Today’s plan was to check out the reindeer, and spend the rest of the day basically being lazy. We had booked a tour with Tromso Arctic Reindeer for a Reindeer and Sami experience. Once again, we were picked up from the hotel (yay!), this time in a coach with about 50 other people. We drove just 25 minutes outside Tromso city centre to a custom, tourist made, Sami/Reindeer site.
We met our hosts, a lovely Sami man and his fiance in a giant lavuu that had a roaring fire. They were traditionally dressed and looked very attractive.
We were first going to feed the reindeer and then come back to a Lavuu to have some lunch and to hear about the Sami – history and current situation. So, equipped with buckets off feed, off we went to feed the greedy reindeer.
After a couple of minutes holding the bucket and being pushed around, I’d had enough of the feeding and switched to taking pics.
I ordered a ginger beer..mm.. zingy..
And a middle eastern plate with extra falafels. It came loaded with a salad, tabbouleh, olives, beetroot, pickled veggies.. and houmous. YUMMY! I love that stuff and I eat it virtually every day – so not eating it for almost a week and then getting it… I was one happy bunny. As for the rest? Fresh, crunchy, spicy, juicy… most enjoyable.
M’s plate was identical – but with extra chicken and yogurt dip.
Suitably full, I made sure I left room for dessert – vegan chocolate cake accompanied by a jasmine tea. It was a big hunk of cake with icing – and yes, I ate it all.
We waddled back to the hotel – not because we were stuffed. Well, okay, that was partially the reason, but also because the roads were so icy and we were being careful 🙂
On our last day in Tromso, after a late start and a leisurely breakfast, we did some shopping and took a final walk around the city centre.. so pretty!
Time for our final meal in Tromso – lunch at what is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Tromso, Emma’s Drommekjokken, or Emma’s Dream Kitchen. Another small restaurant, no more than 15 tables, but beautifully done up.
The menu here was also short and sweet, and they had a vegan option (with houmous!!) with me even asking for one 🙂 The owner mentioned that the Head Chef has worked with Jamie Oliver and it was Jamie’s influence. Go Jamie..
We started off with a glass (or two) of sparkling wine..
My meal with essentially a salad with hummus and roasted root veggies – ginormous and oh so tasty. Every mouthful was full of texture and brimming with flavour.
The girls went for the baked clip fish, sitting on a mound of creamy mash.
No room – or time for dessert, we paid about £48 each and legged it to Essens Spa for a massage. My masseuse was also a physiotherapist, so my massage turned into a proper deep tissue, painful at the time but so relaxing afterwards massage. It cost £80 for 45 minutes, but it was exactly what my muscles needed!
So leaving the spa completely relaxed, after 2 days of chasing, Wandering Owl said they couldn’t leave my scarf anywhere convenient (for them!!) so M and I spend 40 minutes power walking up and down a very steep hill to a residential part of Tromso to retrieve it. Letter to self – don’t forget anything when you go on an activity with them!
We rushed back to the hotel, rushed to the airport, rushed to the gate… and relaxed.
All in all, Tromso was seriously enjoyable, there is so much to do and it is a beautiful city. It isn’t a place for a budget holiday, nor is it a place where you’ll be rushed. So after Day 1, we settled into the flow of Tromso, relaxed and went with the flow – and we were all better for it 🙂
PB Eats, PB Travels 