I had the "pleasure" yesterday of experiencing first hand the transition from fall to winter in Tromsø. I was walking home from town in a constant, and annoying rain. Suddenly when I was close to my house, it grew ominously silent and suddenly a noise starting building like people shaking a tree. I suddenly realized that the rain had changed to ice. This transition continued throughout the night, and this morning we were greeted by this idyllic scene of thin layer of snow covering Tromsø. Looks like I made it up Tromsdalstinden just in time (see below).
On that note...I bought my ticket to Spain! I do love winter and snow, but I'm ready for a little change and some time on the beach. So as of October 22nd, I will be living in Laredo, Spain. It is a small, old town right on the beach in the north of Spain. More info will be coming on that adventure as well as a new site prepared for a multimedia (multimedic?)account of my Spanish adventures. Check back here for more information soon. In the meantime, happy winter!
Even though winter in Tromsø lasts from October until May and is completely dark for about half of that time, the one consolation we have is that it's never as nasty as winter in South Dakota. Sure we get a lot of snow, but it's never that 20 below, blowing snow, blizzard, cancel school kind of weather. Well, until today. I made the mistake of coming to school today in my first ever Tromsø blizzard. The wind was whipping off the fjord sending snow upwards and downwards at the same time. Meanwhile, I was attempting to walk up the hill to the peace center, which is a little steeper than most of the hills in South Dakota. The only thing falling faster than the blinding snow was the snot dripping out of my nose, which gave me brief distractions from attempts to see how close the peace center was...and by peace center, I don't mean world peace. I mean the center of tranquility, warmth, and internet connection. And how great it is. Too bad I have to go back out there eventually, to relearn what winter is all about.
