Breakfast in the buffet restaurant, lots of smoked salmon on offer so smoked salmon, plain yogurt and fresh fruit will be how I start my days on this trip; can’t imagine anything better. As long as there is smoked salmon on offer I will never starve and in fact I will be able to get it at all three meals so intend to put the theory to the test.

Ship docked this morning in Ny Alesund, the most northerly settlement on Spitsbergen at 78,50 N latitude. One small, unpaved road leading from the dock which forms the main street of the town and which, much like Longyearbyen, is mainly composed of research scientists and fisher people....

Up at 5:45 and down to breakfast at 6:30. We are leaving at 7:30 for the airport and because of the limitations on luggage, both checked and carry-on I have been a little concerned that I’d be paying overweight charges, given that we are allowed one carry-on weighing 8 kilos and I have three filled with cameras and electronics weighing 15 kilos. However in the scramble to load 180 of us on two planes, that seemed a trivial matter compared with checking us all in and loading us so, all was fine.

2.5 hour flight to Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Svalbard Archipelago where we pick up the ship at 78 degrees longditude....

Today, Thursday, is our last day in Oslo as we are up early tomorrow morning to catch our charter to Svalbard. We took the subway to the Holmenkolen ski jump which is built on the top of a mountain on the outskirts of Oslo and which was built for the 1994 Olympics in Oslo. It was torn down and replaced in 2010 by the current structure, the most modern in the world. It’s amazing to take a subway, with no changes of lines, from downtown Oslo, up to the top of a mountain to a ski jump; Vancouver can go from the sea to the ski slopes in 30 minutes but they can’t do it on the subway!....

We have spent the last couple of days walking around Oslo. First time here so no yardstick to measure it by, but I have been to Stockholm a number of times and I expected it to be much like that. We were very surprised at how much smaller the city was, more like a provincial market town than the capital city of one of the richest countries in the world.

The city is very accessible, very good public transit and most things reachable by walking. We are right in the city centre staying at the Oslo Grand Hotel, a very large old building with an air of faded elegance but comfortable enough, right next to the Parliament House and a 5 minute walk from the waterfront, the Royal Palace and many shops and restaurants.... Continue Reading

V and I both left Nairobi on March 30, she in the afternoon on Emirates with an overnight hotel stay in Dubai and me at midnight straight through via Brussels. We both arrived in Toronto within 90 minutes of each other so I waited for her and we both took the same limo home. Jet lag is one of the few things that doesn't get better with practice. I awoke with a dreadful cold and bronchitis but am committed this evening to attend an event that I wouldn't miss for worlds. The company that I retired from as President a couple of years ago and whose Advisory Board I now chair, was awarded as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies and tonight is the gala awards dinner....