I'm back with something really special!

This time I am happy to show you not one but two cards from the amazing Svalbard archipelago! Both cards were sent from the largest island - Spitsbergen (yes, until 1920 it was the name of the whole archipelago, and then the island itself was known as West Spitsbergen). The archipelago has around 2500 inhabitants, most of them live in the main town called Longyearbyen, and it is also where you can find the world’s northernmost church, ATM, Post Office, museum, commercial airport and university!

One of the cards, showing Adventsfjorden, was sent by my friend Kathrin who recently visited Svalbard on a university trip. The other, with a view of Hofgaardtoppen, was sent by Ingeborg, who visited the islands for a couple of weeks last February. As she wrote - it is one of the most spectacular places she has seen. (Although it is so large it doesn't feel like an island).

As you can see, the card from Ingeborg is dated March 18th, and if you remember - only two days later, on March 20th, the world was looking up the sky, waiting for the total solar eclipse. Two best places to "see" the complete darkness were Faroe Islands and Svalbard, so Ingeborg was just in a perfect place and in a perfect time! Of course, when she was writing the card, she was not sure if the sky will be clear enough to see the eclipse, but during her stay Ingeborg had also many chances to watch northern lights, which was also an amazing experience.

As you can guess the sun is important on Svalbard not only during eclipse - since the islands are located so far up north, it is gone for almost 4 months during winter. It finally comes back on March 8th, and then a week long celebrations, Solfestuka, starts!

I can't wait to go there, and if you're still not convinced, have a look at Ingeborg's amazing photos from Svalbard! // Thank you both, girls! :)

spitsbergen

country

Norway

location

in the Svalbard Archipelago

inhabitants

2,642

distance travelled

~3070km

sent from

Longyearbyen