Personal Weblog of Annett Thogersen

Monday, March 10, 2008

Visiting Margit at Svalbard

Last Tuesday we went to visit Margit at Longyearbyen, Svalbard. We were very close to canceling the trip, as Georg spent the night before and the following morning throwing up. But we decided to go for it, and we made it. There was a lot of snow and it was very cold, -19 degrees Celsius. First Margit drove us around the city showing us where everything was, and then we went home to her place where we met her dog Ravna, a very cute and cozy dog! Georg was still not feeling well and spent the rest of the day in bed, while Margit and I took the scooter to the other dogs and went dog sledding. It was so cool! I could do this every day....


Wednesday morning Georg, who was feeling a lot better, and I went to Coal Mine 7. It is the only coal mine still active in Longyearbyen. Being inside the mine was fascinating and a bit scary. Because of all the coal dust in the air we had to wear masks. On top of that the air was a lot thinner, and this was hard to get used to. It was interesting to see how they operate. Very exciting! We also got to see the famous footsteps of a prehistoric mammal, a Pantodont. On a previous tour, some American wondered how come the animal walked on the ceiling (although because of the presence of Americans he kindly lied that the person was Swedish). When we got out we were all covered in coal dust and looked very pretty.



When we got back we went sight seeing in town, shopping and then went to the Svalbard museum. It was a pleasant museum and we learned a lot, but I got so tired and almost fell asleep:) When Margit came back from work we ate some food and then came with her to the Northern light observatory, where she does some of her work. To get there we first had to drive for about ten minutes by car, and then drive a caterpillar vehicle the rest of the way. It was completely dark and we could see nothing but snow. On the top there was a building, almost not visible because of the snow and the dark. When opening the door to the building there was a long white and clean corridor with dark doors, like in a new office building. Coming in from the snow and dark and into this building was strangely surreal. It could easily have been a scene from Star Trek or, even more striking, from "Brødrene Dahl". Could this corridor lead to a space ship, an entrance to a secret spy station, an alternate dimension or even better to offices with nerds and big toys:) On our way down I got to drive the caterpillar vehicle, and it was amazing! In the evening we went to the local pub to eat, drink and meet Margit's boyfriend Urban, from Sweden. After this exciting and packed day, we went to bed quite early.



On Thursday morning Georg and I went on a dog sledding trip up a glacier to an ice cave. We got to saddle up the dogs and of course cuddle with them:) It felt incredible to stand behind them as they were running. We went quite fast! Visiting the ice cave was also amazing. The icy corridors and narrow passages was something we had never seen before, and I so want to do it again! The whole trip was one of the best trips we've ever had. We were also incredibly very lucky with the weather, it was sunny and not too cold, relatively speaking of course. In the evening we went to the pub again, naturally. :)



Friday morning we totally relaxed and slept in. Later we went shopping and walked Ravna. After Margit came home from work we met up with Urban and went on a scooter trip to a cabin called Bikkjebu at Kapp-Laila. It was an amazing ride to Kapp-Laila. When we got there and fired up the oven, Margit started cooking dinner while the other three of us fell asleep. We were just too tired. After eating dinner we played some cards but couldn't keep our eyes open, so we went to bed quite soon after that.

We took it really easy in the morning. Georg and I tried to use the oven to fry bacon, which worked, but took us over an hour. There was a leak in the gas-tank, so we hesitated to use it. But in the end we gave in and used it for a short period of time. After breakfast, cleaning the cabin and getting our stuff together we drove to Barentsburg, a Russian coal mine settlement not too far from Longyearbyen. Driving into Barentsburg was like driving into Russia (or at least what I would imagine it would be, since I have never been to Russia). The people were very friendly, waving and smiling to us. It was an incredible experience, just like driving into a different country. The people spoke Russian, had Russian TV in the pub, serving lots of vodka and everything looked very Eastern-European. After having a coffee at the pub we rushed home to Longyearbyen, where we had a reservation at 19:30 at a restaurant (Kroa) in town. We had to drive quite fast, it was very cool. Later we all went to "Huset", where they had a big sun-party. That Saturday was the first time this year that the sun shone on Longyearbyen, so that meant a big party. Me and Georg only lasted until 1:30, when we were almost sleeping and my back was hurting from the scooter-drive, so it was nice to get to bed.



On Sunday we ate a good breakfast at "Kroa" and then went on a scooter trip with Margit and Urban to a TV-tower on the opposite side of Longyearbyen. The weather and sun was incredible and we had an amazing view. It was the best way of ending our stay in Longyearbyen. It has been the most amazing week, and we want to come back as soon as possible.

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