{"id":649,"date":"2014-07-09T13:50:34","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T20:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/?p=649"},"modified":"2014-07-13T13:17:07","modified_gmt":"2014-07-13T20:17:07","slug":"off-to-sweden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/off-to-sweden\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to Sweden!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I apologize for the length of this\u00a0first post, but I was\u00a0cut off from the internet for the first few days of our trip, so this is a collection of several days\u2019 experiences.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0134<\/p>\n

July 3<\/strong>.\u00a0 We are off to Sweden! Why Sweden? Our friends, Tim and Annalena \u00d6hlund live there, and it is a beautiful place. (The photo at the top of this blog was taken near their home. Other photos are on my Europe\u00a02006 page<\/a>.) Our first trip to Europe in 2006 was supposed to be primarily to Ireland, but we decided to “drop by” Sweden to see Tim and Annalena. We didn’t really\u00a0 know what to expect, but we loved it.<\/p>\n

A little over a year ago, Tim and Annalena were visiting the Northwest, and when I told them I planned to retire, they suggested that we visit them for a longer time. They live on a farm, and Tim does some very interesting things with his part of the property. He has a large and interesting garden and likes building things, and so do I, so we thought it would be fun to work together. (Tim has his own blog at Timogarden<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Tim is originally from the US (we went to HS together), but moved to Sweden in the 70’s. There, he met and married Annalena, and he’s lived there ever since. Annalena is originally from Lappland, in the far north, above the Arctic Circle. I really wanted to see the area and culture where she is from, so we timed this trip to coincide with their visit up there. Later, we’ll go back to their home and stay there awhile, then Janie and I will set off on our own to Southern Sweden and Copenhagen.<\/p>\n

Our flight left at 6 AM, so we had to be at the airport by 4:30. \u00a0That began a grueling 24-hour trip!\u00a0 We flew to Newark, NJ, had a 3-hour layover, then to Stockholm with a 5-hour layover, and then to the Northern city of Kiruna.\u00a0 The flights were pretty routine, except long.\u00a0 I tried to adjust my sleeping in anticipation of the time shift to Sweden.<\/p>\n

When we got to Newark, we got one of those scooter rides to the shuttle between terminals because of Janie\u2019s bad leg.\u00a0 Apparently, the scooter needed some maintenance because the driver had to yell out \u201cbeeeep, beep, beep, beep\u201d every time we approached people in the way.\u00a0 (The pedestrians were surprisingly oblivious to the scooter bearing down on them.) Janie then had to choose between negotiating 30 steps down to the shuttle bus and 30 up to the next terminal, or we would have had to go through TSA security again.\u00a0 She braved the steps and did OK with them.<\/p>\n

July 4<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0001\"<\/a>We arrived in Stockholm around 7 AM Stockholm time\u201410 PM July 3 Seattle time.\u00a0 The airline had an angel meet us to assist Janie with the distance between terminals.\u00a0 It was a good thing, because it was at least a \u00bd mile complicated hike between them!\u00a0 Anna the angel not only knew exactly where to go, but she also expedited our way through customs and another security checkpoint.\u00a0 (She also taught us how to pronounce Kiruna and Pajala\u2014Pie\u2019-ya-la; I had been pronouncing it Pa-ja\u2019-la.) Once we got to the 2nd<\/sup> terminal, we just had to wait.\u00a0 Our phones did not work both because of a mix-up in getting them unlocked (to be able to use a Swedish SIM card in them) and because SIM cards were not sold inside the secure part of the airport.\u00a0 I was able to get a short-term Wi-Fi connection to connect with AT&T to start the process of unlocking the phones, but as I write this on July 5, we haven\u2019t had a chance to complete the unlocking process or get Swedish SIM cards.<\/p>\n

Tim met us when our plane arrived in Kiruna at 2 PM\u2014by now it was 5 AM on July 4 in Seattle, a 24-hour trek that wasn\u2019t over yet.\u00a0 We rented a car at the airport, stopped at a couple of stores for supplies, stopped to look at a couple of sights and started the 2-hour drive to Lovikka, our home for the next few days.\u00a0 One of the places we stopped was the beautiful Kiruna Church, built in the style of a Sami home. \u00a0Amazing! \"IMG_0020<\/a>\u00a0 I found out later that the church and much of the city center of Kiruna will have to be moved in the next 20 years or so because the iron mine that is the heart of Kiruna\u2019s economy is literally undermining the town.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lovikka is a pretty village on a large river, but it is so small it is only a dot on the map with no label.\u00a0 Tim was familiar with it, though, and he did the driving, giving me a chance to acclimate a little.\u00a0 Thankfully, they drive in the right side in Sweden.<\/p>\n

