After a day spent in Oslo, Norway, I got on a flight to the northern city of Tromso which is located 400km above the Arctic Circle. This was to be the base from which I would embark on a Northern Lights chase!

My stay at the Viking Hotel was very comfortable. It was the least expensive, yet provided amenities(hairdryer, tv) as any more expensive hotel in the area.

The city has a quaint downtown region with brightly colored shops and cafes. I spent some time shopping for authentic Norwegian souvenirs such as reindeer figurines and Viking ship memorabilia. Tromso itself is not as cold as one would expect from an arctic town! It benefits from the warm gulf stream arriving from Mexico.

My first stop for sightseeing was the infamous “Arctic Cathedral”(Arctic Cathedral). It is the northernmost cathedral in the world! The exterior is shaped like a triangle, while the interior contains glorious, stained glass images! The little gift shop sold Northern lights magnets, so I just had to purchase one of those! After all, this is the base from which I will take a Northern lights excursion! After a bit more of wandering about town to visit the shops and to photograph old churches, government buildings, and the waterfront, it was time for dinner.

Silvertsens Kafe(at Vestregata 48 in city center) is the only vegetarian restaurant in town. In fact, it is mainly vegan! Fortunately, it is located off the same street as my hotel. The restaurant offers mostly vegan food and desserts. I selected an African stew with beans and veggies. For dessert, I chose a cinnamon roll with nuts. Everything was delicious, filling, and the prefect options for a cold and windy arctic climate!

The excitement started to really build up at this point! My next adventure for this day was to be the “Northern Lights” tour with the Arctic Guide Service company! The eight hour tour would take the busload of 100 people way up north and then head east inland. You see the weather in Tromso was gray, cloudy and rainy when we got on the tour bus at 6:30pm. This was not the proper conditions for aurora viewing. We were told that inland, it would be colder, drier, and the the skies would be clear. I remained hopeful because of this revelation!

As we drove further and further north, the rain turned to snow. Still I was not completely discouraged. I remained hopeful! Our tour bus drove by two fjords: Balsford Fjord and ‘Big Fjord’. Finally, after 2 1/2 to 3 hours, our fantastic tour guides Jack and Francesco told us that the skies were clearer as we approached the Finnish border, within a couple hundred meters! The guides quickly prompted us to disembark from the bus and onto the snowy landscape. Jack quickly set up his SLR camera on tripod and told us that he saw the first glimpse of the Northern Lights! We were all thrilled to pieces! At that point, we set up in that spot as we started gazing across the skies. And then. There they were! Aurora after aurora shooting straight upwards into the skies in all their glory! We saw lengthy light streaks followed by huge circular and oval displays! Finally, we were in store for a magnificent treat! A gigantic aurora display appeared and started dancing straight across the sky in graceful movement!

After viewing the aurora displays for quite some time, they quieted down again and we were back on the tour bus. However, our knowledgeable guides told us that further down in the Norwegian valley, there would be additional activity! We parked the bus several miles away in the valley and proceeded to go outside in hopes of another display of lights. Sure enough, we were fortunate yet once more! Our group got this second opportunity to view more auroras in different shapes and sizes! I was incredibly happy and thrilled to have experienced the Northern Lights, the main purpose of my Norway trip!! We arrived back at Tromso center between 1am and 2am.

The following morning, my breakfast meal was eaten in the hotel’s dining room. They provided wheat toast, jams, and fruit. It was a decent enough meal for a hungry vegan.

After my breakfast, I decided to visit one of the main attractions in town, the Tromso Museum. It was snowing, which provided the perfect atmosphere for an arctic city in the winter! Tromso University’s museum is actually the northernmost university in the world! The exhibits included Northern Lights machine to simulate auroras, Sami ethnic group’s culture and history, as well as archaeological displays.

There are two other restaurants in town which offer vegetarian or vegan meal options. I did not have the time to dine there for lunch, since I had to get to the airport pronto after my visit to the museum. Ra Suhsi(Ra Suhsi) has a vegan menu called “no fish olsen”. Thai House restaurant(Thai House) also claims an all vegan menu .

When I arrived at the airport, the security line went so quickly that I did indeed have some time for lunch prior to my flight back to Oslo. The Tromso airport cafe has a salad bar which offers several vegetarian and vegan items. I selected the couscous salad with veggies, the rice salad with veggies, corn, olives, mushrooms, and a salad of greens.

My trip to the arctic city of Tromso was a happy and fulfilling one indeed! I was ecstatic to have seen the Northern lights in all of their splendor, visit museums and cathedrals, and able to find satisfactory and tasty vegan food in town and at the airport!