First snow of the season (!!!)
This is it. The moment I've been waiting for since what feels forever. The cold finally has a purpose! The leafless trees are going to be clad in sparkly white, fresh snow! Or so I thought. The first snowflakes had begun to swirl gracefully in the air three weeks ago, on a quiet Friday night. The streets were quickly covered with a thick layer of snow, and people were happily jumping around in their big coats and scarves. I could put my new winter boots to the test, and delight in the new landscape Tromsø was offering me. It lasted a few days, then temperatures rose again and most of it melted. A short-lived, but nonetheless thrilling experience. We are now left with icy streets and rock-hard snow piled up in strange places, but I did get to enjoy some winter activities before it was too late. In the last weekend of October, four friends and I improvised a road trip that did not quite go according to the plan... Once we made sure that our rented car was equipped with snow tires, we set to our first (and originally only) destination: the Lyngen Alps. After driving for some time and taking the ferry, we parked and got ready to do the hike of the day. It was still heavily snowing and the rocks we had to walk on were slippery, but after roughly an hour we reached Blåtvatnet, the Blue Lake. The turquoise water reflecting the gorgeous mountains around almost made you want to take a dip, but the thermometer advised us not to. Competing with the setting sun, we hurried back to the car in order to find a cabin (hytte, remember?) in the area. We looked everywhere and checked our position several times, but night soon caught us up and our effort came to naught. It was 4 pm. We decided to drive back to Tromsø (no need to precise that camping was out of question) and see what we could do in the morning. For some reason, the freezing air and falling snow inspired us to go to Sommarøy (literally "summer island"). The trip also surprised us with emerald water, which surrounded cute and cheery traditional houses planted around the island. After coming back home, it was time to do some sledging with what we got: a small plastic spade designed for kids. It did the trick, as we could slide down some meters in the parking lot, braking with our feet so as not to crash into people's cars. Probably pitying us from a distance, a Norwegian mother generously lended us her son's sled after they were done playing with it. We could go much faster and further; and in the end, we went from trying not to crash into parked vehicles, to avoiding houses — luckily, the sled had a steering wheel... Now, I am begging you, snow, please come back! And stay around until June or something!
