Hello blog readers! Glad you are back, love the comments and interactions from home. Last nights dinner was ok- not memorable. We had a potato soup starter, lamb shank on mashed potato with root veggies and a chocolate fondant for desert. There was nothing wrong with the meal, just way to salty for my palate and not memorable.

We retired earliesh last night, or so we thought…Had time for a read and a shower and just as the sandman was making an appearance we got the call over the intercom that the lights were visible. This was just after 10.30pm. So the normal fireman’s drill to kit up and hit the deck to see. It truly was the best that we have seen and it lasted for over 40 minutes, changing shape and intensity and dancing around. At one stage was from portside to starboard side. This was coupled with the most gorgeous half moon. A fiery orange yellow very low on the horizon. For extra specialness, add in a good number of shooting stars. It was splendid. I just hope that we get to see more depth of colour.

Unfortunately, the pics don’t come out. We don’t have tripods and big enough lenses to set them up to capture. I also learned last time that you spend so much time trying to take a pic, that you miss the splendour of the show. As you may have guessed already, it was frikken freezing, but we persisted. We ate fishcakes on the deck in the cold. We were then rewarded by a spectacular trip into a narrow fjord, where the boat did a 360 turn, shing bright spotlights. The mouth of the Trollfjord where it joins the Raftsund is only 100 meters wide. The fjord widens to a maximum width of 800 meters. The Trollfjord is 72 metres at its deepest point. Unfortunatley we did not see any trolls. This pic is downloaded from the web- to give you an idea

Trollfjord mouth- imagine it in the dark

We eventually gave in to our frozen extremeties and went back inside just before midnight. You truly forget about the freezing weather when your senses are being bombarded with natures beauty. My brain was racing so sleep did not come quickly!  But it was worth it.

I am too sickened to even mention the Ameerican election results we woke up too.

Up and ready to eat by 8.30am and todays treat was the oats again, followed by…you guessed it a soft boiled egg. 4/4 to the chef. We then came through to the Explorer lounge to read and watch the scenery. Well, the bst laid plans of mice and tired girls. We called it quits and went for a nap at about 10.30am. I confess, I had  snooze for at least 30 minutes. Clearly much needed. Side effect of my seasick meds and the bizarre lack of  light. Sunset is getting earlier and earlier each day, yesterday was just after 3pm.

“Feed me Seymour”….is the standard quote on board. As in the venus flytrap plant from Little Shop of Horrors. Standard buffet for lunch. We then docked in the City of  Tromso, which is the largest city in the North. Once again we decided to do our own thing. We caught a cab from the harbour to the cable car and arrived as it was getting dark. Sunset today was just after 2.30pm and by 3pm there was very little light. A quick ride in a cable car up the mountaim, yep Denise, you would have hated it. Once up there the view was beautiful. Loads of snow all around, a dark pink sunset on the horizon and the twinking lights of the city. We also had a nice view of the Arctic Cathedral, a landmark church in the city. It is triangular in shape – bit like a toblerone. We took stunning pics and a few selfies- which we are improving at!

One of the guys called a cab for us and we negotiated with the driver to take us back to the boat with a quick stopover at the cathedral. He was most obliging. He drove the Lexus NX series, so great to drive in that car. We did a quick photo stop at the cathedral. It has a clear glass front, so we just peeped into the windows, but its very unadorned inside. We then headed back into town near the boat. We took a quick walk around, Tromso has a lot more character than Bodo, lots of wooden buildings with fancy entrances. Because it is the start of the dark season, we are seeing, candles in lanterns in the doorways and windows of  most of the shops, really pretty. We stopped at little cooffee shop for a coffee and hot chocolate. Yummy again.

Then it was back to the boat and a quick read and blog session. Facebook is full of the elections, some very funny satire. I guess only time will tell what this election will hold for the future of America and the world. Some interesting times ahead. Its not only our electorate who vote on empty promises and rhetoric.

The horn has just sounded and we are now sailing out of Tromso. Dinner soon and then an early night because  tomorrow we are off to Honnigsvag and the Nord Kaap- the northern,ost point of Europe.

Sleep tight and chat agin tomorrow

Sunrise on the boat

Sunset in Tromso

Sky is on fire

Dawn in front of Tromso city lights

Me atop the mountain in Tromso

Dusk view over Tromso

Tromso Selfie

The cable car in Tromso

On board entertainment

Hot Chocolate with a church in the background

Arctic Cathedral front view