Feel alive in Tromsø.
The big heart of Tromsø embraced Carolina the moment she got there. The arctic culture showed its warm hospitality. The stars. The full moon. The emerging hope of spring. But Carolina was not traveling through. She arrived to stay, to make a life in the arctic capital and Carolina suspected her Norwegian boyfriend tested and challenged her comfort zone.
"It was wild", she says, "I was on a freezing, open ocean RIB tour and had never experienced nature like this before. My hair froze. My eyelids froze. I could see my breath. It totally got me." For some people this would be the biggest turn off ever, but not for Portuguese Carolina. "How can you not love to feel alive like you do here?" She laughs. "And here I am."
Northern Lights, Whale Watching or a Fjord cruise. Which is the best?
"I love whale watching", Carolina says. "And the fjords. And the mountains." She talks just as enthusiastic about being in the northern light. Or about the fantastic expedition cruises in the fjords and a hike in the mountains. Even a glass of wine is mentioned, as she recommends the great restaurants or the pubs in Tromsø. "No. I can´ t pick one arctic experience. It is the arctic. The luxury of roughness. That is the true, arctic experience."
"It is all about feeling the elements. The rough wind. The cold temperatures. The snow. But also the summer. Swimming under the midnight sun. Partying in a day that never ends, never gets dark." Carolina refers to expressions from mindfulness and existential philosophy. "It is all there. All around you. It is just to open up and take it in."
