Seeing the Northern Lights; Eh

On the 21st of December 2015, I saw the elusive northern lights in Ovanåker, Sweden.

I say elusive, because we traveled up to Kiruna, Sweden (well above the arctic circle) in the dead of winter and darkness and found no traces of the aurora borealis.

Now, all I had to do was step out of the front door and look up.

 

The green northern lights are seen just above the silhouetted house.

 

That green speck is, yes, the famous northern lights!

I have to admit that the northern lights looked a lot more impressive in person, but nothing close to what professional pictures make it look like.

They lasted for about 10 full minutes, and you could see them transforming from white streaks into bright green horizons.

Back in Uppsala, my friends saw even less that I did, but a photographer posted on the Facebook page Beautiful Uppsala, some truly impressive sites.

I guess I need to learn how to use a non-phone camera….and photoshop.

Oh well, it still made my Christmas!

Gothenburg, Sweden Summer 2014

Gothenburg (Göteborg) is the second largest city in Sweden with a bit over half a million people in the urban area and just under a million in the metropolitan area.

In no way are the following pictures representative of Gothenburg, since I only saw a small bit of it, but what I saw in the summer of 2014 was beautiful.

 

Click here to read about my (Michael B. Wells’) presentation and poster, click here to read about my Social Pediatrics colleagues’ presentations, click here to read about how we brought our research to the streets of Gothenburg, and click here to read about the ISSOP conference overall.

Örebro, Sweden

Örebro is a quaint little town in Sweden. Actually, it’s the 6th biggest city with 140,599 inhabitants. So, big enough to have shops, restaurants, bars, and cafes, but small enough to walk around within a few hours.

Örebro castle from the front. The bridge: one way on and one way off the castle (except via the moat).

The biggest highlight to the city is the Örebro castle, complete with a 360 degree moat that stays hydrated thanks to the Svartån river.

 

Örebro castle from the back

 

 

Örebro castle from the side

In fact, it’s the river that makes the city look so appealing.

Allehandaborgen can also be seen from the Svartan river. Originally built in 1891 for Örebro Sparbank, it has since been converted into the local newspaper building called Nerikes Allehanda in 1934. Who wouldn’t want to work there?

Plus there’s a huge church just a few hundred meters from the castle, where great sunset pictures can be taken.

About 4 kilometers from the city is Örebro University, which is home to 17,000 students and 1,200 faculty. The university campus is quite nice, with a headstone highlighting that you’ve made it to the campus.

It’s a nice walk to get out to the university, passing by some artwork and a well-kept cemetery.

 

Like all cities, you should try their food. Not wanting bar-type food, we hopped over to Stadstradgården: it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but then you enter a greenhouse, filled with all sorts of plants, before wandering further into yet another greenhouse where you can collect your food and eat (it’s a buffet type restaurant, or at least it was when I went there). However, in the wonderful spring/summer months they have a huge green area to sit outside and enjoy your meal.

Visiting Örebro can renew your spirits and bring vitality back into your life.

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Kiruna, Sweden

 

In January 2014 I visited Kiruna, Sweden. Situated well-above the arctic circle, Kiruna is a town of 18,000 people. The town was built out of the darkness: it’s a coal mining town and receives loads of visitors hoping to view the Northern Lights (aurora borealis). 

 

 

Sadly I didn’t see any Northern Lights, even though I read several websites about the Northern Lights (feel free to read about why aurora borealis happens by clicking here). Many of them are hard to understand, but this website is very helpful and gives up-to-date information about how likely you are to see some Northern Lights!

Basically, on a scale of 0 to 9 (click here to read more about the scale), you want the number to be a 3 or more, and preferably a 4 or more. A 3 means there will be aurora borealis, but it could just be a speck in the sky for 5 minutes sometime during the night. A 4 or higher almost guarantees you’ll see something, but even then you might not. Plus the aurora can last for 5 minutes or a couple of hours–and you just don’t know. So luck plays a big role in being able to see it.

 

Being within the green line is the important part for being able to see the aurora from where you are located. Additionally, the other most important thing is to have patience and be in a place that’s perfectly dark, which often means driving out away from town a ways, so there’s no ambient light. Having said that, you can see plenty of aurora from the city if it’s happening. Below is a picture taken from Camp Ripan.

Camp Ripan with Northern Lights above it (this is not a common experience).

 

If you want to see the spectacular shows though, you want a 7 or higher. This not only means that there will be more aurora borealis in the sky, but also that people farther south can see it. Last year, down in Uppsala, people were able to see the aurora! But people as far south as Cuba (near the equator) have been known to see the aurora. So signing up for alerts on when the northern lights will be in your area could be worth it.

 

 

 

Click here to read about the Ice Hotel in Kiruna, click here to read about Dog Sledding in Kiruna, click here to read about how to see the Cross Country Skiing, and click here to read about the town and my hotel/hostel accommodation experience.

