Spitsbergen Guesthouse Longyearbyen

... beer.

Departing Tromso, the coastal express route is sheltered by islands. to the east, the country develops into one of Norway's most impressive mountain ranges - the Lyng Alps. It becomes apparent that nearly every building between here and Kirkenes is new - well, new as of post 1945. |There is a similar theme in terms of design and structure.

During the winter of 1944/45, when the German Army of the North was in full retreat, Hitler gave carte blanche to ...

... when you get into bed too - thank God for airline eyeshades...

We get on the boat tomorrow afternoon and are on board for 10 days. I think internet, email etc is very limited on board so we likely won't be in contact again 'till we're in Zurich - we arrive there the 15th August.

keep your fingers crossed for us to see lots of bears!

Hope you're all well out there!

love
D&N.
x

... hyttystä! Voi huhhuh! Eihän tästä tule mitään... Samaan aikaan aurinko oli laskemassa ja tuli räpsäistyä muutama kuvasta upeasta maisemasta, jossa Kilpisjärvi kylpee punaisessa valossa Saana takanaan... Mutta voi kääk niiden hyttysten takia, äkkiä pois täältä! Lähdimme ja hetken päästä syy hyttysten paljouteen selvisikin: vieressä oli jättimäinen suo, joten se siitä.
Jatkoimme matkaa, mutta ei mitään harkittavaakaan paikkaa löytynyt. Jonkun ajan päästä pääsimme ...

... bedding, and a luxurious, albeit small, bathroom. WOW!!!


Having never done a cruise like this I wasn't too sure of exactly what to expect. Certainly the cabin didn't disappoint. The rest of the ship was equally elegant. And although this tour was the most economical of those I researched, it was all inclusive: all meals, alcohol, tips, everything. Not that you can't spend money ...

... br>We are in Longyearbyen because it is the northernmost city in the world and the jumping off point for arctic exploration.

At 78° North, Longyearbyen is 400 miles more north than Barrow, Alaska, the location of the giant Prudhoe Bay oil field on the North Slope of Alaska.

Here the sun doesn't set between May and August and doesn’t rise between November and February.

During our entire trip the sun will circle lazily in the sky 24 hours a day.

Longyearbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen alleifer

... which is very creative and impressive. We spent nearly an hour and a half in the building. The things I most enjoyed to do in the aquarium were to watch the bearded seals swimming around in the pool and to watch film in the Panoramic Cinema.The time we left Polaria was around around 3:30 PM, and the sky was almost totally dark.
We had a plan, that night, to stay out late to see if we can view the Northern Lights. The time when ...

... would be to the airport. The girl said to ask a taxi driver. We spoke to a guy that said 200 at the most and he didn't think that the airport was open overnight so that was it. No sleeping at the airport for us. Cabins were good and we caught the taxi at 0530 to the airport which ended up costing 235kr leaving us only about 20kr for the 4 hours wait in Oslo but oh well.

Another bus ride later and we arrive in Tromsö. We got in fairly late but Earl picked us up from the bus stop. He has a nice apartment. We were afraid that it would be cold this far north but the Norwegians aren't fools and they know how to keep a warm house. In fact we were too hot at night and had to open a window. Earl was the first American we had stayed with and we realized how nice it was to communicate with someone from your native land. Lots of people speak ...