Alta day 2 – sleigh bells ring

My second day in Alta started with an excellent breakfast with probably the largest selection of food I’ve ever seen at a breakfast buffet. I started with muesli and vanilla yoghurt, followed by a selection of fish, pâté and cheese.

After breakfast, I headed outside to find that there had been a light dusting of snow overnight, but the temperature had risen markedly and was only just below freezing.

Latest webcam view of Alta town centre. Found on the Webcams in Norway website.

I headed down the main street which I had seen many times in recent weeks thanks to a webcam on the roof of a nearby hotel. It was as if I had been here before as everything was so familiar.

In the centre of the pedestrianised street was Santa’s grotto which had only been there four days. A horse was there to pull Santa’s sleigh, accompanied by a Shetland pony, who must have been the horse’s companion. Every time the horse went around the square taking children for a ride, he would shout to the Shetland, who would return the call.

Outside Santa’s Grotto

I also visited a local bar, Barila, for coffee and stayed a couple of hours chatting to the barman and the owner. I was told that an English singer songwriter called Ryan Keen was due to play there on Wednesday evening. I checked him out on the Internet when I returned to my hotel and he’s had a few radio plays in the UK.

When I got back to the hotel, I tried to book for a Northern Lights tour, only to find that it was fully booked. I had to settle for the tour on day three of my trip.

At night, I had another excellent meal, this time a stew made with fish from the Barents Sea, served with chips, washed down with more Mack beer.

As I went to bed, there was evidence of the clouds dispersing raising hopes that day three might enable me to witness the Blue Light of the Polar Night.

Alta day 3 – city of the Northern Lights | Alta webcam | Alta It Is