Abisko, Kiruna, and the Norwegian Coast

Best trip so far. Nine of us (me, Wayne(Hannah's boyfriend from England), Hannah, Lyndsey, Lauren, Trevor, Ryan, Sarah, and Brittany) packed up and headed to the far north of Sweden to see the ice hotel. We rented two cars, two cabins, bought a crap load of good food, and left town Friday morning...well Friday afternoon by the time we were actually making progress. The plan was to drive up to Abisko on Friday, see the ice hotel on Saturday, and drive home via Norway on Sunday.The drive up was fairly uneventful. Lauren saw the first moose, but by the end of the trip we had seen a total of 11, and not a single picture to show for it (usually due to someone shouting moose, me asking "what?", and then we're past it). Also speaking of pictures, I put them up (Abisko, Kiruna, and Norway on the right). We got into town somewhere around 9pm, picked up the keys and found our cabin.

The cabins were nice enough, we had two units side by side that overlooked some mountains across a frozen lake. We did all of the cooking and socializing in one and really only used the other for sleeping (I still think we should have crammed everyone onto the living room floor but that's the Hoofer in me talking). Anyway, the places were comfortable and the food was damn good. We had chili the first night with some things I had never thought to put into chili (avocados, green and red peppers, fresh tomatoes, salsa). It turned out to be amazing. That was followed up by pancakes and real maple syrup sent over from Canada Saturday morning; spaghetti, salad, corn, and broccoli Saturday night; and breakfast burritos with more avocado, peppers, cheese, eggs, salsa, tomatoes, tortillas, etc.) Sunday morning.

After a lazy Saturday morning, we made our way to this somewhat random chairlift that (for 100kr) went to a cafe near the top of a mountain. On the way to this chairlift we passed the entrance to the Kungsleden trail. I didn't get a picture, but Wayne said he and Hannah got one for me. That'll have to hold me over for a couple months until I can come back and do the first 100km or so. Speaking of which, Tiana - you up for some Swedish backpacking this summer?

The lift didn't quite go to the top of the mountain, but it was close so Trevor and I took off for the ridge line while the rest of the group headed to a relatively close rock outcropping. It was a good hike, but holy crap am I out of shape. My lungs hurt like hell by the time we stopped. The worst part about going to this place was that I realized people were actually skiing there. It wasn't a resort or anything, just one slow chairlift to the top, but because it wasn't anything major there was tons of untouched powder. When I realized that I had no way to get a pair of skis I may have cried a little.

After checking out the view for a while we headed an hour east back to Kiruna to see the ice hotel. This place was completely made out of snow and ice, even the pictures on the wall...it was amazing. There was evem a pretty big chandelier made of nothing but ice and fiber optics. Each room had it's own theme and was designed and sculpted to match that theme. Of course you also needed a way to keep warm, which is why we had to order a drink from the ice bar. The entire bar was built with ice, right down to the glasses they served your drink in. The best part (or worst depending on how you look at it) was that the drinks were the same price as any bar in Umeå - only 105kr (~$15) They went so far as to build a chapel of ice next to the hotel. I really can't describe this place and even the pictures don't really give you an idea of what it was like. If you ever get a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.

The next day we cleaned up and got on the road by 10am. We had heard the drive through Norway was good for scenery so we opted for that route. The only problem we might have had was that Lyndsey and Trevor had forgotten their passports. Turns out, we didn't need them. The border was so lax that the only way to tell was the change in speed limit signs. You took a look back, then forward again and said "Hey guys, I think we're in Norway."
The drive was definitely a scenic one...about 12 solid hours of weaving in, out, over, and under mountains and coastline plus another 4 hours of Swedish countryside. Again, the pictures didn't do it justice. Every couple kilometers there would be a 7-10% grade on a narrow icy road. This road also had one of the longest tunnels I have ever been through. It was at least 4km long and we were underground for about 3 minutes. There were also quite a few suspension bridges and even a ferry that took us across one of the many fjords. The ferry was 198 Norwegian crowns ($32) but it was worth it. We sailed down the middle of the fjord surrounded by snow covered mountains on all sides. The only thing that comes close to comparing is Alaska.
I also got to taste the Arctic Ocean (though it may have been mixing with the North Atlantic at that point). It seemed slightly less salty than other oceans I've tasted.

