kiruna trip

kind of strange, writing about kiruna from serbia, but i can't sleep now, so...

- thursday 31:
almost without sleeping (but smiling, important though) we went to the airport, had breakfast there, and went all the way sleeping. surprise when we arrived, that we found david (from architecture as well) waiting for us! he wasn't actually waiting for us, he was with another group of spanish erasmus that were just leaving, but it was funny to find him with the sign of "rosa and maite"... and he saved me lending me his gloves and sunglasses (thank you!)

so it was the owner of the cabins we were going to sleep in the one that was waiting for us, and he took us first to the centre. we visited the few few things that kiruna has to see and then changed our plans and went to the mine (the biggest iron mine) that day. it was amazing, specially the way down through the tunnels with the bus. once down it was like a museum, where they explained you everything and showed you machines and so, but you couldn't see where they were working at the moment, obviously. the best part for me (although lukas laughed at me) was seeing all the group with our funny yellow helmets walking through a tunnel in complete darkness XD

we came back to the centre and went to buy food for all those days, and then the man came to pick us up and took us home. and we had the best welcome possible: northern lights just as we came out of the van... impossible to describe, and even more what i felt when i saw them. i knew it was going to be very special for me if we saw them (i won't say i went to kiruna just to try to see them, but almost), but what i felt is just indescribable...

so they faded away and we went inside. prepared dinner, rested, and then some more lights again! not many, but enough for nice pictures, and for me that would have been enough to return happy to stockholm.


- friday 01:
breakfast and to get dressed for the snowmobiles.

[just explain first that we were very lucky with the cabins (we had one for 10 and another one for 2) because they were situated just where the equipment and the sauna were, so we had everything near, but still in the middle of nowhere. and the house was so nice inside...]

while we were waiting for the other groups to come and get dressed (special clothes, boots, helmets...), i spent the time playing around with the snow, jumping, rolling, and doing all what i had ever wanted to do with so much snow since i was 4 or 5 years old :P (of course i deserved several videos, but i was so happy back to childhood...)

the snowmobiles amazing. i thought i was going to be more scared, but i wasn't, we even drove above 100 km/h over some frozen lakes! and among the trees, and jumping a bit, and stopping to avoid the reindeers on the way, and hands and feet freezing, and our nose so cold that almost fell into pieces, and almost falling, and risking it again... but amazing, really. and the landscape... i'll show you pictures.

we went to the ice hotel, visited it, had a coffee, and back (with the snowmobiles). and then we ate reindeer meat with potatoes and lingonberry (really homemade lunch) around the fire outside the sauna (the man prepared it for all). it was very nice, the problem was that it was snowing and windy, so we weren't so confortable, but it was also interesting to feel this -20C!

then a small rest and to the sauna! first with other 5 erasmus drinking and playing silly games, and then just our group, very nice. and we did bathe in the frozen lake, and went outside to jump into the snow!

nice dinner again at home, and playing mafia! we saw a bit the northern lights, but behind the clouds, so there wasn't much to see. but the next day some people told us that was the first time they had seen something like that, to be able to see the lights even through the clouds, so that they must have been really intense.


- saturday 02:
we took a train to narvik, in the coast of norway, and even a bit closer to the north pole...
we had less than 2 hours there, but the city didn't have that much to see. the important part was the journey, through the mountains, lakes, abisko, natural park, kebnekaise... and the fiord, of course.

it takes more than 3 hours, so we arrived quite late. bought some things, and home. gerard and josep started preparing the sauna (they were the experts!), but we finally didn't use it, not as it's supposed to be used at least...

there were northern lights again, and getting bigger and bigger, so we decided to put all our warm clothes on and go to the lake (so we used the sauna to warm us up fom time to time). and we saw the most amazing sight i've ever seen. so huge lights, over almost all the sky, so intense, and moving, even changing colour a bit... for hours, incredible. the highest moment lasted around 2 hours, but before that they were there around 2 hours more, and after they still remained a few hours more, less intense but moving faster.

people started to freeze and go home, and we stayed the last igor, gerard and me sitting on a bench with reindeer skins and a cider. actually it was difficult to decide to go to sleep and say goodbye to that...


- sunday 03:
we had the dogsleds. again getting dressed with these coveralls and warm hats, and to the sleighs. 2 or 4 people in each, and 10 dogs (each). it wasn't so exciting as the snowmobiles, completely different. this was more to relax and see the landscape (with a few small jumps and risky turns, but still), and we were very lucky because it was a perfect day, sunny, beautiful sky... (but still so cold!)

we had a coffee in the middle of the forest, beside a samy hut, and came back.
and once in the camp again, we took the skis and went cross-country skiing. so tiring! so we went a bit far, but not so much. and lukas and me decided just to come back walking and carrying the skis, but it was also tiring!

so we earned a really good lunch. and then a nap and to the sauna!

and back home, dinner, and northernt lights again! yes, we were sooo lucky! they wasn't so spectacular as the day before, but incredible anyway. we went to a platform in the middle of the lake, walking through 50 cm high snow (difficult and tiring, i can tell), and it was freezing there, so we took some pictures and came back. the others went home, but gerard and me just decided to stay a bit longer in the same bench as the day before (as i said, difficult to say goodbye to that...)

back at home we played a few rounds of mafia again, until late, and just before going to sleep a quick goodbye to what remained of the lights, something very light but moving really fast and crazy (and very unusual to see something at all so late, around 4:00).

- monday 04:
to the airport, completely sleepy, breakfast there, flight, and back home - you know from here on...

ps: i will put pictures, but when i'm back in my computer!