Barentsburg
Surreal. A bust of Lenin in a crumbling post-Soviet coal-mining town dropped into an arctic landscape. We spent a few hours here and got a briefing on Russian arctic research, which is admirable, and the museum which includes exhibits on geology and other aspects of natural history and the human, especially Russian, history of Svalbard. In the 18th century Pomori hunters from Russia's northern coast were regular visitors. One group of four hunters was marooned on Edgeøya for six years. They lived in a hut built by a previous group of hunters, and had no firearms, but they were still able to kill enough reindeer and polar bear to get by. All but one of the men survived.
Gritty. The coal mine is still operating, but one wonders for how much longer.
This is the library (abandoned) and theater. With an image like this it's tempting to poke fun at Soviet sloganeering, but in this setting it's not all that funny.
A little bit of old Russia?
Kittiwakes find convenient nesting places on an abandoned building.
After our brief visit to Barentsburg we continued on to...