weirdnessoffinding toys inabandonedPyramiden–
but it’ssomuchmore than that.
One thingwedefinitelydidn’texpectwas that
themain townofLongyearbyen–a townbuilton
mining,whichhasalsobecomeahub forscience
and tourism–wouldbequitesocosmopolitanand
sophisticated.The foodandserviceatHuset, the
best restaurant in town,wouldstandup toscrutiny
inLondonorNewYork,not tomention thewine
cellar,whichboasts25,000bottlesandaTwoWine
Glass rating, thewineequivalentof twoMichelin
stars. In town, theKarlsbergerPub looksatfirst like
aclassicmanpub,with rock ’n’ rollplayingon the
stereoandRankin-esqueblack-and-whiteportraits
ofminerson thewalls–but thenyou lookbehind
thebarandseenorthernEurope’swidest rangeof
singlemaltwhiskiesandCognacs.YoucanfindThai
orsushihere; artisanal chocolatesandgreat lunches
atFruene; tastingmenusat theFunktionærmessen
Restaurant (whichalsoboastsmore than70 types
»
The
NbyNorwegian
teamexpectednaturalbeauty–butnot
quite the levelofsophisticationwe found inLongyearbyen
A
lotofpeople inSvalbardcall it the
ArcticBug–whenyoucomehere,
theysay,you feel this intenseurge to
comeback.Asa team,wedidn’t
expect tocatch it.Wemade the
decision todoaspecialSvalbard issuemainlybecause
we’vebeen fascinatedby itsincewemade it thecover
storyofourfirst issue inJanuary2013.
Itwas the thepolarbears, theshotguns, the
windsweptglaciersand theabandonedRussian
mining towns thatpiquedour interest.Weexpected
it tobespectacular–butalsoasortofnovelty trip,
wherewe’d take Instagramphotosofpolarbear
warningsignsandsendpostcards from theArctic.
We foundall this,but itwas justa fractionof
whatmakesSvalbardsuchanexcitingandspecial
place.Yes, there’sa“Holycrap”aroundeverycorner:
themuffledbeautyof travellingbydogsled; the
sheer joyofputtingpedal tometalonasnowmobile
andwhizzing throughgiganticglacialvalleys; the
“Weexpected
a ‘Holycrap’
destination…
but it’sbetter
thanthat”
Population: 2,642
It liesbetween 74
and81 degrees
north,withcapital
Longyearbyen the
world’snorthernmost
permanent residence
Svalbard is an
archipelago, but
Spitsbergen is itsonly
inhabited island
Norwegianflies
direct fromOslo
toLongyearbyen
(pop: 2,040)
Svalbard
basics
Intro
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