IMG_2445 (temp)

On the climbout from Tromsø Lufthavn, Norway (ENTC) this morning. (I know, probably one of the worst aerial photos ever. The window sucked.)

I voluntarily took a layover in Tromsø on my way from Bodø to Oslo, just to see this landscape (and set a personal highest-latitude-travelled record for myself -- it's at nearly 70deg North!). It's not quite the Laplands or ANWR, but the scenery is unmistakably arctic (it's about 200 miles north of Polarsirkelen). Note the crystal-clear ocean water and the marshy tundra-y bits, particularly on the upper left. (The water is not quite technically the Arctic Ocean, but it's rather close.)

Tromsø Lufthavn is SAS's hub for northern Norway, and one of only two places from which you can catch a flight to Spitsbergen/Svalbard (Longyearbyen Lufthavn -- as far as I know, the northernmost commercial airport in the world). Tromsø pushes a surprising number of aircraft around, probably three or four operations an hour during the day, more in the summer, mostly SAS 737's, but a bunch of Do228's, etc, as well.