It may seem, and I myself often say this, that we live here on the edge of the world. That our land is harsh and great, sparse and grandiose, dark and beautiful. And standing on the shore of the North Sea, I look further north and tell about the boundless expanses of ice and snow that cover the Arctic. But that's not all that awaits you there…
Spitsbergen (sharp mountains)- the polar archipelago, just a "couple of steps" from the North pole, and so far from my home, at a distance of more than 1000 km. I prefer the Norwegian name Svalbard (cold edge). Today we will take a look at it quickly and with just one eye, from the side of the ship.
The northernmost land in the Arctic, the very edge of the world, for real. On a polar day, the cold pale sun slowly floats over the mountains, illuminating them from all sides, without even descending to the horizon. Two o'clock in the morning or afternoon, there is no difference, the time of day does not matter here.
Here nature has its own rhythm: quickly give offspring, and again plunge into sleep for several months of almost eternal winter. Here it is impossible to determine the cardinal directions by the sun, which is north, which is west... nothing matters and every little thing is significant, emptiness and overcrowding at the same time.
The howling of the wind, the sound of waves and ringing silence, such that only the pounding of the heart breaks the temples. Salty sea water, fogs, rains suddenly give way to bright flashes of sunlight, unknown energy pulsates around, then giving strength, then taking away the last.
Here the sky descends to the earth, and the mountains soar to the heavens, change places, confuse you. Snow turns into clouds or it's clouds that turn into snow. All these worlds in the field of view constantly mix and flow into one another, occasionally allowing you to define your boundaries and drown in their scale.
You see, literally see, and not only imagine and feel what the cold land, the land of ice means. The Nordenskiold Glacier, the progenitor of icebergs so huge that they can swim to the other side of the earth. Here you begin to believe in the ice giants who came to the human world at the dawn of time.
Listen, look, breathe - and you will feel the real Earth, as it is, as it was millions of years ago. These are her exposed nerves.
