Svalbard 78 Deg N

When I first arrived in Tromso, Norway in 2010, that was the northern most point on this planet I had ever travelled to till then.  And yet the 68.5 Deg N latitude felt like any other place I had been to in Norway and so the other tags that it had earned over the years, like the worlds northernmost university town, or the world northernmost brewery etc. did not impress me much. Coz it simply didn’t feel northerly enough, even in the middle of winter with no sun at all.

I guess that was the beginning of wanting to go to a place where it felt like the extreme north.

A combination of Northern latitude and emptiness, was what I thought would really feel like ‘The North’. I knew that there is an island up there somewhere and it is called Svalbard. I knew it is the world’s northernmost place with a fully functional human settlement of more than two thousand. I knew that there on this island we have 3 months of complete darkness, where there are more snow mobiles than cars.  The thing I didn’t know was that it is not very expensive to fly there and if you plan it well you could well be on the way for less than 200 Euros return from Oslo.

All through 2012, Svalbard remained pocking at my travel mind especially through my travels in both summer and winter in Norway. It was on the last day of my Northern lights tour in the winter of 2012 on a flight from Tromso to Oslo, did I first read the words ‘LONGYEARBERN’ on the route map of Norwegian Airlines.

Longyearbearn was the airport that they flew to from Tromso. This was the northern most civil airport in the world.  I think that was the first time on that flight that I thought that it might be possible to fly to the ‘Town of the long year’ somewhere in the near future.

‘The worlds most beautiful country’, ‘the land of the mid night sun’, ‘the northern lights capital of the world’ etc are things that you may hear in relation to Norway. I have been lucky enough to go there, time and again and every time it feels a little different than earlier. The same place presents itself newly. I am talking more in terms of the North of Norway.

I believe a place should first present itself accidentally. Then it should grow in your mind. Grow like a plant from a seed .. and that’s the time when you are ready to go.

I knew in March 2013 that I was ready to go to Svalbard this July. 

Portugal is Portuuugaaaal

Slovenia is the smallest European nation I have travelled to. Portugal is maybe thrice its size but it feels small.  By small I mean it doesn’t feel European enough. In its appearance maybe yes, the streets, the traffic etc.

However once you go inside a cafe and the meet the people running the place, it feel’s different. More intimate to be precise.  Eating is a different thing! Nowhere else in the world I have seen the guys who run the place so interested in recommending you, what to eat. At certain places the recommendations stretch to much more than just that.

When I first came to Portugal in December 2012, I realized that I had come closer to finding the place I want to live in if not in India. It maybe just a childish fantasy, like the way we want to be pilots or doctors when we are in our primary school. Who knows? but I have come back twice after that and the liking has only grown. Yes there are other countries in this continent, which are appealing, but Portugal is just so different.

Today I met a woman in a café who said to me, ‘all the Portuguese run shop’s are closing down being replaced by Chinese or Indian owners. She didn’t seem to be upset by it. Maybe the Portuguese don’t know how to do business? Is this the thing that pulls me towards towards this country? The non commercial attitude in the majority of people I have met. On a personal level even I get told, “you don’t know how to make money”.

There is an underlying current, which only grows stronger with every visit. I remember in East Europe when my Polish driver enters his home country from Czech republic, the smile on his face is different. Someone said the same thing about me when I entered Portugal through its southern border with Spain. Even my Spanish driver after saying, “Well, Portugal is 10 years behind Spain” was quiet happy about it.

Maybe the extreme west, geographical location helps. Maybe bordering with no other country but Spain keeps the Portuguese traditions intact. Whatever the reasons are.. I hope through its entire economical crisis, this country stays the way it is.

I hope Portugal stays as Portugal!