Blogs from Kiruna, Norrbotten County, Sweden, Europe - page 2

Happy New Year Everyone!!! Kiruna, the place where you can see a sunrise and sunset at the same time, hear and feel explosions from the underground at 1am every morning, witness the amazing sight of the Northern lights and much more. The arctic area of Sweden is just a fantastic spot in the world to celebrate the beginning of New Year. Chris has been in the north of Scandinavia before (but in summer time) and for Diana is first time in the north. It is awesome to experience real winter in Arctic Circle. Well Kiruna is a small city in the north of Sweden, but the main spot for Swedish Lapland. The population reaches 20.000 inhabitants, but it seems much bigger because it is a touristic place also. Quite cosy, friendly and beautiful city. The first ... read more

(voor Nederlands, scroll naar beneden) Getting married on Saturday ... and on Sunday morning to the airport: not the French Riviera but destination Arctic Circle. A little cooling is always welcome, not? "What is that?" they ask at the check-in. These are 2 sleds of 30 kg with everything to survive independently for 12 days in negative temperatures ... Eyebrows are frowning, so great, a honeymoon! Lapland, the region above the Arctic Circle, stretches across 4 countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland and a piece of Russia. We choose the Swedish part of Lapland: rugged mountains, arctic tundra with valleys full of birch and pine forests. The area is a pristine wilderness, by far the largest in Western Europe. We draw our sleds (pulkas), walking on snowshoes, from Ritsem in Stora Sjoffalets NP, 130km north to Abisko. It ... read more

The Arctic Circle in winter. Are we crazy? Nope. Just cold. We'd been to the Arctic Circle in Summer (Tromso, Norway) and seen the midnight sun, so it seemed that we should go again in winter for complete symmetry. Mostly we were interested in seeing the Northern Lights (although we knew we would need luck on our side). And it was soooo cool! Kiruna is 67.81˚N, and the week before we arrived it had been averaging in the minus twenties. Our few days were a balmy minus 12! We knew it would be seriously cool right from the start, when we landed at Kiruna Airport on a snow covered runway, and then an hour later at 1pm the sun started to set. We were staying at the famous Ice Hotel (about 15 minutes out of town), ... read more

Well it’s my last day with Hannah, Malfoy, Zaki and Tovak so feeling a bit subdued as I harnessed them up for the last time. The cabin last night was really nice with a fantastic view out of the window. Michael and Gurt from the team gave Torbin a rest and cooked fresh salmon from the lake for supper. It was delicious. As it had snowed during the night, Linda used the snowmobile to make a path for us across the lake, but unfortunately she got stuck so Torbin had to help her out. You can’t beat dog power! However, before long we reached the base camp again where the dogs are kept. I unharnessed them and they were led away and I have to confess I felt a little bit emotional as I said goodbye ... read more

After feeding the dogs and eating breakfast it was time to summon up the courage to go for a Number 2. The toilet is of course outside and is basically a hole in the ground. That’s not really the problem; it’s more the temperature in there. At -15 degrees and with the floor like an ice rink it’s not the place to take any reading material with you. When the cold air hits your bare legs and exposed derriere there’s a strong incentive to get this activity over and done as quickly as possible! And then it’s a case of washing your hands in the snow as water is precious. This results in you having a pair of nicely frozen hands that you then have to thaw out. The harnessing was becoming easier although I did ... read more