Jun 232011
 

Unfortunately for the day after a marathon our flight out was at oh-dark-thirty, otherwise known as 8am. There was another one-stop flight via Tromsø that departed around 2pm, but was sold out in lower classes and was over $200 more. For a party of four we value sleep, but not to the tune of $800+. Plus, this would offer a bit of time to relax in Oslo before the long trek home.

Hotel breakfast buffet didn’t open until 7am, but in recognition of all the people with early flights they had a nice light breakfast set out. Breads, cheeses, some meat and fish, etc. Rare that a hotel would go the extra mile like this!

Unfortunately, the SAS bus ran on a set schedule, with a pickup time of 6am for an 8am flight…at an airport with only one departure. We decided sleep was more important and had ordered a taxi. The bus was NOK 50 per person, and the taxi turned out to be about NOK 250…so about a $9 premium for four people to get an extra hour of sleep – well worth it! Continue reading »

Jun 162011
 

So the day had finally arrived….after a night in the land of the midnight sun, we were off to 78 degrees north – several hundred kilometers north of the arctic circle.

There were only about 20 people in the gate area, so we were expecting that the flight would be pretty empty. However, based on the online seat map (available until right before boarding) the flight was packed…what was going on? Soon we realised that the flight was a through flight from Oslo to Longyearbyen with a stop in Tromsø – so that explained it.

Soon the plane pulled up, and over 100 people began to slowly pile into the gate area after clearing immigration to exit the Schengen at Tromsø. I know I had looked into this option when booking, but I felt that a gradual trek north with the chance to spend a couple days each in a couple of other cities would make things more interesting – very glad we did! Continue reading »