Time is a trap. It goes too fast. In this article I will reflect back on 2021 from a Ny-Alesund life and science point of view. I will link plenty of old articles in the text, but there will be new information / pictures as well. Let’s go. January–mid March: […]
Personal blog
11 posts
Last Tuesday, a fresh pack of 60 cm of snow reached town. Today’s temperatures reached -18°C. Winter has come and is not leaving for the next few months. 60 cm of fresh snow sounds fun and is fun, but is also a lot of work. Roads need to be cleaned, […]
Last week Tuesday and Wednesday were two stormy days. Just going out for dinner felt like an expedition. In the darkness, with snow blowing in the face, barely seeing anything. Your hands getting cold after two seconds without gloves. Driving a car suddenly became quite challenging too. Although it is […]
It was Saturday the 23rd of October 2021, the last day the sun rose above the horizon. Icebergs were scattered all over the frozen beach, while the last sunrays of this year kissed the peaks of some lucky mountains. When seeing the beauty of the sun, the sky became a […]
A week ago our most beloved boat arrived in Ny-Ålesund: the Norbjorn, ready to stuff us with some fresh veggies and fruits. It is a tradition that we eat tacos on the Friday after the boat arrived. Somehow eating tacos on a Friday is a Norwegian thing. One of the […]
A planned trip of 15 km turned into 35 km. Two weekends ago, we hiked on a Friday evening over the Brøgger glacier towards the southern part of the peninsula, staying the night in the cabin “Daerten”. The original plan was to stay the Saturday at the cabin and relax […]
Today we went with a group of four human beings and a dog out on the field. Just for a small Sunday hike, nothing big. The snow is quite gone and the beach is finally walkable with snow shoes or skies. When walking along the shore, there were INSANELY many […]
Life up here in Ny-Ålesund is simple, comfortable and rich. Although there is not a lot in terms of consumption and culture, the social contacts and the impressive nature are all over the place. Time goes by fast, scientists and other visitors come and go continuously. It is a repeating […]
Spitsbergen offers a wonderful and fairly pristine environment, but with that come some dangers. Of course common dangers at home or at work (e.g. falling of stairs, throwing hot water over yourself) are present, but the rough environment poses some additional risks. In order to prevent such situations and to […]
Sunset in Longyearbyen: 22:31h. Sunrise: 03:23h After 10 days of quarantine, we arrived today well in Longyearbyen, the capital city of Spitsbergen. Those 10 days of quarantine were not that bad, allowing us to even experience some Norwegian wildlife. Not only did we have the pleasure of meeting a moose, […]