ANUJ,

Ooh…..Trondheim, Svolvaer, Tromso, and the coming up northern Norway journey! I am going to miss Norway so much from your coming up journey.

Norway has the best scenic journey no matter what form of transportation you take. I was never bored when traveling through Norway. I might just do another Norway trip to see the northern lights.

We were lucky to be in Tromsø on Constitution Day (May 17), the National Day of Norway. The day is marked by vibrant celebrations, with locals coming out dressed in bunads (national costume) and fine livery.

After some rest following our morning's hike, we stepped out to finnd ourselves a good vantage point along Storgata to view the 11am schoolchildrens’ parade (“Skoletoget”).












Everybody was having a good time - the participants




.... the onlookers who were all cheering with gusto




And the kids ... - this sweetest little girl came up to us waving her flag, vociferously screaming “Hip Hip” for us to complete with a “Hurra”!




We followed the final Kongsbakken school (one of the oldest schools in the region) parade as it passed the cathedral and ended by the town square.








There were more people in Tromsø that day than we had cumulatively seen in all of Norway since the start of our trip !


The crowds along Storgata


Following this was the toddlers' parade (Banetoget), which got a bit chaotic in the absence of clear police patrolling.






This ended with a band marching up to a stage erected at Stortorget, with the performance of (what I surmised to be) the national anthem.






As everybody broke for lunch - every place got busy - from the streetside stalls (candyfloss seemed to be the big draw) to the major restaurants, but McDonalds drew in the largest crowds imaginable.










Later that afternoon, we saw the final People's parade (Folketoget) at 4pm. The parade saw very wide participation including

The Hurtigruten MS Polarys crew and some passengers




Every other sports club in Tromsø


The volleyball club


The gymnastics club


The boxing club


The roller-skating club


There was a lort of dancing and baton-twirling




And stilt-walking




Even Tromsø's essential services joined the party!


Fire Services


Emergency Health and Ambulance Services


Dog Rescue


I particularly enjoyed the motorcade of American classic cars by members of the local association Amcar.














And the final participants, as per usual tradition, were the graduating high school students (Russefeiring) driving customised vans, with blaring loud music. Very raucous, yet very entertaining !






The festivities ended at Stortorget square, with a performance by TOF Janitsjaren, the largest amateur wind band in the Troms region.




And a concert by gifted young performers of the Kongsbakken MDD band




These two days in Tromsø provided the perfect pause between four days of having sailed up the coast, and our soon-to- begin roadtrip adventure through northern Norway.

Isn’t Norway marvelous with surprises like this?
Norwegians are very family oriented. You can see their celebration always are children with parents together in joyous mood. I love Tromso city’s atmosphere, nature beauties with family celebrations .