Thank god for the car we rented. All in all, those were the most difficult roads I've ever driven in my life, and I was doing it for 12 hours. Good thing for top of the line snow tires and anti-lock brakes. The traction control I could have lived without. I almost killed us about 15 times (not seriously mom, don't freak out). The crazy thing is that our car, an Audi A6, was brand new (less than 3,500km, we almost doubled the odometer) and found out that MSRP starts at $42,000. Why any company would give it to a 20 year old foreign kid to drive through these mountains is beyond me.

It was definitely a good way to spend the weekend and the best trip I've been on yet. The best part is that I get to do another version of it in a week or so when Jenny comes over and we head up to not only the ice hotel, but some dog sledding and skiing as well.

Sad day in Sweden

Yes, Hugh left Sweden today. We knew it was coming, but we figured someone would be able to stop him from making his flight...oh well. He was only here for the Australian summer session which was a little over a month. At least he went out on a good week.

We all went out to the lake on Valentine's night to build a campfire. After finally finding a campsite with enough wood, we got the fire going and did our best to make s'mores. I say did our best because I'm pretty sure Sweden doesn't believe in graham crackers...or normal sized marshmallows. At any rate, we found some digestive cookies that were fairly close to graham crackers and we searched for the thinnest chocolate bar we could find (most of them are pretty massive). At first, it didn't look like Sweden had marshmallows either but Lyndsey and Hannah were able to find them in the other grocery store. They turned out to be pretty good so we can't complain. At one point, Trevor managed to fall into the fire and lose his glove at the same time. We're pretty sure it didn't go into the fire with him, but it was nowhere on the ground either.

We did some more Swedish dancing, this time learning Shadish...crazy swedes and their dances.

On Saturday, Hannah, Lauren, Hugh, Brittney, and I hiked 14km or about 8.5 miles down to Holmsund which is where the Ume River empties out into the Baltic Sea. The hike there was interesting considering no one really knew where we were going except that we needed to go in a general South, Southeasterly direction. We made it, eventually, but not without going down random roads seemingly in the middle of no where, wading through snow while going over clear cut forests, and following railroad tracks only because we knew they'd get us to the town. Good thing we were planning on taking the bus back. Regardless, it was a good hike and I got to walk on the Baltic Sea. We also came across a pizza place with decently good pizza, so again, nothing to complain about.

We went out to a corridor party near my building that night. It was a big place with a lot of people but Hugh, Hannah, and I bailed after about an hour, instead opting to go watch movies until 3am.

Sunday night was quite good, as well as being Hugh's last night in Sweden. We made a simple dinner beforehand and then headed out to Sarah and Ryan's place for a murder mystery. The setting was Casablanca in the late 1930s and a famous mime artist had been murdered. I played the role of Kirk Ramson, a hopeless American romantic nursing a bottle of whiskey, but also the head of a significant black market. Other characters included a Gestapo agent, the deputy mayor of Casablanca and his French wife, their daughter, a French poet/communist, a Scottish journalist, and a man secretly pretending to be a woman. There were 11 of us, everyone dressed up as their character (thanks to a local thrift store), doing their best at speaking in French, Scottish, Russian, and German accents. It really was a good time (check out the pictures in 'Sverige' to see the costumes).
Hugh then spent the night on my couch (which I hear is quite comfortable if there are any takers). We spent the night comparing the size of our campuses and cities on Google as well as comment on how much of a douche Hugh was for leaving so soon. At the very least most of us will see him next year when he does his frozen north tour (we are all going to hold you to that Hugh). The impressive thing was that just about everyone managed to drag themselves out of bed at 8 this morning to come to my place and see him out the door. Good luck back in Australia Hugh, we'll be sure to remind you weekly of all the fun you're missing out on.

Bits and Pieces of Nothing Important

Sadly, no northern lights tonight...couldn't see through all the snow that is still currently falling. Did I mention it's a balmy -5°C? I tried to get into ICA for a milk fix (I finished off 2 liters last night - milk withdrawal from being sick and not having any I think) but they were closed. Oh well, nice walk anyway.

