Hi All.  It has been awhile since my last post but things around me have been getting hot (busy) all while the temperature has stayed way too cold.   This winter has been a record setting one for Sweden as temperatures have not been this cold since the 80s.  Its giving me a bad perception of winter in Scandinavia- probably the same to what you may think of when I say, “Winter in Scandinavia”.

However, I should not complain too much because the purpose of this post is to describe the trip I had last week to northern Sweden- 200km north of the arctic circle latitude and part of a land that is referred to as “Europe’s Last Wilderness”.

I had in mind three tasks to complete while up there.  They were to (1)go visit the Ice Hotel (2) go on a dogsledding tour and (3) hopefully be lucky enough to see the northern lights.  Not only did I accomplish these three goals but we did so much more.  It was certainly one of the best trips I have ever been on and definitely one that I won’t soon forget.

We left Uppsala on tuesday morning and there were six of us: Sarah and Kara from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, Anne from Quebec, Angela from Germany, and Nick and I from Cornell.  The group was very fun.   The plane ride to the north may have been our one hiccup in the whole trip.  It was an hour late and then on top of it we had to make and emergency landing halfway through it to drop off a plane part in Umea.  We landed in Kiruna two hours behind schedule.  It did not damper our mood too much- our first time in the arctic circle.

The late plane through off our plans slightly.  We had planned to take a train immediately from the plane to Abisko where the national park is and our best chance to see the northern lights.  Missing the train because of the late flight, we instead ended up taking a taxi which cost a bit more but we had fun nonetheless.  The taxi ended up being a vw bus with a total party theme inside- not what we were expecting our first experience of the north to be.

By the time we got to Abisko it was already dark and overcast so there was no hope for seeing the northern lights so instead we found a warm tavern and had some drinks and watched the olympics- a cozy finish to a long day of travel.

The next day we set out for a hike through Abisko national park.  It was truly beautiful to say the least but I will let the pictures do the talking…..

A great hike.  I have many more pictures- my best souvenirs however I also bought at thermos and a winter scarf (“functional souvenirs”).  We walked approximately 14km on the hike and 24 on the day because our accommodation was actually a couple kilometers outside of Abisko.  The sky was clear that day and we were hopeful that it would stay that into the night.  At dusk, I noticed the sky was still clear and I had a feeling that night would bring some excitement.

My feelings were not in vain.

It was an amazing night.  We were able to see the northern lights in full affect.  The sky that night left all in awe.  We saw the lights from the Aurora Sky Station atop one of the mountains in the park.  The sky station boasts that they are the best place to see the Aurora Borealis on Earth.  Probably the best place I will ever see them from.  Also, the the ski lift off the mountain was probably the coldest I got in the Arctic Circle let alone Sweden.  It was -25C that night and after 4 hours on top of the mountain I was already about ice but then I hide to ride the lift down with nothing to do but try and twiddle my thumbs.  Once off, it was a km to where we were staying.  Nick and I tried our best to run back but it felt more like running on pegs our ice cubes because we could not feel anything from the calf down.

The next day we went back to Kiruna to visit the Ice Hotel.  It was really cool to see all the artwork.

And all the rooms of different themes.

The Ice Bar was fun.

Don’t worry mom- I just had one drink.  It was far to expensive; a drink cost 110 krona which is like $15 and it was barely anything at all but we had to get one so that we say we did.  The ice glass are fun but kind of clumsy to drink out off “use both hands”.

Many, many more pictures were taken to save our memories of the place.

The next day we travelled got to see Kiruna a bit more and by chance got to go into the mine via a tour of a mushroom farm within the mine?!  The city of Kiruna was built up started in the beginning of the twentieth century with discovery of the iron ore deposits.  The mine is now the largest underground iron ore mine in all of the world.

Driving in the mine was an experience in itself.

The mine had its own network of highways and to look behind the vehicle was to look at nothing because it was pitch black at times.  We were not in the mine to get a tour of it but to see this man’s shiitake mushroom growing setup.

This man has been an employee of the mine since the fifties and that has given him the esteem to set up the mushroom growing business.  He realized that the mine offered the perfect atmosphere for the fungi to live and grow.  The guy was personable and it was just our group he was giving the tour to and he also told us much about the history of the city of Kiruna.

That night we accomplished the last activity on our agenda- dogsledding. There was nothing quite like it.  When we first arrived at the kennel, the dogs were literally going off the wall (or fence as it were) as they were full of energy and excitement.  The excitement only grew as we were put into winter gear and the dogs were harnessed up.  This video gives you idea of the pre-ride feeling.

Excited Dogs Before the Sled Ride

Once the dogs started to pull us they instantly quieted and nothing could be heard but the creaking of the sleigh and the crunching snow.  Definitely something special.  This is a shot I managed to get while the dogs were in action and I was seated on the sleigh.

A very cool night but our trip was not over even though all we had planned on was done with great success.  During the day, stumbled upon a free concert that night by a ninety year old man that was going to be held at the Kiruna Church that night.

The concert was great and I have never seen somebody that was so intertwined with their instrument as this man is with his piano.  His piano and music is his lifeblood.  After dogsledding, we were able to catch most of his concert and we were all enthralled with his playing.  It fascinating to see this man play the greats- Mozart, Beethoven and likes with virtuosic abilities and with NO music.  The man had so much presence while playing.  We stumbled upon him earlier in the day when we visited the church to see it and saw him practicing.  We then learned about the concert and I was able to capture of video of him practicing and panned around the church a bit.

Virtuoso practices inside Kiruna Church

I hope these videos turn out.

After the concert, we spent our last night inside the hostel and made an appointment with the sauna and then made shiitake mushroom soup with the mushrooms Sven had given us.

We had to get up at 5:30 the next morning to catch a 6am taxi to the airport on Saturday morning.  The trip had left us exhausted but satisfied.  The rest of saturday was spent in my room where I slept.

A great trip.