Spitsbergen Hotel - Rica Longyearbyen

... are on tap, the matter of fact answer is: "There is no demand so why waste good beer." And, good beer it is with distinctive malt and hop combinations. The Spesialol was my favorite. At 62 NOK (a king's ransom at 5.5 NOK to the $C), a sturdy pint was handed across the bar. However, off license beer is not sold due to some Norge rule or law or tradition. I never did get an answer. So it is off to the supermarket 100 metres down the street to purchase any of six varieties of ...

... joten ei kun menoksi ja vauhdilla. Pääsimme lopulta Käsivarteen ja Kilpisjärvelle. Siellä oli leirintäalue, jonne olisi voinut laittaa teltan, vaikka se olikin jo mennyt kiinni. Katselimme kuitenkin paikkaa, että se on suht vilkkaan tien varressa, ei... Tänä yönä ei nukuta tien varressa. Joten jatkoimme matkaa. Sopivaa paikkaa ei meinannut millään löytyä... Yhdellä pienellä hiekkakuopalla pysähdyimme ja katselimme, että näyttää hyvältä, mutta... Siellä oli ehkä niin kuin ...

Tuesday afternoon I boarded the Prince Albert II which would be my home for the next 10 days. And what a home! I had, of course, booked the most economical cabin. The pictures on the website looked nice but I've been fooled by that before so I was pleasantly surprised and found myself giggling while exploring my deluxe (by my standards) cabin: champagne on ice, fresh fruit bowl, flat screen TV ...

... he has seen the island. And as we were coming into Longyearbyen I had beautiful views of glaciers, lakes and fjords.

I had booked a ten day expedition cruise around the island and decided to spend a couple of nights in Longyearbyen before boarding the ship. I stayed at the Spitsbergen Guesthouse which was formerly used as housing for miners. Longyearbyen was a ...

... level.

It is another beautifully clear day in Spitsbergen and we can see all the snow covered peaks that rise 3000 feet in an arc 25 miles wide.

Richard White is our guide for this walk and we see a collection of geese, gulls and other sea birds.

The moss-covered hills are home to an abundance of arctic flowers, all growing on the south side of the moss, away from the direction of the arctic winds.

The reindeer we see are shy and ...

... 40 years – cars, coal-fired electric power plants, oil & gas fields, nuclear plants.

Should we build more of the same or should we begin to go carbon free and energy intelligent, even it costs more money now?

Other questions waiting to be answered include, should we care if the polar bear is now called an endangered species?

What connection is there between carbon in the atmosphere, a warmer climate, disappearing sea ice and retreating glaciers ...

... service, and finally we had to use credit card to withdraw money from the ATM). I told her that we were fine and the cash we had could make it through until the following day in which the banks will be opened.We then walked to Polaria. It is an aquarium displays local marine life and the main attraction of the aquarium is the bearded seals. Moreover, the design of its architecture resembles a partly collapsed series of books ...

Arrived in Tromso at about 1730 and went to the Radisson to ask about the airport bus, when the first one was and when the last one was. Last one was at 8pm and the girl said that the airport shuts at 1am. We decided to go for a wander and ask a second opinion. We found reasonably priced cabins for the night out at the campground and called the taxi to find out how much ...

... 9. day traveling back to longyearbyen 10. resting, buying chocolates and sweets 11.-14. day hike to barentsburg 15. day arrival at barentsburg 17. day hike to kapp laila 18. day a really tough hike back to longyearbyen 25. day plane to oslo 28. day plane to munich 29. day vienna please take your time (at least 15 min) to visit ...

... midnight sun as we were elevated above the city. This cruise aside, I did my usual wandering around and exploring, visiting the Polaria museum at the harbour which featured a dazzling 20 minute panoramic film on Svalbard. It really got the juices flowing, as did my visit to the interesting Polar museum that detailed various expeditions to the Arctic. I've not been this excited about going somewhere since I set off for New Zealand, some 18 months ago...