I added contact links under the picture of that good looking guy on the right side of your screen. Clicking each of the links (in respective order) opens an email message addressed to me, adds me to your Skype contacts, adds me to your MSN messenger contacts, goes to my Facebook profile (I wanted one more link and that was the best I could do).

Mom's Netflix account finally supports 'Watch Now' which lets you stream movies from their library directly to your computer which is great...if you're in the states (not available to people in the rest of the world). Good thing for public proxy servers, as far as they know, I'm in the middle of California. Second problem, I have download speeds of 1,100 kbps which is also great, except they cut you off at 12gb of traffic in a 30 day period. Thus I have been suffering through 15 kbps for the past two weeks. What a pain.

Jenna Guensburg probably makes the most amazing cards in the world. I'm not even joking. Mom can vouch for her, so can Hannah, Jen, and Jennifer. Anyway, Jenna, thanks for the valentines card.

Finally, in case some of you are still confusing Sweden with Switzerland or you're just wondering what the hell is in Umeå, Sweden, here's a link to the tourist office's video. It's actually pretty good, I recommend it. WARNING: may add insult to injury for those of you living in slightly duller corners of the world. Download the video here.

It's probably about time for another update

Okay, so I'm getting worse at keeping this up to date. My bad. Anyway, things have pretty much settled down into a routine after about a month. Tuesday and Thursday is class, Thursday through Saturday tend to be parties, there's at least one movie night a week in there, big dinners on Sundays (tonight was mini pizzas), and random trips to IKSU or downtown to fill in the rest of the time. If that fails, there's always TV shows to download. The problem with routines, though, is that they tend to get boring. Thus, I need to get out of town.

It turns out that there is a ski bus that runs every Saturday during the winter that stops at Ålidhems Centrum (the section of town I live in) where for 220kr you get transportation to one of the better ski hills (Bygdsiljumsbacken) in the area about an hour away, plus they throw in a lift ticket. Not a bad deal.

I'm planning on renting a car Wednesday and heading out to a small town called Bjurholm. They have an elk farm and Sweden's tallest bridge. The real reason I want to go out there, however, is the Balberget nature reserve. You can hike to the top of a large hill (480 meters) for a view of the entire region. There is also an abandoned mine in the reserve.

Since just about everyone is going caving next weekend in Norway, Trevor and I will probably head out to a ski hill. I'd like to get out to Hemavan which is on the far west of Sweden (a few hours away by bus), but we may just end up somewhere close. It'd be better if someone drops out of either the caving trip or an ice climbing trip on Saturday (I'm the first person on the reserve list for both trips).

For the weekend after, 9 of us rented two cars and a couple cabins up in Abisko (far, far north). Sweden's tallest mountain (Kebnekajse) is nearby so I'm climbing that sucker. It's also the start of the Kungsleden (king's trail) so I'll at least get to step on it (the idea being it'll hold me over until I can do a five day trip in the spring). After getting up there Friday night and putzing around Saturday morning, we are driving down to Kiruna to visit the Ice Hotel. (Yes, Jenny, I know, we're going literally two weeks later. It'll be worth it, besides, I'm in it for the good times with friends more than anything.) I'm not really sure what the plan is after that, but it'd be nice to drive through the Höga kusten (High Coast) region. I also plan to dig out a snow cave. And possibly sleep in it.

Jenny comes in the next week so after a few days here we're off for a week and a half or so of awesomeness up north which includes Luleå, the ice hotel, dogsledding with the fam, and, my personal favorite, skiing at Riksgransen, the world's northernmost ski resort (I believe it may also be a glacier).

In other news:

I finally tried Surströmming tonight. Surströmming is a Swedish delicacy (or at least that's what they want you to think). Basically, this stuff is Baltic herring that rots in barrels for a few months, and is then canned where it ferments for six months to a year. The smell is terrible and I had to open the can outside. Because of the fermentation, there is actually a fair amount of pressure built up inside the can (the ends actually bulge out). Anyway, I opened the can and poured the fish out into the sink. We didn't have any fillet knives so Hugh and I ended up ripping the stuff to shreds. They catch the herring right before they spawn so the sink was covered in fish eggs as well. Long story short, we managed to get edible (debatable) pieces of meat on to the flat bread with potato and onion (this is evidently how you're supposed to eat it). We all agreed that the taste wasn't that bad, except for Trevor of course who ate his piece with nothing but a bit of potato. At the very least, I have now tried it and will ideally never again have to go through the process again. (Those of you at Hoofers disregard that last statement. I am bringing at least two cans home for all of you to enjoy at a council meeting)

I am trying to go climbing here more often, problem is, I have neither shoes, nor a harness. Thus, I climb in hiking shoes, and if I get pissed enough, I take off the shoes and climb in socks. It works, but barely. I don't want to buy shoes here, but I'm not sure if I can stand to climb much more in bike socks with the word flammable written across the side.