Cross Country Skiing in Kiruna, Sweden

In January of 2014 I went to Kiruna and tried Cross Country Skiing for the First time! We searched for the Northern Lights in the dark, but sadly didn’t find any. Here’s what did happen:

Notice the pre-made ski tracks—very helpful for gliding along.

Time to get started!

 

 

Having never actually done this before, I found that cross country skiing was mildly easy to pick up, but takes practice to become a pro. During the first five minutes we had to go up a hill–an obstacle that made me go backwards more than once. And then promptly down the hill–an obstacle that made me fall.

Within 30 minutes, I got the hang of things and was moving along. Having said that, plenty of people will definitely pass you if you’ve never done it before. At first I would get out of the cross country track and let them go by, but before too long, I realized they know enough about what they’re doing that they’ll get out of their tracks and go around you. Sadly, we lost our way and found ourselves on the expert track….aka the toughest.

You can see from the pictures though that there are tracks you put your skis in and these are quite helpful at moving you along without turning left or right!

 

I rented skis from Camp Ripan for 200 SEK for a full 24 hours. So even though we rented them at 9pm, we were able to continue using them until 9pm the next day.

Camp Ripan with Northern Lights above it (this is not a common experience).

 

Click here to read about the Ice Hotel in Kiruna, click here to read about Dog Sledding in Kiruna, click here to read about how to see the Northern Lights, and click here to read about the town and my hotel/hostel accommodation experience.

Dog Sledding in Kiruna

In January 2014 I visited Kiruna, Sweden and went Dog Sledding!

Booking in advance is helpful, as I learned, since all of the dog sled companies were  booked up for the nights, and only two were available during the day (we stayed for three days). You can click here or here to find more information on dog sledding in Kiruna. It costs us about 850 SEK per person (but we did get a student discount).

We found out that all of the dog sled companies are basically the same, although some market themselves differently than others. We took the one marketed as “fast” and where you stay at a Sami tent for fika.

However, all of them let will you pet the dogs before heading out on your sledding tour, they all offer some kind of fika (a light sandwich and coffee or tea) and a place to rest. Some are cabins, ours was a teepee like tent.

And they all provide you with clothings, a hat, and gloves that you wear over your own clothes (and you still can get cold).

There were four of us that sat on the sled (two couples), plus the driver.

The driver let us “drive” with him for a few minutes, which was a cool experience and a totally different view when standing up.

The only real difference is the time of day you travel: either you can go in the early afternoon or you can go at night (often marketed as the Northern Lights tour). The Northern Lights tour must be a fun trip to ride around the dark on a dog sled. However, don’t get your hopes up about seeing the Northern Lights. They’re elusive and you can’t see them all the time. Click on my link below for more information on the Northern Lights.

Dog sledding was a lot of fun!

Click here to read about the Ice Hotel in Kiruna, click here to read about Cross Country Skiing in Kiruna, click here to read about how to see the Northern Lights, and click here to read about the town and my hotel/hostel accommodation experience.

The Town and the Yellow House (hostel) in Kiruna, Sweden

Nestled above the arctic circle lies a coal mining town named Kiruna. Hopping off the plane, I immediately felt like I was in a special place. And not just because you had to walk outdoors from the plane into the terminal.

Taking the bus into town, you have a chance to view the majestic mountains, as the sun hits the tip of them, before going down for the day. They said the sun came back on the 6th of January, 2014, while I arrived a week later (aka–not tons of sun). But the snow lit-up the area, so you never was completely dark.

Upon arriving, you could clearly see that this was a place full of snow!

Kiruna is a great town to visit! (More information/links below the hostel)

But it’s a cold town.

A town where fathers play hockey with their sons in the street.

A town where reindeer cross the street.

We stayed at the Yellow House. It’s a cheaper hostel costing 220 kr per person per night. And you get what you pay for. So what did we pay for? Well, we paid for a hot room, and that’s what we got.

The hostel was that it’s close to town (like most hostels/hotels). But it was closer than others, like the infamous Camp Ripan, which is a really nice hotel and has all sorts of great information, outdoor equipment (skis, ice skates) and a lovely bar.

The positives: huge flat panel TV, decent kitchen, decently quiet

The negatives: almost never was there someone at the front desk and when trying to book the place the staff was never helpful (although wasn’t mean about it)

The neutral: the bathroom/shower is shared, the beds were single, but could be pushed together

Unknown: There was a sauna, but we never had a chance to use it, so I have no opinion on this

Camp Ripan is worth checking out if you can afford to pay a bit more and want access to different amenities. Click here to read more about Camp Ripan.

When leaving they took 30 minutes to clean all of the ice out of the engine (take as much time as you need 🙂

The Town has about 18,000 people with several shops and restaurants. Some of the shops are touristy and others are clearly there for the locals. There’s also a grocery store in the center of the town. I counted no less than three pizza joints within a two minute walk. And a Thai restaurant–who goes above the arctic to eat Thai? This guy!

