July 05 and 6 – Longyearbyen and disembarkation

July 5 - We arrived in Longyearbyen to rain.  The first significant rain since we left four days ago.  After breakfast and taking our luggage down to the staging area everyone adjourned to the back lounge where there was a little ceremony.  The captain spoke a few words (first we had seen him) and introduced key staff.  The guides gave everyone a certificate for crossing the 80^th latitude although we were actually short by 10 kilometers.

And a few brave souls were given certificates for swimming in the polar water. 

We were docked shortly after 10:00 and the buses were waiting to take us to the hotel.  Check in wasn’t until 3:00 so we sat in the lounge and caught up on emails and the news.  It was too rainy to go exploring.  

We ate dinner at the hotel's pub...billed as the northernmost pub in the world.

July 6 - We spent most of the day working in the room with a minor amount of puttering around the hotel.

There were great views from the dining room.

And the gift shop had some rather interesting mugs for sale.