Managed to have an even worse sleep last night than the previous night – got about 4 hours sleep total. However, I managed to get up properly on time today and not fall asleep! Had breakfast in the hotel and took a taxi to the airport to catch our flight up north to Kiruna.

The downtown area seemed very quiet this morning – probably because it is a Saturday and the traffic to the airport was very light so we made it to the airport pretty quickly. Checked in and headed to the gate. The flight was packed and there were a lot of people with carry on luggage. A short hour and a half flight to north of the Arctic Circle. The ground in Kiruna was covered in snow and there is not a lot around. A small terminal where you walk off the plane and to the terminal. Quite a lot of people from our flight though, all crammed around a tiny luggage belt. Met our driver and picked up our luggage and then rode for 45 minutes to our lodge.

We got our rooms and had a briefing about our activities, including the recently announced change to the itinerary, which would result in less time dog-sledding. Had some coffee and pastries for “fika”, which is an afternoon tradition of tea or coffee and pastries. We then were assigned our winter gear, which consisted of an overall winter suit, boots, gloves and a fur hat. Then we headed back to our rooms to relax and take some photos of the sunset and lodge.

Tried on our snow gear and got ready for dinner back in the lodge building. Every night is apparently a three course dinner. Tonight we had a creamed tuna thing wrapped in a crepe type thing for an appetizer and then meatballs (Swedish, of course :)) with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy and then a chocolate mousse, creme anglais type thing for dessert. Was stuffed, especially after having a pretty inactive day!

Hung around after dinner for a bit chatting with some of the group – 12 of us in total – as it was still early and we don’t start snowshoeing tomorrow until 10 am. Updating my blog now before getting to bed – hopefully, I’ll sleep better tonight!

Woke up at 1:30 am and had a difficult time getting back to sleep. Ended up checking some email and watching some downloaded Netflix until about 4 am when I was sleepy again. Fell back asleep and when my alarm went off at 7 I felt awake so I turned it off and didn’t hit snooze as I normally would. Apparently I was not quite as “awake” as I thought as the next time I looked at the clock it was 9:50 and I had said I’d meet Kim for breakfast around 9! Got up and had a shower and got ready for a day of sightseeing. We stopped first for a coffee and pastry at Wayne’s Coffee, which had great coffee. We then walked along the water to the island with a large park and a bunch of museums. Took some photos along the bridge. The weather was cloudy and cool but nice for walking. The city has a relaxed feel to it with people walking during their lunch breaks, looking casual and happy. W e stopped first in the Nordic Museum, which is housed in a large building with a massive open hall in the middle and the exhibits around the outer rectangle. We had a quick lunch at the museum restaurant of a cream cheese quiche with salad, which was very good. We then toured around the museum, which had jewellery, clothing, furniture, folk art, fabrics, some history of the Sami people and some other exhibits and was interesting. There was a mock up of a 1940s apartment and the kitchen was very Ikea-like with the storage items! After the Nordic Museum we went to the Viking Experience, which was a small museum on the history of Vikings in Sweden and included a “ride” which was a bit cheesy. After that, it had snowed outside and the ground had a light dusting for our walk back to the hotel, which was about 45 minutes at a leisurely pace. Had time to change quickly before meeting one of our travelling companions from Madagascar for dinner. He was on the Ice Hotel trip the week before us and just finished his tour. We had dinner at Tak, a Nordic, Japanese fusion place, which was interesting. I had some sparkling sake with sakura, salsify (a root) tempura with roe and mayonnaise and pork (or prok, according to the menu) ramen. We shared two different desserts, which were a bit odd – a chocolate cake with yuzu fudge and toasted rice ice cream and an almond ice cream with dulce de leche and some flowery ice shavings. After dinner we had a few beer in the hotel bar to hear about the trip and catch up before heading to bed.

Managed to get all my stuff into my large suitcase, pack and purse – seems to be the most stuff I’ve packed yet for any trips, yet it is shorter than most others! Lots of bulk though for the winter trip – snow boots, heavy coat, sweaters, gloves, a balaclava and my tripod (for trying to get photos of the Northern Lights). Left the house around 5:45 in a taxi to the airport.