We called our AirBnB host before leaving Kiruna, and he arranged to meet us and lead us to the cottage.\u00a0 When we told him we might stop for dinner along the way, he told us we shouldn\u2019t\u2014he had just caught a 10 kg (22 lb) salmon in the river, and his wife would cook dinner for us!\u00a0 They are so warm and friendly!\u00a0 Lasse, the husband, us and led us to the house.\u00a0 He and his brother were somewhat in a hurry to go fishing, but Eva, the wife, stayed, oriented us to the house, and finished cooking dinner.\u00a0 (The salmon was delicious!)<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0053\"<\/a>

Our house in Lovikka<\/p><\/div>\n

Eva left, and after dinner, Tim took the car to Pajala, where Annalena is. Now that I think of it, we had Tim leave us in the middle of the Arctic, in a country where we don\u2019t speak the language, without any means of transportation or communication.\u00a0 The start of an adventure, I guess!\u00a0 Most people in Sweden speak English very well, so I am not worried about the language too much.<\/p>\n

By the time Tim left, it was getting late and we were jet-lagged and tired from traveling, so we took some time to organize our things and went to bed.\u00a0 This is the land of the Midnight Sun, so not only were we adapting to the time change from Seattle, but we also have to adapt to the lack of darkness.\u00a0 Believe me, these things play havoc with your sense of time! I am not sure as I write this whether it will help with getting over the jet lag, or make it harder.<\/p>\n

July 5<\/strong>. \u00a0I\u2019m also not sure whether it is July 5 or July 4.\u00a0 Counting the days, I\u2019m pretty sure it is the 5th<\/sup>, but my watch says it\u2019s the 4th<\/sup> and our phones and computer don\u2019t give us accurate times since they are not connected. \u00a0(Later, Tim confirmed the date.) We were tired enough to sleep and although we woke up a few times, we slept through until about 5:30 AM (from now on, I am talking about Swedish time.)\u00a0 We feel pretty good.\u00a0 We finished reorganizing our suitcases, and Janie is making breakfast for me as I write.\u00a0 I had a chance to take some pictures this morning.\u00a0 This is our home for the next few days.\u00a0 It is a classic Swedish country house.\u00a0 There are plenty of birds flying around.\u00a0\u00a0 I recognize swallows, but I\u2019m not sure of most of the others.\u00a0 There are plenty of birds because there are plenty of mosquitoes for them to eat!\u00a0 Tim says they are thick all over the North Country, so I expect to keep my mouth closed as much as possible for the next few days.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0079-web\"<\/a>

Sami bracelets<\/p><\/div>\n

We left to spend most of the day at the Pajala Market, an annual fair.\u00a0 For those of you who are familiar with it, it reminded me of the Kent Cornucopia Days, only larger.\u00a0 While there, we were able to shop for some traditional Sami handiwork, taste local foods (including smoked reindeer and \u201ccoffee cheese\u201d), listen to music, watch Bollywood dancing(!) and see the first ever Pride parade in Northern Sweden.\u00a0We were surprised at the huge turnout for the parade!<\/p>\n

\"Pride<\/a>

Pride parade<\/p><\/div>\n

A Finnish rock and roll group reminded me somewhat of Irish rock.\u00a0 It was rock and roll, but you could definitely hear the rhythmic patterns of the traditional music\u2014in this case Polka.\u00a0 While listening to the music, Janie struck up a conversation with some friendly local people who were involved in the Pride parade.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0110-web\"<\/a>After the parade, we went to Annalena\u2019s family property for a big outdoor dinner.\u00a0 Again, everyone was extremely welcoming, and since everyone speaks English, we were able to have a great time talking about their family history, what their childhood in the rural Arctic was like, and where we come from.\u00a0 The property was homesteaded in the early 20th<\/sup> century by Annalena\u2019s grandparents, and then her father and uncles built houses on the property.\u00a0 Annalena said that when she was growing up there were 15 cousins all living on the homestead.\u00a0 The food was fantastic, cooked by the women of the family.\u00a0 We ate outside at makeshift tables because there were over 30 people there.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0114-web\"<\/a>

