Tromsø day 2 – beer and rainbows

Day two in Tromsø started where day one left off, grey and overcast with frequent showers. It wasn’t until 17:30 that the sun made a brief appearance, and from then on, the weather showed some improvement. But, today was memorable in a number of ways.

After breakfast, which was the usual affair with a Norwegian slant, I went to Tromsø’s aquarium – Polaria. Although the aquarium offered nothing I hadn’t seen before, it had a panoramic theatre which was showing a stunning video of the Northern Lights filmed in Tromsø. Music was by Per Wollen and I was so impressed that I downloaded some of his music from iTunes when I returned to the hotel. I will go back to Polaria to see if I can get a copy of the video.

Tromsø harbour (Photo credit: Alan Rowley Photos)

As it was still raining when I left the aquarium, I walked a few yards down the road to Mack Brewery and its adjourning pub. I booked on the guided tour, which was interesting, though unspectacular. I was surprised to find that they also made Coca Cola, Fanta and other soft drinks. Beer was only a small part of their operations. The Coca Cola syrup arrived at the brewery already made up and the brewery converted this syrup to the finished article. This protected the Coca Cola recipe.

After another couple of beers, I returned to the hotel and was greeted to my first glimpse of the sun. The whole place changed as the light brightened and the colourful boats and harbour buildings reflected in the water. On a couple of occasions, a bright rainbow appeared which also reflected in the harbour. A spectacular sight.

As I write this, it is 22:00, but the weather is improving all the time. Mountains are starting to appear that I hadn’t seen before because of the low cloud. With good weather forecast for the next couple of days, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 3 – the Midnight Sun