Northern Lights in Tromso Norway - Day 3 & 4

Date of Travel: 28-31 Jan 2014

Day 3
Today was our second last day of our 16 day holiday. It is coincidentally Chinese New Year eve, where we would normally be having a reunion dinner with family. But 3 of us are so far north in the Arctic Circle, so far away from any family members. So we shall make the best of tonight's celebration.

Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 2

Date of Travel: 28-31 Jan 2014

Tromso, Norway

Day 2
Apart from the Northern Lights, Tromso is also famous for the Fjords, which are narrow waterways through steep cliffs. There are many tours offering cruises to see the fjords, some lasting a week long even. I get seasick easily, so I am not one who would willingly sleep on a cruise. And being in such an expensive country, we found the cheapest possible solution to see the fjords. Take the 7:10am Fjordprinsessen from Tromso - Vikran - Tennskjer – Lysnes. Don't get off the ferry, and ride it all the way back to Tromso to arrive back by 9:05am. Cost was 177Kr (RM88) per person for a return journey. The ferry DOES NOT run on Tuesdays & Thursdays, so do check the schedule to plan your itinerary. http://ruteinfo.thn.no/filer/519_en.pdf

Northern Lights in Tromso, Norway - Day 1

Date of Travel: 28-31 Jan 2014

Aurora Borealis, a.k.a. Northern Lights, taken from Tromso, Norway

Call it luck. Call it fate. Call it anything you want, but being able to catch this natural phenomenon was breathtaking and once-in-a-lifetime for me. The picture above, was the goal of our trip to Europe this year. I feel blessed! And what a present for HH on her birthday today. Here's what happened.

Day 1
Berlin - Oslo, 11:35am - 1:15pm
Oslo - Tromso, 5:40pm - 7:35pm

It was really unlucky (or lucky) that there were snow storms everywhere that day, causing many flight delays. We were supposed to have a short trip to Oslo city to have a look, but due to the delay, we decided that it wasn't feasible. In the end, our flight leaving Oslo, was also delayed, and we eventually arrived Tromso at about 8:45pm.

All snowed in at Oslo airport

The airport has a very nice wood-y feel

Oslo Airport has very few restaurants for the amount of people here

Guess how much was a burger? NOK189 = RM95!

4 Days in Berlin - Day 2, 3, & 4

Date of Travel: 25-28 Jan 2014

Cycling in the snow, at the iconic Brandenburg Gate

Day 2
We kinda wasted today doing nothing much. After a superb hotel breakfast, we headed to the Trondl Market but found nothing much selling. Only later did we find out that today was a special festival day, where malls are only open from 1pm - 7pm today. Since our friend was really cold, we headed to our favourite outdoors-gear shop called Globetrotter to buy gloves. There was a sign at the door, but we could not read German! So we shopped at a mall nearby and hung around there till after 1pm, hoping that it would open. But luck wasn't on our side today. After heading back, we were just too cold and tired to go anywhere, and basically had dinner next door at an Italian restaurant called Marinelli.

My yummy hotel breakfast