During the last night our new guests arrived in Longyearbyen. They came with different flights from all over in the world. A spectacular sunset greeted at least those passengers who arrived with the SAS flight around midnight. The fjord was colored golden in the late evening sun. There was no wind and the sea looked like a golden mirror. Spitsbergen could not welcome us in a better way.
195 incoming guests – that means 195 different expectations, 195 different personalities, 195 different dreams … Let us see how we can fulfill at least most of it during the next week.
After a very short night in a hotel passengers spent the morning in Longyearbyen. In a guided tour they got their first impression about life in a very isolated city and country. In the afternoon it was boarding time. After the check in procedure there was a bit time to learn about the ship, our home for the next week and the mandatory drill had to be done before we left the harbor. At 18:00 we set sail and our trip we were waiting for such a long time started.
Our first destination was the Russian settlement Barentsburg in the evening. The weather was very nice. The sun was still shining. The cloud formation was spectacular - a mixture of very dark and white clouds, and the sunlight between. We got the information that it was the first sunny evening since weeks. So we were the lucky ones and we hoped that it will stay like this during the next days.
Barentsburg is a Russian coalmining settlement. In several groups we explored the city. During the last years the Russians have done a lot of renovation work. In the explanations of our guides we recognized that they are always in a little competition with Longyearbyen, but it seems to be a healthy competition under good friends.
The evening ended with an impressive folklore show in the culture hall. Happy and full of new impressions we went back on board for our first night on our lovely sweat home MV FRAM.
