area inanoldminingbus; and,ofcourse, astuffed
polarbearwatchingover the fun fromhispermanent
seatat thedining table.Quirkaside, theRadisson
Blu,Trapper’sHotelandSpitspergenHotelareall
worldclass, and thesecondplacewestayed– thenew
SvalbardHotell– isasmart,modernmid-rangehotel,
allWiFi,Nespressoandclean, airydesign.
Butwhat reallyblewusawaywere thepeople,
whowereremarkablykindandobliging toaslightly
cluelessandoverenthusiasticmagazine team.Take
JasonRoberts, anAustralianwho’sbeenhere for24
years. Ifyou’veeverseenapolarbearonscreen, from
theBBC’s
FrozenPlanet
toHollywoodmovie
Far
of
Champagne); anddishes like thestunningsmoked
whaleat thewood-and fur-bedeckedKroa.These
arenot small-townvenues, and there’snotaPeppe’s
PizzaorT.G.I.Friday’s insight.
Then thereare thehotels.Mary-Ann’sPolarrigg
is the townhostel,but reallydefiescategorisation.
The theatricalMary-Ann isawonderfullycolourful
character, andhaspouredallof that into thisold
miner’srig,dottedwithbizarrecalendarshotsof
nakedwomenwithpolarbearsandMary-Annherself
in fullvaudevillemode.There’sgreat food (including
theobligatorysealandwhale); awood-firedoutdoor
hot tuboverlookedbyabustystatuette; asmoking
Out of town
The road in thisdirection
takes you to the airport, the
Global SeedVault and the
SvalSat satellite range
The old mines
Most of Svalbard’s coal
miningused tobedonehere
–but now thebuildings and
machinery liederelict
Huset
Acafé, bar, theatre,
winecellar and thebest
restaurant in town– in a
buildingdatingback to 1951
Svalbard Kirke
Thechurch isdesigned
to serveeveryoneon the
island, regardlessof religion
or nationality (
seep70
)
Hiorthfjellet
The928mmountain facing
town,which youcanhike
upwith tour operators
SpitsbergenTravel
Longyearbyen
ataglance
A litreofmilk ismore
expensive than a litre
of vodkahere
It’s illegal toown
acat, as they
pose adanger to
Arcticbirds
Did you know?
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