We left home at 0530 for our 0715 rendezvous with the company collecting our car from Heathrow terminal 3. The SAS self service check in was seamless and allowed us to quickly make our way to Rhubarb, a new restaurant in the departure lounge, for breakfast - Greek yogurt and berries for me and a bacon sandwich for John - both great and the atmosphere was very relaxing...just what we needed after our early start.
Our gate was the closest to the lounge - that's a first - it's usually a 10-20minute walk - the next bonus was we took off on time and arrived in Oslo ready for lunch.
Our first shock awaited - a slice of pizza,coleslaw and a drink for 2 - just over £21...... wow and that was a cheaper option! We were quickly sensitised to Norwegian prices and realised what 9 NOK to the £ meant.
The flight to Tromso was delayed due to the late arrival of an incoming flight - so we left almost an hour behind schedule. The Tromso stop was technical which meant getting off the plane, going into the terminal building,turning left through a small, two booth, passport control, which was just for that gate, into a waiting area and back onto the plane! It made the point that albeit Svarlbard Jan Mayen is administered by and has close ties with Norway it has a level of independence in relation to some issues. The links with Norway are sealed by treaty but this is, still quietly disputed by Russia. The international mining exploits on the archipelago in earlier centuries mean it has been claimed by many countries and many have left their footprints there eg Longyear after whom Longyearbyen was named was an American mining magnate. Russian mining interests are still obvious and there are Russian enclaves on the archipelago. Consequently Svarlbard has a subtlety different relationship with Norway than the mainland albeit the majority of inhabitants are Norwegian, they speak Norwegian and they use the krone that said they are a duty free area and prices for some goods are cheaper than on the mainland.
We arrived just after 9pm but as it is the land of the midnight sun it was very light and after booking in at our hotel, the Radisson Blu, we went exploring and looking for a snack. It was clear but cold so we wrapped up before venturing out.
We found the local takeaway and had the best and crispest chips anywhere in the world with tasty seasoning salt on top- the taste definitively made the £4 price tag more palatable! Sitting in our thermals and down jackets, eating our chips we gazed at the wall of the takeaway and were regaled by an enormous photograph of a sun drenched Copa Cabana beach in Rio with people wearing far less. Clearly the inhabitants of Longyearbyen hanker after warmer climes!
At 2240 it felt more like 1900 but we thought we should go to sleep as we felt a little tired after our day travelling - thanks to good curtains sleep was not long coming.