Mushrooms are larger than trees on Svalbard. That’s what the guide told us. We’re looking around. No trees, no shrubs, let alone mushrooms. Empty. There’s not even anyone to ask about the way to the forest because there are no people or roads. There’s no forest either. We are walking like explorers in search of giant mushrooms. Finally, there’s a mushroom. And to our great surprise, it turns out to be true, mushrooms are bigger than trees. The trees are 1-2 centimetres tall and the mushrooms stick out above them. The remainder of the walk is a series of lectures on Arctic fauna and flora, and of course the various forms of water. Snow, rain and glacial ice. Nothing will surprise us anymore on Spitsbergen. That’s what we thought.