[susie123]

As I'm not getting out much at the moment, may I be permitted to post some photos of a not so recent Today in pictures? It's also an antidote to all the Italian sun posted by Dianne, if you need one!

Just two years ago, July 2010, we went on a cruise whose destination was the island of Spitsbergen in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, about 600 miles from the North pole. One of the places we visited was the mining settlement of Barentsburg (the islands have a lot of coal). This is a Russian settlement as there is an international agreement regarding exploitation of the mineral resources of the islands. The settlement was abandoned financially by the Russian government in the seventies and although recently some finance has been forthcoming the place is still very rundown and poverty stricken, not helped by the fact tht there have been problems in the mines.

It is however a fascinating place to visit, a timewarp and hard to imagine how people exist in such conditions including extreme cold, several months of polar night and little infrastructure. We only had two hours there, much of which was taken up with negotiating the many steps which take you up the steep slopes. It's one of the most interesting places I've been to and we were still back on the ship in time for dinner!

I've posted some photos from this trip before on other threads, not sure if any of these were included. Apologies if so.

1 This is where we are - the ship's GPS readings
2 That could be it
3 The settlement from the ship
4 The power plant
5 View from the other side of the ship
6 Approaching the dock in the tender boat
7 View of the steps from the tender
8 The power plant from the tender
9 It's closing in behind
10 Crane on the docks