some blue sky!

The process for boarding the ship included Border control where our passports were checked and stamped and then we moved on to the Viking counter for a temperature check and a health survey. Besides a saliva COVID test required daily, we also had to complete a health survey and do a temperature check! It was to become a morning routine: COVID test, health survey, and temperature check! This did not bother us because it really made us feel secure knowing Viking was doing their best to keep all of us safe and healthy!

Once on the ship we went to our cabin and met Paul who showed us all of the features of our cabin. We immediately went to the Explorers Cafe for lunch because the lunch in our room had nothing Gluten Free. There was a tray of wrapped sandwiches and desserts in the cabin. This was because you had to stay in your room until given the all clear from your COVID tests.

Temperature Check on the left and hand washing station on the right.

After lunch we went back to our cabin to unpack because our luggage had arrived. When we were given the OK we left to explore the Viking Venus, our “home” for the next 12 days!

The Viking Venus was built in 2021 and is classified as a small ship with a maximum of 930 guests. This cruise was less than half full.

We found a bar at the front of the ship, the Explorer’s Lounge, and enjoyed a glass of wine.

After dinner we went to the theater onboard to watch the movie Respect that starred Jennifer Hudson and was about the life of Aretha Franklin. We learned a lot about her life that we didn’t know. Popcorn was available. There were only about 7 of us in the theater! As we walked back to our cabin we noticed the ship was like a ghost town! We put on our coats and went out on deck to look back at the town of Bergen.

Then it was time to get some rest because we have an official tour of Bergen first thing in the morning and we have to allow time to take our COVID tests, do our quick health survey, and get our temperature check done before breakfast!

“In Search of the Northern Lights” with Viking Cruises Day 1 & Day 2

Friday, January 21st and Saturday, January 22nd, 2022

Traveling during a pandemic is doable as long as you are prepared and aware of the restrictions and the COVID numbers for the area(s) you are traveling to visit! We were receiving emails from Viking about what preparations we needed to have for travel on an airplane and also to enter the country! They also let us know what Viking’s requirements would be to board the ship.

We filled out paperwork for entry into Norway, paperwork for Viking, and “Travel Ready” for the airlines. We were required to have a negative PCR covid test within 48 hours of flying! Norway which is where we were heading requires a negative covid test within 24 hours of arriving in the country. We had a folder with all of our documents ready for inspection as we headed to the airport on Friday.

We went through the check-in process and security without any problems. We had to show our passports, our negative COVID PCR test, and our entrance to Norway document! It’s a lot of paperwork for traveling and always wearing our face masks! Our first flight was from Columbus to Chicago, Illinois. We had about an hour and a half until we boarded our Chicago flight.

Our second flight was from Chicago, Illinois to Copenhagen, Denmark. When we landed in Chicago we had a little over a couple of hours before our flight. We had to leave our arrival terminal, go outside to catch the tram and then go through security again to get to our gate for Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).

Our flight from Chicago to Copenhagen was very comfortable. We put in a bid for business class and it was accepted! It was our first time to fly in business class and it will probably be our only time but we thoroughly enjoyed the comfort and extra attention! The plane was not full at all so we feel certain that’s why our low bid was accepted!

On Saturday, we arrived in Copenhagen a little after 7:00 AM and had to go quickly from terminal C to terminal A which was almost a mile walk and we had less than an hour before our flight was to takeoff. When we arrived at our gate to fly us from Copenhagen to Bergen, Norway we had extra time because our flight was delayed about 15 minutes.

Our plane from Copenhagen to Bergen was a smaller jet so we had to walk outside and climb the steps to board the plane. The sun was rising and it was beautiful! The flight was about an hour and 25 minutes long.

When we landed in Bergen, Norway we expected to get off the plane, collect our baggage and go through customs and border control. When we left the gate, we was two Viking reps who checked the 8 of us in and led us down for COVID testing which Norway requires within 24 hours of entering even though we had a test before flying out of Columbus! The line was so long for COVID testing that Viking arranged for us to take our tests between 8 and 10 AM Sunday at our hotel which meets Norway’s requirement. We just left the airport without showing anyone our documents or passports! We boarded our bus and went straight to our hotel, Hotel Norge, and checked in.

We went up to our room and put our luggage in our room and left to go explore the city. The weather was foggy and rainy and the temperature was in the 30s.

Our first stop was the wharf and saw the wooden houses in the Bryggen area. The row of houses along the wharf are one of Bergen’s most popular attractions. Bryggen is Bergen’s oldest district over 1,000 years old. A great fire in 1702 destroyed Bryggen. When it was rebuilt the town followed the architecture that was there before the fire. It still looks the same as it did in the 12th century. This area also is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The picture below shows a carving of a king’s head with three sides over the door of Svensgarden and is from the middle ages.

St. Mary’s church was along our walking path. It is Norway’s oldest remaining building.

We stopped for lunch/dinner at Egon restaurant. It was a quaint place with actual candles that were lit! We had to be careful with our menus that we didn’t get them near the flame!