Midnight Sun<\/p><\/div>\n

It was still hard to get used to the Midnight Sun.\u00a0 As it went down toward the horizon, I kept expecting it to go down, but it just hung there.\u00a0 I also had in the back of my mind that we needed to leave before it got dark, but it wasn\u2019t going to get dark!\u00a0 We didn\u2019t leave until 10 PM, and the light was similar to just before dusk.\u00a0 When we got to our place, I decided to stay up until midnight, just to say I actually saw the Midnight Sun.\u00a0 So here is a picture of the sun on the horizon at midnight.<\/p>\n

July 6<\/strong>.\u00a0 We met Tim at the Market in Pajala, but on the way we saw reindeer.\u00a0 A male, a female and a white baby were wandering down the middle of the highway!\u00a0 I was surprised that the reindeer were not skittish at all.\u00a0 The baby especially seemed oblivious of the traffic, including a giant ore-hauling semi.\u00a0 The drivers were careful to ease around the deer, but the deer pretty much owned the road.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I was not able to get a picture of them because of the traffic and no good place to pull over.\u00a0 I learned later from Tim that white reindeer are somewhat rare.\u00a0 After getting to the Market, we decided that we needed a down day, and didn\u2019t want to spend all day walking around again.\u00a0 We got food for lunch and for dinner later, and headed back to the cottage for a quiet afternoon.\u00a0 I felt so lucky to be relaxing on the porch on a warm (near 80 degrees) sunny day with a breeze blowing, watching the river and drinking a beer!\u00a0 The mosquitos even left me alone!\u00a0 I also had an opportunity to chat with Eva, the wife of our host couple, to find out that she was born a few houses away in this village, and our cottage is their summer home.\u00a0 She is staying nearby with her sister while the cottage is rented.\u00a0 She also told me the story of the famous Lovikka mittens and the giant mitten that is in the Guinness Book of World records.<\/p>\n

July 7<\/strong>.\u00a0 We were to leave the Arctic and drive to Tim\u2019s home near Uppsala. Tim went with us and Annalena planned to stay a couple more days.\u00a0 This is a lonnggg drive\u2014about 1000 Km or over 600 miles, but it gave us a chance to see a lot of Sweden, and we also crossed into Finland for part of the way.\u00a0 This was a beautiful drive through forests and farmland.\u00a0 We saw more reindeer along the way, but none of them cooperated by going the right direction on being sighted in an area where I could pull off and take a picture.\u00a0 Again, they were pretty oblivious to any traffic and obviously felt that the road was theirs. \u00a0Against Janie\u2019s better judgment, we followed Tim\u2019s advice and did not make any hotel reservations along the way.\u00a0 As it turned out, we were unable to find any hotels that were open along the way, until nearly midnight.\u00a0 (Although we had gone below the Arctic Circle, we\u00a0were still far enough North that it was still light at midnight.\u00a0 We finally found a very beautiful hotel\u2014restored from an obviously old hotel in \u00d6rnsk\u00f6ldsvik.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_0172<\/a><\/p>\n

July 8<\/strong>. \u00a0After a nice breakfast in the morning, I was able to get Janie\u2019s phone working with a Swedish SIM card.\u00a0 We still don\u2019t have internet on it, but I\u2019ll work that out soon.\u00a0 We left for Tim\u2019s and made it to Uppsala around dinner time.\u00a0 After dinner, we arrived at the farm and moved into our suite at the bed and breakfast at the same farm on which Tim lives.\u00a0 So here we\u2019ll stay for a week and then head further South on our own. \u00a0It is very warm here and there is no air conditioning or even fans, so we have to get used to the heat. \u00a0It is supposed to cool off in later in the week though.<\/p>\n

0<\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div>
<\/div><\/div>
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I apologize for the length of this\u00a0first post, but I was\u00a0cut off from the internet for the first few days of our trip, so this is a collection of several days\u2019 experiences. July 3.\u00a0 We are off to Sweden! Why … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3540,"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions\/3540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/daideo.com\/elusiveblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}