This past weekend I went to Kiruna, the farthest city north in Sweden (north of the Arctic Circle...see the map). 
I went with 5 of my friends (Cenda, Zenata, and Hana from the Czech Republic, Ola from Poland, and Jan from Germany). We stayed in a really cute cabin in Poikkijarvi, a small village outside of Kiruna. The man that rented us the cabin was really nice since he doesn't get many renters. He picked us up from the airport and took us into town so we could get groceries and go to the tourist office. Later that night he took us out for a snow mobile tour. That was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. Our cabin was right on the river which empties into a large lake (10 km wide) but all of the water is frozen over a meter deep (that's how the build the Ice Hotel) so you can drive cars and trucks over the ice. Well we went out on the lake where it was flat and nothing in your way so you can get up to top speed (around 80 kph ~ 55 mph) and just feel the wind in your face. Then we went into the woods where they have all of these trails for snow mobiles that wind around up a large hill. We stopped at the top to build a fire and cook souva, a yummy Lappish (native people of Northern Scandanavia) dish of reindeer and potatoes fried in a pan with cream and served with ligon berry jam. We also got to try blueberry juice and had coffee as well. Unfortunately Friday night was very cloudy so we couldn't see the Northern Lights. Saturday ended up being totally clear during the day, not a cloud in the sky and sunny, so we decided to go sledding down the road from our cabin. The hills ended up being too high and steep for my liking so especially after I fell off the sled the first time around, I decided to stay at the top and watch everyone else. When we got back to the cabin we made a fire in the fire pit outside and roasted sausage, potatoes, and carrots which ended up being almost as good as the souva. That evening we had a dog sled tour which everyone was looking forward to but all agreed wasn't as much fun in the end as the snow mobiles. First of all, you just sit on the sled which gets old after awhile especially when it's cold plus it was the same price as the snow mobiles only we didn't go as far or as long and we only got fika instead of dinner. The landscape was pretty though because the moon was very bright and reflected off the snow on the lake so the musher didn't even need to use his head lamp for most of the trip. The bright moon however meant that again we did not see the Northern Lights. The tour left from the Ice Hotel which was about a 20 minute walk across the river from the cabin. We opted to not go inside since you can see half of it from the outside without paying for a ticket. On Sunday we took the bus into Kiruna (which only runs each direction once) so we could go on a tour of the iron mine under the city. We ended up being very early due to the timing of the bus so we wandered around, discovering that pretty much the whole town is closed on Sunday. Finally we had our tour of the mine. They took us by bus 1/2 km down into the mine where they have a part that's closed off just for tourists but you still have to wear a hardhat. They showed us how they mine the iron ore (using controlled explosions and robotic machinery) and the history of the company (which is the main source of income for the area). At the end they gave us iron samples! Hana and I headed back to Uppsala Sunday because she had class and I had my exam on Monday. The others stayed the night and came back on Monday.
Speaking of my exam, I did study that weekend as well as the whole week before so I felt very prepared and only struggled with one question really which the others also struggled with. I should know how I did at the end of the week. The whole thing took 3 1/2 hours out of the 5 hours we were given and took place in a special exam hall- a large room with rows of desks (you're there with several other classes) and you are allowed to bring food with you. Now I just have to do a special lab based project and give a presentation on it at the end of next week. We are ahead of schedule after a day's work so that is good. I should have all of Friday this week to work on the paper/presentation.
I went with 5 of my friends (Cenda, Zenata, and Hana from the Czech Republic, Ola from Poland, and Jan from Germany). We stayed in a really cute cabin in Poikkijarvi, a small village outside of Kiruna. The man that rented us the cabin was really nice since he doesn't get many renters. He picked us up from the airport and took us into town so we could get groceries and go to the tourist office. Later that night he took us out for a snow mobile tour. That was seriously one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. Our cabin was right on the river which empties into a large lake (10 km wide) but all of the water is frozen over a meter deep (that's how the build the Ice Hotel) so you can drive cars and trucks over the ice. Well we went out on the lake where it was flat and nothing in your way so you can get up to top speed (around 80 kph ~ 55 mph) and just feel the wind in your face. Then we went into the woods where they have all of these trails for snow mobiles that wind around up a large hill. We stopped at the top to build a fire and cook souva, a yummy Lappish (native people of Northern Scandanavia) dish of reindeer and potatoes fried in a pan with cream and served with ligon berry jam. We also got to try blueberry juice and had coffee as well. Unfortunately Friday night was very cloudy so we couldn't see the Northern Lights. Saturday ended up being totally clear during the day, not a cloud in the sky and sunny, so we decided to go sledding down the road from our cabin. The hills ended up being too high and steep for my liking so especially after I fell off the sled the first time around, I decided to stay at the top and watch everyone else. When we got back to the cabin we made a fire in the fire pit outside and roasted sausage, potatoes, and carrots which ended up being almost as good as the souva. That evening we had a dog sled tour which everyone was looking forward to but all agreed wasn't as much fun in the end as the snow mobiles. First of all, you just sit on the sled which gets old after awhile especially when it's cold plus it was the same price as the snow mobiles only we didn't go as far or as long and we only got fika instead of dinner. The landscape was pretty though because the moon was very bright and reflected off the snow on the lake so the musher didn't even need to use his head lamp for most of the trip. The bright moon however meant that again we did not see the Northern Lights. The tour left from the Ice Hotel which was about a 20 minute walk across the river from the cabin. We opted to not go inside since you can see half of it from the outside without paying for a ticket. On Sunday we took the bus into Kiruna (which only runs each direction once) so we could go on a tour of the iron mine under the city. We ended up being very early due to the timing of the bus so we wandered around, discovering that pretty much the whole town is closed on Sunday. Finally we had our tour of the mine. They took us by bus 1/2 km down into the mine where they have a part that's closed off just for tourists but you still have to wear a hardhat. They showed us how they mine the iron ore (using controlled explosions and robotic machinery) and the history of the company (which is the main source of income for the area). At the end they gave us iron samples! Hana and I headed back to Uppsala Sunday because she had class and I had my exam on Monday. The others stayed the night and came back on Monday.Speaking of my exam, I did study that weekend as well as the whole week before so I felt very prepared and only struggled with one question really which the others also struggled with. I should know how I did at the end of the week. The whole thing took 3 1/2 hours out of the 5 hours we were given and took place in a special exam hall- a large room with rows of desks (you're there with several other classes) and you are allowed to bring food with you. Now I just have to do a special lab based project and give a presentation on it at the end of next week. We are ahead of schedule after a day's work so that is good. I should have all of Friday this week to work on the paper/presentation.
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bummer no lights! but still sounds like an incredible weekend.
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