Saturday, 18.01, Narvik

I was really thrilled about my compartment in the night train. It was not a berth compartment, no, it was a sleeping compartment. That means three people instead of six and much more comfortable, already made beds. And now for the best part – hold on tight – I had the whole compartment to myself. I felt very, very comfortable. There was even a private sink and a shower in the corridor. At this point, I can generally say (upon request of a loyal reader) that the trains here in Scandinavia are all very comfortable. Plenty of legroom, nice bistros, whose prices are not more expensive than at the station, mostly good wifi and friendly staff. The train stations are also all in good condition and nice to look at. So the night was a dream, I love that feeling of being able to cuddle up knowing that I will arrive in a different world the next morning.

In Freiburg, I had occasionally checked the weather forecast, so I did not expect to see much snow. Wow, that was quite a surprise when I opened the curtain, but a very beautiful one. I couldn't help but have a big smile. At some train stations on our journey through Lapland over the mountains to Norway, we made a short stop. I wanted to take the opportunity to take a photo of our faithful locomotive. Unfortunately, two Chinese women were doing a photo shoot in front of the train in sub-zero temperatures for at least 20 minutes. The short stop almost turned into an outburst. But well, eventually they were done, and as long as they were having fun, I can tolerate that and turn a blind eye. I'm a good guy.

The onset of twilight around 1 pm was strange. Although I already know the concept of twilight from Germany, it just feels so wrong when it's already evening around noon. It dramatically changes the perception of the day and was particularly noticeable in Narvik and Bodø.

When crossing the Arctic Circle, the train was slightly shaken, a murmur went through the compartments and red, pulsating lights appeared floating in front of the windows. But maybe nothing happened at all. Still cool though.

When I arrived in Narvik, it was already pitch dark. The city has the northernmost railway station in Europe, but apart from its location, the weather, and everything that goes with it, it is a relatively normal city (what else can you expect?). 2210 kilometers to Hamburg – and that's in a southerly direction – is quite a statement.

I had to stay in an Airbnb apartment, which was the cheapest option. At least I had a small apartment with nice underfloor heating all to myself, although due to a lack of alternatives. While it was being prepared for me, I warmed myself up with a nice hot cocoa in the local bar. Just before I was about to leave, four Narvik residents, approximately the age of our parents, sat down at the neighboring table. When I could only respond to a Norwegian question from them with "Sorry?", they became immediately interested in my origin and what I was doing in Narvik. Of course, I gladly told them about Interrail and my journey, which they found very exciting (I showed them my blog, so if they are reading this: Hei, jeg var veldig glad for å møte deg. Forhåpentligvis ser vi hverandre snart.) It was also interesting for me to hear about life in Narvik and we talked for quite a while. I also told them about my plan to go in search of the Northern Lights later in the evening, for which I received some very nice tips on the best places. When I mentioned that I would just walk the half hour there, they kindly handed me 300 crowns (about 30 €), so that I could treat myself to a taxi (with the option to use the money for the cable car the next day, which is what I eventually did). They just wanted my time in Narvik to be as great as possible, so I couldn't refuse this gesture. Really nice people.

In the late evening, around half past eleven, I finally set off in hopeful anticipation of seeing the Northern Lights. The conditions were good and I was excellently prepared (keyword: four layers of clothing, photo proof above). I was pretty much alone on Narvik's streets, which added to the atmosphere. So the only sounds I heard were my quiet breathing and the crunching of snow under my feet (one of my favorite sounds). The abundance of snow and (especially in daylight) the wide view over the fjord were the things I liked most about Narvik and are almost cliché for the far north. I could easily imagine living there for a while, all the houses looked so nice that I almost rang the doorbell to move in spontaneously.

On the way to the spot recommended by my new acquaintances, I suddenly saw the Northern Lights. At first, I didn't really grasp it because I was still in the middle of the city's illumination and simply hadn't expected it yet due to light pollution. Seeing it with my own eyes was even better than in the photos, which, of course, are not meant to be aesthetically pleasing but rather serve as proof. The Northern Lights looked like a transparent, greenish, undulating cloud that still hovers in one place and constantly, but slowly, changes its shape, disappearing in some places and reappearing in others, sometimes shining more, sometimes less. I couldn't help but smile again, also because I was glad to have such luck. Others sometimes stay a whole week and don't see the Northern Lights at all. So one should not make a vacation to a place specifically for the Northern Lights, but rather for the place itself and consider the Northern Lights as an added bonus.

After enjoying it for a while, I continued on because I hoped to have an even better view from the planned spot outside the city on a mountain. At some point, Google Maps led me from the road onto a small path with relatively deep snow, which had a small beaten path. The fact that the path was not illuminated and led into the forest tickled my highly developed spirit of adventure. So I took out my dim flashlight, which I had wisely brought along, and started trudging. After a short time, I came across a waterfall, which marked the end of the road. Google Maps (stupid thing) showed the destination above me. But when I thought about climbing steeply uphill through the forest without a beaten path and a waterfall next to me, I started to feel uneasy and the headlines "German hero lost in the polar region" appeared in my mind's eye. So I turned back. In retrospect, when I reached the destination at least 50 meters higher via another path, it turned out to be the right decision. There, I continued to follow a ski route into the mountains, but I didn't want to exaggerate here either and therefore set up my observation camp after about 100 meters, when the city was long out of sight. It was very nice to watch the play of the Northern Lights for some time. Eventually, the weather convinced me to return home and around half past two, I finally snuggled into bed. If I had a bucket list, I could now tick off "seeing the Northern Lights".