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| Spitsbergen Radisson Hotel in Longyearbyen |
I was awakened the next morning by the wake up call we had ordered, but in reaching for the phone, managed to surf the IKEA bed-top padding onto the floor, groping for the receiver. Yes, I am awake. We then headed across the street to the airport (the cost of the hotel was worth it for the convenient location) and tried to figure out how to check in... we discovered we somehow had business class tickets, the only advantage of which was that it allowed us to avoid the cattle car line and check in right away. Which was a good thing, as when we reached the gate, they were boarding.
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| The lap of luxury |
The flight was 4+ hours with a quick stop in Tromso, a very northern city in Norway. Incredible view as we landed, but someone else had the window seat and I didn't feel like trying to sit in their lap to get pictures. We got out of the plane and entered the small airport, and started to see some familiar faces of others I knew would be on the expedition. This is my first year, but Amy knew everyone, and I know quite a few folks from Carnegie Institute of Washington, where the PI who heads the expedition comes from. We hopped on a bus and paid $10 to drive 2ish miles to the Spitsbergen Radisson Hotel. The hotel was apparently lavish compared to the few other accommodations in town, and even had completely unreliable wireless internet, which I used to contact Rob in desperation to call USair to ask where our luggage was. Luckily I at least had extra undies and an extra pair of jeans, but the one pair of socks and liners and lack of long sleeved shirts sort of sucked. Thankfully I had my rain/wind shell and a light fleece, too, or it would have sucked.
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| Glacial Runoff |
Once we settled in, we went to explore the town, which had one main street. We went to the Boutiken, i.e. the grocery/drug store/electronics store/jewelry store/general one-stop-shopping, for a European hairdryer for me and other provisions. Then we went to a cafe for coffee and a sandwich. Note to self - those little pellets they use as sweetener are REALLY sweet. Then we took a walk to another place people were staying, crossing this glacial runoff stream. I kept looking around in amazement as the sun continued to not set and the mountains loomed, snow on their tops. You could also see many visible remnants of the mining industry (coal) that still takes place in 2 other parts of the island.
Later we all met up for dinner/drinks (pizza/beer) in the bar at the hotel. The bars here they keep very very dark, due to the fact that the sun is always shining, and something about sunshine discourages mass consumption of alcoholic beverages at bars. We all shared stories of luggage lost (very common) and when we left around midnight it was bizarre to still have full daylight. I took some drunken pictures, mostly of the sky and landscape (not shown). The next day we went shopping for last minute stuff, knowing we would not get a chance again. I bought a hat, a watch, and a sleeping mask. All the while i was stressing about the luggage, which Rob sid would come to the airport just as we were leaving on the charter flight to the research community of Ny Alesund. I was impatient and got an earlier ride to the airport just so I could make sure the bags were they. Yay! They were! Clean socks! But I had to say goodbye to the luggage again while they loaded it on the tiny plane to Ny Alesund. As there were almost 30 of us, it was necessary to take 2 flights (~30 min) to get everyone there. But the weather was sketchy, so the times kept changing. Finally we hopped in this prop plane.... uh oh, had to work on the instument... but here is a pic!
