- two of the three flights being terrible, how sure i was we'd crush already in copenhagen; seeing faint northern lights on the last flight
- vanessa's little wooden house; the two of us talking until late night in the kitchen after my arrival; my suitcase stuffed with cheeses and teas they don't have up there
- morning car ride up to the mountains and first snow; afternoon walks outside the settlement and how utterly terrified i was of seeing a polar bear on the plateaus
- helping out at the little local charity shop, how people would come in and gossip about kate moss being in town
- all the stories about polar bear sightings i've been told; how many stories people had to tell in general
- boat trip to an abandoned soviet settlement (pyramiden): seeing glaciers up close (they are so blue and beautiful, my hands kept shaking and i was afraid i'd drop my phone in the water); sneaking in to closed facilities with a rich group that arrived there at the same time and could go in, the absolutely incredible atmosphere that town had (everything was left behind just the way it was!! houses looked like they were left just a few days ago; there were books in the library, musical instruments in the common house, balls at the gym, toys on the playgrounds, cutlery!! in a dining hall!!); the one hotel that is still in business and you can actually stay there for a night; no service, just one satellite telephone and one guide and his rifle in case of bears; reindeers and arctic foxes running around; accidentally meeting kate moss' film crew; eating quick lunch on the wooden deck before heading back
- visiting local museum — no shoes were allowed; looking around at a little local art gallery and a wildlife photography gallery
- an abandoned coal mine we hiked up to; it kept making sounds that made me almost convinced it was haunted; we ate lunch there
- a small asian snack shop ran by filipinos; me not understanding a word but managing to buy a few mochis anyway
- evenings with japaneses dramas on netflix or two people kpop parties, dancing to super junior's sorry sorry in the middle of the living room
- hot chocolate tastes so much different when you drink it after a day out so far in the north
- driving until the end of one of the roads outside town until the horizon wouldn't hide behind the mountains and glaciers and watching a sunset from there; an arctic fox was watching us
- how i couldn't stop crying upon saying goodbye; how desperately i didn't want to leave that place despite being so anxious about bears at all times; and how then i was almost denied boarding the plane because apparently i didn't look like i deserved the student discount i used
apr 5 2020 ∞
apr 5 2020 +