Let Us Explore Longyearbyen:
We are really enjoying this property, it is so KEWL!!
We had dinner last night at Vinterhagen, the greenest restaurant in Longyearbyen. Greenest because it is a green house. Here you find greenery and Arctic Fox, Ice Bear, Musk Ox and all sorts of mining memorabilia.
I ordered a stout beer from the Svalbard Brewery, the northernmost brewery, having had it before, I knew it is very nice. We both ordered Arctic Stout Stew from the starter menu. When served, we were told the meat used today was whale. There were potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes in a red sauce. The whale meat was very lean and tender. To me it was like a very high quality of beef. This was served with a good sized piece of garlic bread. All was above EXCELLENT. While it was just a starter we both were stuffed when we finished as the portion for us was perfect. Yes things were a bit on the expensive side but that is to be expected here.
We are up nice and early as usual having coffee and writing away. There is a coffee service in the hallway.
I was up a few times last night checking the skies for the Aurora. It really never got totally dark and the skies were overcast and still are. One must remember we are at 78’ degrees North. The plan for today is to have breakfast and walk into town and visit some of the museums and Cafe Huskies and the local supermarket. Others have reported the prices not really that high except eggs. The last time we were here was a couple years ago and I thought things were more expensive. Our first visit to Longyearbyen was about 10 years ago and I must say things have definitely been built up in the interim.
Breakfast was very good with so many options. I made a waffle.
We packed our packs and were soon headed out. Our first stop was the North Pole Expedition Museum. This is an excellent well done museum. I really feel anyone coming to or departing from Longyearbyen should make this a stop.
The great northern polar expeditions are displayed in a nice informative manner. I very much enjoyed the movies of those expeditions. There is a ship model of the Polaris, it was originally built as a tourist hunting boat to sail out of Longyearbyen. Financial events lead it to be sold to Shackleton who renamed it Endurance. We spent 2.5 hours there, probably more than most.
We then walked to the Svalbard Museum. This museum does a great job of interpreting the history and wildlife of Svalbard. I believe it should be a mandatory stop for anyone visiting the area.
We then made a stop at Cafe Huskies for a drink, I had an iced tea and Lynn had a Chai Tea Latte. At Cafe Huskies there are usually a couple huskies hanging out demanding attention.
Barentz Gastropub was next on the agenda for lunch. It is located on the Radisson Blu Hotel. One reason for going there was next July we will be cruising with Hurtigruten to see the total eclipse. The eclipse journey will take us from Oslo to Longyearbyen where we will spend two nights as part of the cruise. Hurtigruten does not own the Radisson Blu here in Longyearbyen but they operate it. So we are guessing this is where we will be staying in 2026.
For lunch we split the fish and chips as the portion was very ample. While the batter was a bit on the heavy side it was still very good. As we left the Barentz Gastropub, the rain had started as forecast.
Having had a very ample lunch we opted for a light dinner back at the Maryann’s Polar Rigg.
Making a stop at Svalbardbutikken, we bought a sandwich and some pastry to have later as our evening meal.
We are now back in our room, warm and dry and preparing for our flight tomorrow.
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