Our first day in Tromso was raining snow…. slush in the making, with temperatures just above freezing.   We scheduled a northern lights chase for later and then did a walking tour of the old town.  Tromso was incorporated as a town in the 1790s, and many of the 200+ year old buildings remain since the city escaped damage by the Germans in WWII by just a few minutes.   They were advancing toward they city but were turned back by the allies.   They had brought the damaged Tirpitz, the last of Hitler’s prize battle ships, to Tromso where the Allies sunk it..  Scenes from the city walk

Our second day in Tromso we had a tour of the whole island,  10k x 4k, with 45k inhabitants,  and a short drive on Whale Island,  a bigger island between Tromso and the sea,  where there is a herd of reindeer walking among the houses!  Every reindeer belongs legally to the Sami people,  even those walking free.  We visited the planetarium for a wonderful northern lights movie,  then a drive around the Arctic cathedral on the mainland side of the fjord, however no visit inside since there was a funeral there today.   After our tour, we chose a delicatessen for a wonderful lunch of goat cheese panini with sautéed mushrooms on top with a delicious salad,  and then a bakery for a Pastry of cranberries and cheese