Hit The North

The Great British deep freeze is nothing when you've been to the Arctic Circle. Where even though there's very little light during the day, more snow than a Lapland theme park and temperatures well below freezing, airports still function. Madonna and her entourage get fast-tracked off weather-stricken planes, on our return from northern Norway, Mr & Mrs That's Not My Age had to wait. And wait. Until eventually, one single lonely member of Gatwick ground staff let us off. And once inside the airport, I wanted to get straight back on the plane. It was like a scene out of 28 Days Later. Hundreds of exhausted, zombie-passengers, controlled by BAA. No announcements, no staff and even worse, no luggage. After four and a half hours of mayhem, I lay down on the carousel - which like everything else at Gatwick, wasn't moving - to rest.

Anyhow, the missing luggage has just been delivered to That's Not My Age Mansions and I'm not going to let the Gatwick Experience ruin my trip. Here are some pictures of Tromso. Including, my new favourite museum. The Polar Museum. Full of archaelogical finds and tales of Roald Admunsen's Arctic adventures. There's a room on seal hunting - which we ran through with woolly fingers over our eyes.



This is the kind of kit worn by proper Polar explorers:




And this is the kind of kit worn by That's Not My Age. The combination of Uniqlo's Heat Tech thermals, the man-made fibres of my leopard print coat and fabulous new sheepskin-lined boots from Brasher kept me warm and dry.



Here's a close-up of my boots. I never want to take them off.



Capes are fashionable in the Arctic Circle too, you know.



We saw the Northern Lights, they are magic. Unlike my photography skills. Anyway, here's a picture of some lovely clouds.



You don't see the sun during the Arctic winter but the moon is readily available...



On holiday, That's Not My Age loves a local supermarket. I can while away hours just looking at all the regional produce.







What do you wear in the snow?