Chasing the Northern Lights in Tromso in March

We spent this past weekend in the Norwegian city of Tromso on a quest to see the famous Northern Lights.

Despite having travelled extensively around Europe in the last four years, we had never made it to Scandinavia. Flights were always too expensive, or the time of year was wrong or there just always seemed to be somewhere more interesting to go.

After finding great flights through Norwegian last year we soon realised we'd done Scandinavia a disservice by not visiting sooner. Norway is beautiful at any time of year, but especially in Winter when a thick blanket of snow covers the ground and the Aurora Borealis make their appearance in the night sky.

We decided to increase our chances of seeing the frequently elusive lights by going on a Northern Lights chase with Green Fox Guiding. There are lots of different companies that do this, but we picked a small group tour, rather than the large bus tours that you can book through the Information Centre.

Having borrowed our friend's camera specifically for the sole purpose of photographing the lights, we needed all the help we could get in setting up the camera. Our guide Markus configured the camera for us so we were able to take some amazing photos. I'm not sure we would have gotten the same level of service on a larger tour.

Visiting Winchester as a Day Trip from London

Every couple of months we like to leave London for the day and take the train to somewhere we've never been before. It's usually somewhere we can escape the constant hustle and bustle of London, or somewhere we've seen photos of and like the look of. Our last few trips have been to Bath, The Cotswolds and Brighton and Lewes.

Winchester has been on the list for a while now. Each Christmas they put on a big Christmas market, apparently one of the best in England. We've never managed to get there for the markets, especially because train tickets from London are usually in the region of £75 return for both of us, but recently South West trains had a big sale and we managed to get return tickets for only £20 all up.

We definitely couldn't pass up this opportunity, so last Sunday we headed to London Waterloo and got an early train, making it to Winchester by mid morning.

Street Art and Food Markets in Notting Hill and Portobello Road

We usually try to stay away from the super touristy parts of London, and Portobello Road is no exception. If you visit the markets on a Saturday you better get there first thing in the morning, because after about 10.00 a.m. the hordes of people descend and it's impossible to get anywhere.

Westminster and Big Ben in the Early Morning and Evening

The area around Westminster is one of the busiest spots in London, aside from Oxford Circus. We usually try and avoid this area at weekends, but we took a day trip by train recently, leaving early on a Sunday from London Waterloo station and managed to cross Westminster Bridge without being surrounded by tourists.

We arrived back in London in the early evening just as the sun was setting and managed to get some beautiful photos even surrounded by people on all sides bumping in to us.

We can't decide whether we prefer it first thing in the morning, or in the beautiful light of the evening. I'm leaning toward the morning because I like to feel like I'm the only one around!

Finally visiting St Paul's Cathedral after 3 years in London

Even though we've been living in London for over three years now, we only recently took the time to visit St Paul's, one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world.

When we first arrived in London we spend the first few weeks exploring as much as we could, ticking off places like the Tower of London, Big Ben and Harrods. But there are still lots of places on our list to tick off, hopefully we can see them all before we eventually go home.

Blackfriars station

Street Art on the Southbank in London

Now that the weather is warming up and it's no longer getting dark at 4.30 p.m. in the afternoon, we've stopped hibernating and have spent the last few weekends getting out and exploring London again.

Activities for Non-Skiers in Alpbach: Winter Walking and Tobogganing

We slept in on Sunday morning, exhausted from the huge walk we had done the previous day. Over breakfast the hotel owner gave us another suggestion for a great walk that would take us up and around Alpbach, giving us some great views of the valley and the town.

We were lucky we had gone up the cable car and done the walk down the Schatzberg Mountain the previous day when we had clear skies, because once venturing outside we discovered the day was super cold and foggy, with snow forecast for much of the afternoon and evening.

We decided to spend the morning Tobogganing, using the free toboggans available from our hotel.

There are several toboggan tracks in the area around Alpbach, but they are mostly all a long walk or bus ride away, so we decided to grab a toboggan and take it to the hill just down from our hotel and try our luck there.

 

Winter Walking in the snow around Alpbach

Over breakfast on Saturday morning, the owner of our Hotel recommended we spend the day walking some of the awesome walking trails around Alpbach and the surrounding area.

Having arrived the previous day in the late afternoon we were struck by the amazing views out over Alpbach as we left the hotel. Before leaving we rugged up in several layers plus coats, boots and scarves and quickly discovered that whilst there was a thick layer of snow on the ground, the outside temperature was not as cold as expected and I took off my coat fairly quickly after setting off leaving poor Bradley to carry it around for much of the day!