Alta day 4 – me and my mate Santa

Day four in Alta started with another excellent breakfast. This time I tried a hot breakfast consisting of a baked omelette with vegetables, bacon, sausage and the usual muesli.

I was intending to take the local bus again, this time to the old part of Alta, but events took a major change when I went to visit Santa’s Grotto again. I was invited inside and was fed with porridge, waffles and a local drink called glögg, a type of mulled wine.

When chatting with the locals, I was asked if I would be interviewed by the local television station, which of course I agreed to do. They seemed more interested in me than I was in them. They found it strange that I had flown all the way from England to visit them, after seeing them on a webcam.

A view of Alta from the slate mine taken at 14:02.

After the interview, I was taken on a ride to a local slate mine by local photographer Jørn Losvar. The mine overlooked Alta and I was able to take some great photos, as well as have a tour around the workshops.

A photo of me in the slate mine workshop, taken by Jørn Losvar.

I returned to the hotel for a freshen up, then I went back to the Grotto to thank them for the food. The people who were running the Grotto showed me the interview on the Internet and befriended me on Facebook. Also, I had a coffee or two in the Barila pub and chatted with the locals.

See the interview: Alan så julenissen på webcam – da reiste han fra England til Alta

Several people had told me I must try the local reindeer, so for dinner, I had reindeer fillet stuffed with smoked salmon from Alta River. A strange combination, but it worked well. This was accompanied with a mixed berry sauce and broccoli purée.

At night, I braved the -16C temperature and went back to the Barila pub to see English singer songwriter Ryan Keen. He was quite good and reminded me a lot of Derrin Nauendorf, an Australia singer with an identical style who I had seen at the Riverside Festival in Nottingham several years ago.

Ryan Keen (guitar) and Lee Levent (percussion) at Barila pub, Alta.

While I was at the pub, the owner presented me with some bacon that he had smoked himself. He said that whenever he had been to Britain, he had never had decent bacon, so he gave me some of his so that I could see how bacon should be. I’ll enjoy tasting that.

On returning to the hotel, I had a quick beer before going back to my room after an amazing day.

Alta day 5 – time to go home | Alta webcam | Alta It Is