Glaciers and Russians!

Today we took a most excellent, all day boat ride to a glacier and the Russian settlement of Barentsburg. We chartered the MS Polar Girl, so we had her all to ourselves. Fairly big boat with lots of rooms for the boys to hang out, play cards, listen to music, talk , catch up on journal entries. All without cell phones. Bliss!!!! The scenery was positively captivating. Exactly as you might imagine for the top of the world. Out at sea, we were far, far, far from the madding crowd. After about an hour and a half on the sea, we pulled very close to the glacier. Blue! Nearby, we saw a seal bobbing around. We got very quiet and listened to the glacier crack and calf. We did not see a polar bear, but it was fun to watch out for them, and scary to know we were in their home and that they were somewhere nearby.

glacier

Around noon, we were treated to a BBQ on board (yum!), after which we landed in Barentsburg. Talk about other worldly. It was like entering a time warp and landing in Mother Russia. A small mining community resides there, very few of whom speak any English. It was like being on a movie set – a scary one at that. But there was some beauty.


Glaciers and Russians

There was a small, wooden Russian Orthodox Church built in the memory of Russians who perished in a plane crash on the way to Barentsburg some years ago. It was identical to the one in Antarctica. And so we took a picture with those of us who are bi-polar. Then all of us crowded into the church and sang our Russian repertoire. Sort of. We don’t have any Russian songs, but we sang songs that sound Russian from seasons past – the Bulgarian National Anthem, Baba Mishkava, and Niska Banja. We sang through the Appalachian Suite for good measure. Funny to hear all the Grads recall their treble parts and sing them perfectly all these years later. Muscle memory of youth!

Barentsburg – a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there.

Tonight we eat lasagna at a local restaurant, and then it’s home to pack for our travel day tomorrow. Last stop…Tromso.

More later…