photo by Tracey Dixon

We did not see any polar bears but got to see a seal and some reindeers.

At night we had a nice meal at the SAS hotels restaurant. Large windows with beautiful scenery outside and the midnight sun gave an extra dimension to it all.

The second day we did some shopping and visited the Svalbard museum. My father always wanting to go to Svalbard also managed to take a swim in the sea. Pretty cool!

There is a population of approx 1900 Norwegians at the island. Plus some Russians located in Barentsburg. The main settlement is Longyearbyen where the airport is located. Coal mining, research and tourism keep the island alive. They are also placed outside regular Norwegian taxes and pays no tax, so some goods are cheaper than in Norway (subtract 25%).


The last month I have been flying as far south as Las Palmas, Canary Islands at 28N outside the cost of Africa, and up to Svalbard at 78N in the Arctic. Quite a difference in climate.