Check-in at the airport was quick; however, I was apparently randomly selected by Air Canada for additional security screening so instead of getting to keep my shoes on with my Nexus card, I was subjected to a more thorough than regular search and had to turn on all my electronic devices and have everything swabbed. The security people seemed horribly disorganized and unaware of what was going on so it was an additionally frustrating experience, particularly given the early hour and my lack of sleep. The US Customs area was a breeze; although, it didn’t look that busy so not sure if the Nexus did much there. Went to the lounge for a bit before the flight since I had extra time before boarding my flight to LA. On board, there was a bit of a delay taking off as we had to go for some de-icing before taking off. Not an overly great business class section – pretty cramped getting in and out of the seats and the bathroom is a closet. However, the seats are comfortable enough. Had an omelette an sausage for breakfast as I was starving by then since I didn’t eat too much for dinner last night.

Once I left the lounge and arrived at the gate, the SAS flight to Stockholm was ready to board so I walked right on. Night cabin – pods in the business class, which feel very private. The bathroom (in the business class section anyway) was one of the nicest airplane bathrooms I’ve seen so far – a window, spacious, and with a plant! Quite the difference from the flight to LA.

Had some champagne while “the others” were boarding. An interesting offering of items on the drink and dining menu. I had a Swedish beer with beets for my post-take off drink, which was not bad – kind of tart. The meal was pretty good too – halibut ceviche for an appetizer and slow cooker lamb with blue cheese polenta and brussel sprouts and leeks. Had a cheese plate and skipped the dessert.

Managed to get only a couple of hours of sleep on the flight as it was still pretty early in the day and there was a baby screaming half the flight 🙁 Tried to rest the rest of the flight and actually started feeling sleepy about an hour before we were landing. Felt a bit nauseous and skipped the breakfast. Landed at the Stockholm airport which is about 40 or 45 km north of the city.

There was a bit of snow around the airport area as well. Disembarked and went right through security; although they did actually ask me quite a few questions about my trip – guess I looked suspicious. The airport seemed pretty sleepy with not much going on. Got to the luggage belt and waited for a long time before they finally opened the door and turned on the belt. Then they put out one bag, which sparked a, “I’m the winner,” from the owner. Everyone waited and waited and then they closed the gate after the one bag! Not quite sure what was going on but I would think they would have more than one bag to put on the belt. After about another 10 minutes they opened the gate again and some more bags came out. The business class section was pretty big and was full but it didn’t seem like there were many people waiting for their bags so not sure how full the rest of the flight was. Watched all the bags come out and then the damn gate closed again, leaving me and a couple of others from the business class section wondering where our bags were. We headed over to the lost baggage counter and took numbers for the queue. Once a couple of us got up there to say what the problem was, they got on their walkie talkies. I asked one of the guys what they were saying as they were speaking in Swedish, which is totally foreign to me and the guy indicated they were checking the bags as they had some for the special baggage belt yet. Apparently, as we were connecting in LA they decided to group our bags and put them in the special baggage area without telling us. Was irritated with the wait but at least I got my bag so I was happy.

Headed out of the airport and jumped in a taxi (lots of taxis sitting there waiting for what seems like no one in the airport). The snow started disappearing as we got closer to the city. The taxi driver was friendly and could speak a lot of languages as he was originally from Eritrea in Africa before he moved to Holland and then to Sweden, when he met his wife. Got to my hotel around noon and was overjoyed at being able to check in! Had some coffee and cleaned up while I waited for Kim to arrive.

After Kim arrived we went for a walk around the hotel area and stopped for a snack at a bar near the opera. Had some French fries with a fishy tasting mayonnaise and some croquettes, which appeared to be made with some kind of ground meat or fish but were very tasty. We then did a bit more walking to the old town area, Gamla Stan. Was pretty chilly, particularly with the wind.

S

topped at the hotel for a bit before dinner and fought myself to stay awake – it seemed to be okay as long as I kept moving. Went for dinner at a pub type place near the hotel and had a burger and a beer. Was good and then started feeling tired again after sitting. Went for another bit of a walk and stopped in the hotel bar for a drink to type and stay awake a bit more. Managed to kill time until 8 pm and them headed to our rooms, where I ended up falling asleep earlier than planned.