Svalbard

Hi! I just came back from a trip to Svalbard! Do you know where it is??? Look at your world map and go to the island close to the north pole!!

I had to go for a meeting...that lasted 1,5 hours at most!!!! but staid there for four days!!!

It was really nice!! Rico (friend from Uppsala) is living there. He went to pick me up at the airport

…and then we went for fondue with some friends of his. We staid until two in the morning chatting and drinking white wine...it was then when I got to know that there is midnight sun in Svalbard until August 22 or so... So after 8 years in Scandinavia I have finally seen the midnight sun!!

Well, next day we went around in "town"...

...and Rico drove me to the main "landmarks" (símbolos emblemáticos) of Longyearbyen :-)

We also went to visit the huge radars he baby sits and where measurements of the northern lights (aurora boreal) are taken!

Then he took me to practice shooting. There are polar bears in Svalbard and regardless how beautiful they are everyone should be aware that they are as dangerous as tigers. Everything that moves is food, humans included. So everybody living there should know how to shoot in case of need. Polar bears are protected so it is illegal to shot a Polar bear unless it is for self-defense... But to be honest, I guess I would be an easy meal as I would never be able to shoot anything let alone a Polar bear!!

Look at the size comparing to me!!! This was taken in the Arctic Museum at the University. Very nice museum by the way...

It is a very interesting place, life there is just SO different to other places...I would like to go back but in winter time... we will see... In the next pictures you see the parking lot for snow scooters!! I mean this is the equivalent to the motorbikes in Italy... funny!