The Sami are the native inhabitants of northern Sweden (Lappland) and sort of the native indians of Sweden who historically have and still heard reindeer for a living. It’s common to buy tourist items that are made by the Sami, none more still than their decorative knives and bracelets. Be prepared to pay 2000+ SEK for a knife and 300+ SEK for the bracelets.

Click here to read about dog sledding in Kiruna, click here to read about Cross Country Skiing in Kiruna, click here to read about my attempt at seeing the Northern Lights, and click here to read about the Ice Hotel.

Ice Hotel

I visited Kiruna in January 2014. While there for a long weekend, I was able to go to the Ice Hotel, dog sled, tried cross country skiing in search of the elusive Northern Lights, and checked out the town/hostels/hotels. Clicking on the different activities will bring you to their respective webpages.

The Ice Hotel is located in Jukkasjärvi, which is 200 km above the Arctic Circle and only 15 km from Kiruna Airport (17 from Kiruna train station).

The Ice Hotel is definitely worth seeing. It’s a decent bus ride from Kiruna (maybe 30 minutes or so), but well worth it. Click here to find information on how to travel to the Ice Hotel.

Touring the Ice Hotel plus gift shop takes about 1.5 hours. So paying attention to when the next bus arrives is important, so you’re not stuck in the cold for another hour.

For some reason I envisioned a castle at the Ice Hotel and was let down. It’s just a hotel. But an amazing and unique one! The interior doesn’t disappoint. They keep the indoors at -4 C, which was much warmer than outdoors that day (-23 C).

There is also an ice chapel there, where a few dozen people marry each year.

Even in the Ice Hotel, safety is always important.

Each room has it’s own designs, and for a fee, you can pay to spend the night on the ice beds, but I didn’t. Some rooms are more elaborate than others and there may be a price divide between rooms. Going outside to use the restroom—not a fun 3am venture, if that issue arose–is not very much for me. But there is a traditional hotel there as well, along with several cabins–if you’re an Ice Hotel guest, you’re allowed to use their heated showers 🙂

Obviously it’s cool (pun intended) to stay overnight here. But the downsides, besides it being chilly and having to use an outdoor toilet, are that there are no real amenities inside each room. It’s just you (and your partner) and the cold. There are no light switches and they use curtains as doors, so you don’t even have complete privacy. Still, it could be worth it for the experience, but visiting does give you an experience as well.

Another really fun experience is to go to the Ice Bar, which is also elaborately decorated. And ordering drinks will get you an Ice glass (that you’re allowed to keep…for however long it’ll last).

Interesting side-note, if you get a drink without alcohol, it will be cheaper, but the drink will stick to the sides of the glass, whereas liquor doesn’t freeze, and so you have that much more to drink 🙂 Can you tell which one had alcohol and which one didn’t?

Click here to read about dog sledding in Kiruna, click here to read about Cross Country Skiing in Kiruna, click here to read about how to see the Northern Lights, and click here to read about the city and my hotel/hostel accommodation experience.

Summer Vacation 2013: Gröna Lund

I had an amazing summer in Sweden. This is partly due to the company of various friends while traveling around Sweden, and also because of the immaculate sunny (but not too hot) weather! In the US I was told I wasn’t allowed to take three weeks off from work in a row, despite having saved up that much time. In Sweden, I was told that I had to take a minimum of three weeks vacation in a row (most people take four to five weeks).

And EVERYONE is on vacation in July in Sweden. AKA–great time to take the commuter train to Stockholm.

 

The shortest, but most exciting day of my three week vacation came when I went to Gröna Lund, Stockholm’s amusement park. Having lived in Indiana, just mere hours away from King’s Island and Cedar Point (both are consistently on top 10 lists for amusement parks and best roller coasters in the world), Gröna Lund had little to offer in terms of amazing rides. In fact, Stockholm doesn’t even have the best rides in Sweden, Gothenburg (Göteborg) does, called Liseberg Amusement Park. To my chagrin, I was indeed terrified a time or two on various rides.

Insane: a rollercoaster that will knock your socks off. Short, but intense.

Eclipse was the only ride I didn’t get to go on, as it was shut down that afternoon. If you crave living on the edge, check out Fritt Fall Tilt, which raises you 80 meters into the air, before dropping you back to Earth, only you’re tilted, so you can dramatically see your face implanting into the ground.

Kvasten is a roller coaster for the whole family where your legs are dangling. It’s a fun roller coaster that makes you feel secure.

Twister is their wooden roller coaster, that’s mildly intense, but can’t compare to the Beast in Ohio.

Jetline though was the most intense roller coaster at Gröna Lund, especially because of all the turns and an extra drop-off that you don’t see coming.

And of course you have a nice fun house for the kids.

The exciting thing about Gröna Lund is that it overlooks the sea, so you have amazing views of the water and the city, before you plummet. To see all of the different rides at Gröna Lund, click here.

People like to spend extra money at the theme park though. Although food is almost a necessity (the nacho cheese stand has no problem with Mexican stereotypes), many people fork over hundreds of kronor trying to win an enlarged candybar, especially via playing roulette.