Excitement is high as we land in Tromso. It is beautiful. Mountains and fjords merge together under a cloudy sky. Dramatic is the only word to describe the landscape. Here we disembark.

We wait impatiently for others to leave the ship. Many only have a few hours to experience Tromso and we will stay a few days. So we wait until others have cleared the port area. The entry to the visitors center is locked. No one seems to know how to open it. We watch from an upper deck as men on radios consult each other and passengers are stranded in the snow between boat and entry.

Finally, we reach the dock. The port building is modern, with escalators, gift shops, visitor information, and a bus port.

After getting our bearings, we figure out that we need to walk to a bus station at wi-fi (the actual name of the stop). The 28 bus runs all the way to our rental house. The bus stop appears to be only a few blocks away.

It sounds like an easy walk, except the roads and most sidewalks are covered in ice and snow. My suitcase is too heavy to carry that far, and it is difficult to drag through snow drifts. We walk on, but I slide around on the ice like a drunken figure skater. My husband lends a hand as his shoes seem to be gripping the ice.

We finally reach the station and buy a ticket. There are a lot of people on the bus. We try to swipe the tickets, but realize no one else is. This is different than our usual public transportation experience. I wedge myself between a baby buggy and the wall. I don’t want to block the aisle with my backpack.

The roads are ice covered and snow banks several feet high line the roadways. Meanwhile on the sidewalks (which I can’t tell from the road), people ski, sled, cycle, jog, push baby carriages, and walk dogs. When you live in the arctic, the heavy snow is just every day life.

We stop at Klimavegen. The snow is thick. The gps tells me we have arrived at our house, but all I see are ten to twelve foot snow banks. We watch two teenagers climb the bank and walk down the other side. I think to myself that odds are good that I am heading back to a hotel if that is the only option of getting into the neighborhood. Luckily, the car entrance was actually plowed. Walking in only involved navigating up an icy hill. Two steps up. One slide back. But eventually we arrive.

Once inside, I feel like we are living in an IKEA showroom. It is small, cozy and comfortable. We unpack and soon realize we have no food. The gps shows a 10 minute walk to a shopping center. Unfortunately the path is through a park with eight foot drifts and snow/ice covered paths. Slogging through snow up to my thighs doesn’t seem like a great option.

After a brief rest, we head back to town to buy a few groceries. Breakfast and a few meals at home will save us from the expensive Norwegian restaurants. Groceries, while slightly more expensive than home, are a much cheaper option than restaurants which seem to be double or even triple the costs.

At end of day, we figure out how to use the tv (streaming only), the washer (settings listed in Norwegian), the heating, and the lighting (each panel has six flip switches, a circular dial, and a small button to push). We have to operate heated floors, outdoor vents, ceiling lights, accent lights, and a few things we can’t figure out.

The day has been a struggle, but in a good way. We are experiencing a different way of life. In the last few days we have conquered the elements, figured out how to best enjoy a ship, triumphed over snowy bus routes, figured out how to access a house hidden behind a wall of snow, and bought strange ingredients for meals (such as mash of cow…aka hamburger). Struggles make travel memories. And we are making a lot of memories. Into the arctic and headlong into adventure.