Svalbard

This is a harshly beautiful terrain where the sun won't be setting until the fall. Last night I closed the bar at 2 AM and then hiked up a nearby mountain into the clouds. That may have been a bit foolhearty because you're not supposed to leave the city streets unarmed. This is due to polar bears that live here, although tour guides find them very hard to find. Interesting that gun licensing isn't a thing here either and tourists can rent them in 2 minutes for a small fee.

Other than polar bears there are two land mammals here: reindeer and the the arctic fox. I have seen plenty of reindeer, still white in their winter coats or on Cara's dinnerplate tonight. The real surprise to me was the lack of rodents or mustalids. There should be rats or stoats or something small running about. Different rules in the artic I suppose.

In addition to our own wanderings Cara & I took a bus tour around the town: "Longyearbyen in a nutshell". Cara really likes nutshells. Lot's of incredible scenery with interesting local commentary. We even got to see the entrance to the Seed Bank, although getting in is A LOT harder than one might suppose. Still haven't finagled that, despite the PhD I'm married to.