Saturday, August 12 - Longyearbyen, Svalbard - "Don't it Make My White Shoes Brown"

At first we weren't sure we would leave the boat due to the fog; it seemed like it would be easy for a polar bear to sneak up on us! There was dense fog in the morning, giving way to misty rain and rain showers later.

I got up early to wash all our dirty clothes and socks from yesterday.

The boat moved off the dock onto anchor today, so the tenders were operating.

We decided to walk into town to explore. This photo shows the network of cables used for the mining operation, as well as a multitude of dinghies and other junk left on shore.

Brock, polar bears, and someone else's cruise ship in the background.

Snowmobiles, boats, trailers, junk, what else do you need to survive in Svalbard?

There was a nice bridge for pedestrians to use to cross over the river.

Today you can see the glacier.

The river pouring out to the sea.

Most of the shopping was in a "mall" in one district in town. Even though we drove by the shopping area twice yesterday, we had absolutely no idea where it was before we explored on foot. The shopping area was very inconspicuously marked; we barely happened to notice a Pharmacy sign, which got us into the indoor mall. We got some things we needed at the Pharmacy. Then it was time for lunch at a nice restaurant called "Stationen". Brock loved his Reindeer stew!

I loved my fish soup! We also shared some Fish & Chips. It all tasted great! Our waiter looked like Bill Hader.

This was the supermarket, with the liquor store to the left. The liquor store had a very limited selection of bourbon and other hard liquor, but a very large selection of wine.

From the outside, this is where we had lunch.

There were quite a few stores that were like REI, selling outdoor equipment and clothing. They were surprisingly well stocked with quality gear and an amazing selection of binoculars, rifles, shotguns, and pistols. Brock is standing in front of one of those stores.

We went to the museum gift shop for some good maps of the area and to get a smaller version of this map of Svalbard.

Brock liked Svalbard because they had big balls. These were used for communicating with satellites.

Aha! We might have located Hugo's stolen ladder!

What's Bad about Svalbard?

There was a very large Italian cruise ship in town on dock. There were thousands of people in town from the cruise ships.

Note to self: next time you come to Norway, don't wear white shoes! Because my hiking boots were still soaking wet, I was forced to wear my white Hoka's for the walk to/from town. Because of the rain and the dirty roads, they quickly became brown. They required a lot of time to clean when we got back. I got most of it out, but not all. I now have 2 wet pairs of shoes!

We had to be back on the ship by 3:00 p.m. in time for the boat to leave Longyearbyen at 4:00 p.m.

After this, we would have 2 days at sea. There is one more shore excursion left in Iceland (Isafjordur), then we get off the ship in Reykjavik.

Local people we encountered were both friendly and helpful and tried hard to help us in English. Longyearbyen's economy benefits from the cruise ships.

Regarding our shore excursions, the times we branched out on our own generally turned out better than the planned excursions.

Everyone in Longyearbyen wears clothing like you would buy at REI. There is no need for ballgowns in Longyearbyen! It is very rustic and dirty. And you wear hiking boots and not white shoes! The streets are muddy and dirty.