{"id":6171,"date":"2009-07-24T06:53:40","date_gmt":"2009-07-24T11:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/?p=6171"},"modified":"2009-07-25T16:04:31","modified_gmt":"2009-07-25T21:04:31","slug":"longyearbyen-svalbard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/longyearbyen-svalbard\/","title":{"rendered":"Longyearbyen, Svalbard"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-309\"<\/p>\n

We forgot to post this when we were in Svalbard and are sending it along now.<\/p>\n

Longyearbyen is the administrative center for the Svalbard Islands. A former mining town, it is remaking itself as a tourist center and doing well. The “marina” consists of two floating docks, to which yachts raft in various formations. We’re rafted between Southern Star<\/em> (a 1970s era maxi) and the Halberg Rassey 46 Indigo<\/em> .<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-254\"<\/p>\n

The buildings are a mix of historic and new, with a distinctly industrial mien.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-212\"<\/p>\n

We’re told that the tourist business is year around. Late winter is the favorite time for many with a combination of snow, northern lights, and the beginning of sunlight. This is undoubtedly a more beautiful view when the ground is covered with snow.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-209\"<\/p>\n

This sign says a lot about the traffic problems. The building in the background houses (amongst other things) a wonderful museum below that copper roof. The display which caught our attention was a recently found rifle, with a stuck cartridge, belonging to a trapper who went missing some years ago. He and his two friends became polar bear fodder.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-227\"<\/p>\n

Check out the cool shopping bags, available from the local market (the middle bag which has a different provenance).<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-232\"<\/p>\n

Downtown Longyearbyen has two supermarkets, lots of tax\/duty free shops, along with a similar variety of businesses that you would expect to find in any small town – except this one is at 78 degrees North.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-233\"<\/p>\n

Walking into the market made us feel right at home. These signs are not infrequent in Arizona.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-243\"<\/p>\n

Wine and beer are heavily taxed in Norway, but not in Svalbard. Linda and friend Joe check out the selection. It is a long walk back to the boat, which limits acquisition volume.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-248\"<\/p>\n

A lovely summer day, the sun is shining, and it is a warm 40F (5C). Time for an ice cream.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-234\"<\/p>\n

Or maybe just hanging out and chewing the fat.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-229\"<\/p>\n

How about this for local color?<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-220\"<\/p>\n

Can you imagine the business plan which came up with this concept?<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-215\"<\/p>\n

Music festivals are big in Longyearbyen. Maybe we’ll come back for some blues and northern lights.<\/p>\n

\"Longyearbyen-Svalbard-12\"<\/p>\n

Isenfiord, in which Longyearbyen resides, is full of glaciers and spectacular mountains, which adds to the local color. On the other hand, the power plant burns coal, leaving a dirty film on boats and the rest of the area.<\/p>\n

Twenty four hours of this civilization is enough for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We forgot to post this when we were in Svalbard and are sending it along now. Longyearbyen is the administrative …Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dashew-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}