A Walk in the Snow...

We woke up yesterday on May 23rd to fresh snow, and it is still snowing!

Darrell headed off to "work" at UNIS and I went for a walk in the snow. First stop was watching the pink-footed geese on the UNIS grounds.

Pink-footed geese both on the ground and flying above

I continued walking up the streets to the east where more colorful houses have a view of the fjord.

Scandinavian color scheme

The view from this area to the end of Adventfjorden

Snowmobiles are the preferred transport in winter

Many people walk and bike here. I haven't noticed anyone that is overweight - maybe because they get regular exercise and because the food is too expensive to eat more than you need!

Letting gravity push the baby stroller into town!

Almost all the houses have bikes, skis, snowboards, and shovels in front of them. Here is a typical example of local toys!

Toys and Transport

I did a double-take on this bike-sled combo. At first I thought the forks on the front of the bike were attached to the sled, but they aren't really connected. Kind of a cool idea though!

A new concept for pushing the kids around!

If you want to keep the kids warm while you are cruising on the snowmobile, you pull these great "carriages".

Snowmobiles, "carriages", and gas cans!

After my tromp through the snow I headed into town and checked out a few of the shops. If you can decode some Norwegian you can see that the post office and the bank are in the same building as the massage parlor!

The hopping shopping district in Longyearbyen

On the way home I finally got a decent picture of a snow bunting.

Snow bunting

Most of the buildings in Longyearbyen have shoe racks where you put your outdoor shoes. Some places even provide slippers or croc's for you to wear after you take off your boots.

IKEA shoe rack at the UNIS guest house where we are staying

Time to put up my stocking-footed feet and relax!