Svalbard, Arctic Circle Challenge Completed!

Now that I’m back in Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island, I look forward to exploring Longyearbyen a little further. I am especially curious about what people eat here and where I can go out for a meal. Much to my delight, I found the world’s northernmost sushi bar, walked past a Thai eatery, and discovered a gourmet burger place and a pizzeria. And while I can’t imagine how cold a beer would be this far up north, there’s also a brewery here. The local store stocks almost anything a local needs, with supplies coming by ship during the summer or by plane year-round.

That also got me curious about what people actually eat at home. It turns out that life in the Arctic has a big impact on the local diet. Most fresh food is imported since there’s not much farming happening in this climate besides a few greenhouse-grown veggies. The local store has a surprising variety of goods, from dairy and meats to fresh fruit and some international favourites. However, frozen, canned, and dried goods are staple items in most homes, especially during the long winter when shipments can be delayed. And with the lack of sunlight and fresh produce, many people take vitamin supplements to fill in the gaps.

That said, there’s still plenty of local food to go around. Fresh seafood like Arctic char, cod, shrimp and crab are caught in the surrounding waters. Reindeer meat is also a staple, used in stews or smoked. They are sustainably managed and sourced. Some people even hunt or fish for themselves. Maybe one day, when my travels are over, and I have a kitchen to try out recipes from my journeys, I’ll give this Sami stew a go, but probably use beef instead of reindeer since that’s easier to find: Finnbiff (Sami Reindeer Stew)

Now, let me share a little more about Svalbard. Until 1925, when the archipelago was renamed to Svalbard, it was originally known as Spitsbergen. That name is now relegated to the largest island and the only inhabited one. The archipelago has eight other islands, mostly uninhabited, except for a few meteorological stations and wandering polar bears. Nordaustlandet, covered mostly in ice caps, is the second largest island and home to walrus haul-outs. 

Spitsbergen still has traces of coal mining days, with rusted aerial tramways and old workers’ barracks scattered into the hills. Further north is Pyramiden, a Soviet mining town abandoned in the 1990s and now a frozen time capsule, complete with a crumbling Lenin statue, an empty swimming pool, and a lone hotel for the odd visitor. Barentsburg, the last active Russian settlement on the island, still mines coal on a smaller scale. With its 400+ inhabitants, it’s the second largest settlement after Longyearbyen. 

As I close my journey in the Arctic Circle, I am left in awe. Life here is tough for both humans and wildlife, but it is incredibly beautiful and unique. People come here for research, work, or maybe find solitude. But inquisitive people like me come to experience something different and to be moved, because there’s nowhere else on Earth that feels quite like this.

“To journey to the Arctic Circle is to touch the edge of the world, 
where the land speaks in glacial tongues, and the seas hum with ancient rhythms.”