Best week of my exchange byfar to say the least :)
Day 1: Tuesday, April 5
13:33 - 15:27 Train from Helsingborg to Gothenburg
Dakota, Shruti and I start the long haul to Kiruna!
17:00 - 11: 30 Night train from Gothenburg
A cabin full of 6 women, many stops and meeting Nick an Aussie (also part of our group to Kiruna).
Day 2: Wednesday, April 6
11:55 -14:57 Train from Boden to Kiruna
Here at the Kiruna train station us three girls, Nick and another girl were welcomed by two of our "leaders" Fredrik and Jonaton. They took us to drop of our luggage at the hostel/hotel we were staying at then drove us up to the school to meet with the rest of the group. 66 of us in total! Students from all over the world, France, Austria, Brazil, Canada, India, USA, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Switzerland, and more.
15:45 - 17:45 Bus from school to Ice Hotel
The moment I'd been waiting for had finally arrived! We were all heading to the ice hotel, here we would get a short tour of the main parts of the hotel and a brief history on how the hotel started. This was the 21st hotel they've built. I don't remember all of the information that was told to us but if anyone is really interested in learning more go to their website. http://icehotel.com/ Trust me, it really is quite an extrodinary place. So since we were only guided through the first few parts of the hotel we spent the next hour or so walking around by ourselves or in groups checking out the various other "art" rooms. It was amazing, all of it! But of course we couldn't stay there all day, we had to head back to the hostel. Good timing because my feet were frozen even with two pairs of socks on.
We got back to the hostel and had some free time before we ate dinner. Dinner was pizza, nothing special but still yummy. Later we headed back to the hostel and then some of us went outside to play some soccer in the snow and sit around a small fire. That night consisted of getting to know some of the exchange students, hanging out in various rooms and ended in us getting to see a glimpse of the northern lights! Although the lights from the hostel and nearby buildings sort of interferred with us getting to really see a great view of the northern lights we still mananged to see them, incredible.
Day 3: Thursday, April 7
07:15 - Bus from Kiruna to Narvik, Norway
From the hostel we set off on two buses to Narvik, Norway. The trip took a few hours but we would make a few stops along the way as well. On the bus we had a guide that gave us information about several places/things we passed on the way. Around 8:30 we stopped in Abisko, Sweden. Here in Abisko we got off at the tourist station for a fika of coffee/juice/tea and blueberry pie. We also had a guide talk to us about Abisko, an area great for both winter and summer activities. A population of only 150... or was it 300 people. We also watched a 20 minute presentation about the seasons of Abisko then had a chance to look in the gift shop.
After our stop in Abisko we set off on the road again, about another hour or so we stopped real quick in Björkliden. Björkliden is a ski/winter resort, also just as popular as Abisko during the winter. We didn't get off the bus but instead just looked out the window, we got to see some snow sledding dogs!
So, back to the road we went. Another hour or so and we made it to Narvik. In Narvik we got a presentation about the town. Then we went down to the harbor for some lunch and after we got a chance to look around the town and shop if we wanted. But time was running out and we had to head back to Kiruna. Right as we crossed back into Sweden we took a stop at Riksgränsen. Yet another ski lounge. Here we heard about the lounge and the various winter activities avialable. We were also able to see the lappland gate! Back to Kiruna we headed.
That night we were going to have a nice dinner. A traditional northern swedish meal of moose, lingon, potatoes gratin and salad. It was so good. Following dinner we had dessert, cloud berries and ice cream.
And then the fun began (again).
The swedish leaders got together and sang their national anthem. Two of them were dressed in traditional sami clothes. Sami were the first inhabitants of scandinavia. They've lived in northern Sweden-Lappland, and in northern Norway. There was also a special guest who sang us a joik..funny! He even sang a few other sami songs.
Next us exchange students got together into our home countries because now it was our turn to sing our national anthems. I have to say we didn't do to bad....there was probably 12 of us "Americans" all together. It was fun to hear all the other anthems too. Well the evening continued with lots of singing and laughing and just good ole fun. The night ended with all of us heading back to the hostel and hanging out with each other.
Day 4: Friday, April 8
08:30- Group 1 to Icehotel for snowmobiling, Group 2 to LKAB mine.
I was in Group 1 so we were up first for snowmobiling! This day was so, so, so much fun. The group took a bus to the icehotel (the starting point of our snowmobiling trip) and we all got in these sleds attached to the back of the snowmobiles. It was a bumpy, icy yet fun ride over a frozen lake....river....body of water. The ice/snow was so thick you could drive a train across it! When we reached our next destination...down the frozen water a ways we divided into groups again, 3. We then did some fun activities in the snow. First we built a fire in the snow. Next we did this teamwork thing with planks of wood that we had to try to move on like skis, we also put on some "drunk goggles" for a little more fun :) Lastly we got to go on the snowmobiles, best part. Of course we rode with one of the swedish leaders for obvious reasons. After enjoying the snow and outdoors we went into these hut-like dome houses to warm up and eat some reindeer soup. And then we went back to the ice hotel to get on another bus that would take us to the LKAB mine. I believe we were down 700 meters into the mine. We took the bus all the way down to this level....going down it was like going through a tunnel, it was black and grimey. Basically at the mine we were led by a guide throughout the 'tourist-y' part of the mine. It was actually sort of interesting to see how they mine all the iron ore. They mine tons of it everyday and blast in the mine every morning (1am). We even got to take home a souvenir of some iron ore pellets. Not really much use to these but still, a little piece to bring back home from Kiruna. |
| Just hanging around in the LKAB mine machines. |
Day 5: Saturday, April 9
Final day in Kiruna, thankfully no need to wake up early. We had till 10:00 to eat, pack and clean the rooms. Some students left on a plane at 6am, geesh. While the rest of us didn't have to leave till later. Those who didn't leave till later (we) walked up to the town for a little free time shopping. In which I went on a hunt for a souviner shop because I really wanted to get something that was very sami. I bought a handmade traditional sami bracelet, I love it, which is a surprise since I don't really wear any jewlery. I also bought a pin for my jacket and a keychain made of reindeer antler, can't get more sami than that. Well at least half of the group that was left were taking the train at noon, so we went to the school for lunch and they headed to the train. For the next few hours we hung out at Ripan a snow camp area in Kiruna. There we went sledding, had a fika and played soccer in the snow. Lots of fun of course.
But sadly time was closing and our train was leaving at 17:35 so back to the train station we went. We said our goodbyes to the leaders and hopped on the train. Another 25 hour journey back to Helsingborg.
On the way home we went from Kiruna to Boden. We then switched trains to the night train. This trian took us to Stockholm. On the night train it was as before just as full. But this time there were more exchange students so we went from cabin to cabin talking and such.
Day 6: Sunday, April 10
Around 10:30 we got into Stockholm. In Stockholm we had a 3 hour wait until our next train. We hung out in McDonalds for a bit but once more and more students left for their trains us remaining left McDonalds too. Instead we just waited on the benches in the center of the station. Finally our train was there, to Gothenburg we went. Once in Gothenburg we had to literally run to the next train because we were running behind. On the train from Gothenburg we headed home to Helsingborg, only 2 hours to go. About 18:45 we got into the Helsingborg station, thankfully my bus was was coming in 5 minutes so I didn't have to wait long. I was finally back home by 19:00!
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| Overall this trip was incredible, I would love to go back! (In Ice Hotel) |
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