I also have to stop procrastinating and finish my last two papers for Swedish History. The sooner that happens, the sooner I will have only 8 hours of total school work for two weeks. Beautiful.

I did another round of Swedish folk dancing. This time, it was much better, and admittedly, fun. We did bail out early in order to have a proper pre-party before we headed out to Skogis (4th student pub) for the international party. I don't know what else to say about it (I can't even remember the name of the dance we learned) but hey, I'm learning a piece of Swedish culture.

Daylight is coming!! The sun now rises by 7:45am and sets after 4:00pm. The first day of 24 hours of visible light is coming soon...I think I may spend that entire day awake and outside. The weather on my internet browser is also reminding me that it is currently -22°C and clear. And how much snow did Madison actually get last week?? People need to tell me these things.

The northern lights are predicted to be "Active" tomorrow night and the next night. A big group of us are planning on heading out to the lake tomorrow and setting up a campfire. Hopefully the lights will show up too.

I should probably also mention that I broke a window in Swedish class the other day since I am now infamous for it and people I don't even know come up and laugh at me. The thing is, I was racing to get a seat by the wall before Hannah and Lyndsey got them (and by got them I mean there were 4 or 5 seats left for 3 of us). I decided I'd try to jump over the table. Did that, but also caught my foot on a chair, so I fell over the other side and put my elbow through a window.

I finally got around to calling the airport to find out about aircraft rentals. Looks like I probably won't get a chance to fly in Sweden. There is a club, but membership is 1400kr for a year, and I'd need about two flight lessons to get checked out in the Archer (I fly small Cessnas) as well as get acquainted with the layout and area around Umeå - each of these at a cost of 1200kr. So, in dollar terms, it's about $580 before I'll be able to fly here. Not quite sure it's worth it, but I don't know (that's what I said about my skis).

Sköt om dig everybody!

PS: Thanks for the card J. Ferris, Linda, Andy, Adam, Eli, Claire, Amanda, Laura, B-West, Brett, Jim, Erin, and Amelia.

More Pictures --->

Yes, there are more pictures up.

Jokkmokk Winter Market

Yesterday, at 4:00am, I boarded a double decker coach bus headed north of the Arctic Circle to Jokkmokk. All this week, there is a winter festival put on by the Sami (history of Sami = history of Native Americans - but with warmer clothes) with street vendors, exhibits, food, and fireworks. Minus the 4am thing, it was definitely a fun trip. Hugh can now tell people he finished dog sledding only to call shotgun in a helicopter and take off. Though I didn't do the dog sledding (I can do it with Jenny in a couple weeks) or the helicopter tour (I'd rather fly a plane), I did get to pet a reindeer...as well as eat one (they're actually pretty good). I also got to watch a reindeer race where two reindeer are hitched up to their own sleighs carrying a random person from the crowd. They then race in a big circle where a group of people jump on a trailing rope at the finish to stop the sleigh and the reindeer from crashing into people. In all honesty, reindeer racing is probably the only real entertainment needed in the world.

I'd also like to point out that I miss snow...lots and lots of snow. Luckily, Jokkmokk had snow...lots and lots of snow. I may have been a bit more excited than everyone else, but seriously, I haven't played in snow up to my knees in a long long time. No one should live like that. I should probably also thank Jana for the gaiters which kept my feet completely waterproof (did I mention Gore Tex is the greatest invention ever? - yes, even better than sliced bread). I should probably also mention that I'm sorry to everyone else that was not waterproof and thereby ended up soaking wet by the end of the day (due to my shenanigans...and snow tackles).

Other than that, this morning I had one of those moments where you wake up and it just occurs to you that life couldn't get any better. I love it here.