Wow! I didn't realize I had been vacation for a whole week until I wrote out the title of this post. It has been an incredible week!
Wednesday consisted entirely of driving through Sweden. Beautiful country. We started the day in Stockholm and ended in Kiruna, the north-most major city in Sweden. We even crossed the largest suspension bridge in Sweden.
Our primary goal in Kiruna is to see the midnight sun. From late May to mid-July, the sun doesn't set in Kiruna. I'm obviously catching the tail-end of this event. We stayed up last night hoping to see the sun not-set, but the clouds refused to budge. We are making one last attempt tonight, praying that the sky might remain clear. Tonight is our last shot (it's supposed to rain all weekend) so I'm really hopin for clear skies.
Even without them, Kiruna has been fun to visit. We saw the Kiruna church, a beautiful traditional-style building built in the early 1900s. We took a short trip out of Kiruna visit a Sami museum and learn about the native Sami people who live here and herd reindeer. I even had a chance to let a reindeer eat out of my hand.
After seeing the reindeer, we returned to Kiruna to enjoy a dinner of local cuisine: reindeer, moose, and wild boar. The reindeer was probably the most tender "steak" I have ever had an opportunity to eat. We finished the meal off with ice cream and warm cloudberries- which have a texture much like raspberries, but tastes like peaches when cooked into peach cobbler. I am happy.
It is almost 10 pm locally. The sky is mostly clear...with a patch of clouds taunting me right by the sun. Fortunately, the sun will move further north in the next two hours. This is one of the most interesting aspects of Kiruna. The sun appears to be an hour from setting just north of due west around 8 pm. It then moves almost horizontal for the next 4 hours, slowly dipping closer and closer to the horizon. Though I didn't see the sun last night, the sky appeared much as a normal sunset would- then began to grow steadily brighter as the sun began a slow climb back up and south. Hopefully- I will get some good pictures tonight to show everyone.
Our primary goal in Kiruna is to see the midnight sun. From late May to mid-July, the sun doesn't set in Kiruna. I'm obviously catching the tail-end of this event. We stayed up last night hoping to see the sun not-set, but the clouds refused to budge. We are making one last attempt tonight, praying that the sky might remain clear. Tonight is our last shot (it's supposed to rain all weekend) so I'm really hopin for clear skies.
Even without them, Kiruna has been fun to visit. We saw the Kiruna church, a beautiful traditional-style building built in the early 1900s. We took a short trip out of Kiruna visit a Sami museum and learn about the native Sami people who live here and herd reindeer. I even had a chance to let a reindeer eat out of my hand.
After seeing the reindeer, we returned to Kiruna to enjoy a dinner of local cuisine: reindeer, moose, and wild boar. The reindeer was probably the most tender "steak" I have ever had an opportunity to eat. We finished the meal off with ice cream and warm cloudberries- which have a texture much like raspberries, but tastes like peaches when cooked into peach cobbler. I am happy.
It is almost 10 pm locally. The sky is mostly clear...with a patch of clouds taunting me right by the sun. Fortunately, the sun will move further north in the next two hours. This is one of the most interesting aspects of Kiruna. The sun appears to be an hour from setting just north of due west around 8 pm. It then moves almost horizontal for the next 4 hours, slowly dipping closer and closer to the horizon. Though I didn't see the sun last night, the sky appeared much as a normal sunset would- then began to grow steadily brighter as the sun began a slow climb back up and south. Hopefully- I will get some good pictures tonight to show everyone.
Suspension bridge
The van in which we are experiencing this epic road trip
The steeple of the Kiruna church.
Who are you traveling with? Sounds like an awesome trip!
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I did an internship at the national solar observatory and became great friends with my advisor and his family. They since moved to Sweden for work, so I am visiting them.
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