Easy living at Princess Elisabeth...

This morning all VIP's left from Utsteinen. They took off with three little aircrafts (a Twin Otter, a Basler and the third was an Antonov or a Dornier) from ALCI, the Dronning Maud Land flight operation organisation. All together they were 46: journalists, politicians, sponsors, scientists. Mrs Sabine Laruelle and Mr Pieter De Crem represented the government.

They were very lucky with the weather and I can imagine they will have the impression that life is easy here at Utsteinen.

The inauguration took place on Sunday in the early afternoon, on the roof of the garage, just in front of the station's tower. It was very moving to be able to attend this event.

The station had been metamorphosed and looked very nice, cosy, welcoming and warm at the inside. It was quite a difference with Friday or even Saturday late afternoon. The ministers were rather relaxed. In the evening it was really nice chatting in this pleasant ambiance. Our cooks did their utmost and prepared so much delicious food. Seen the wonderful weather, the adapted interiors and the marvellous food, the visitors might have thought that life at Princess Elisabeth station is easy. Luckily they were spared of the rough side of Antarctica.

This afternoon was a rather relaxed working day. It is difficult to retrieve the same pace and rhythm after such an event.

Kind regards,
Alexander