1.) Dog sledding, duh!
This aspect of our weekend in Abisko, Sweden takes the number one slot because it was all-around such a mind-blowing and fantastic experience. Actually, I would rank it as the coolest thing I've done since arriving in Sweden. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime sort of experience! The best part about it was that we got to be totally involved in the entire process, too. We put the harnesses on the dogs, hooked them up to the sled, drove our own individual sled (without practice, might I add), and got the dogs safely back into the cages when we were finished. How cool is that?! To be clear, although it was beyond fun and exciting, it was also a lot of work. When you think about dog sledding, you probably imagine what I did: all you have to do is ride on the sled while the dogs do all the work pulling you and all you have to do is try your darnedest not to fall off... wrong. While it does require extreme balance, it can also be quite the workout when your dogs aren't feeling up to par that day. Let's just say that was the understatement of the year as far as my team was concerned. I'm pretty sure the only time my dogs felt like running was a) around tricky corners and b) when I had already fallen off the sled. Which happened a lot... but at least I got the award for "Best Fall of the Day" for my sweet Superman moves. It definitely made up for my bruised and nearly shattered knee cap.
2.) Our beautiful natural surroundings.
One of the benefits to spending the weekend near a national park is that you are surrounded by so much natural beauty. The beauty we see here on a daily basis can be so numbing at times. I almost forget that although back home we do have a lot of trees and snow, but we most definitely do not have mountains. On Sunday before we took the train back to Lulea, we took a hike down a path that the hostel owner suggested and ended up finding a nearly-frozen river. The outer edges near the banks and even parts in the middle had well over a foot of ice formed, but in the middle the river rapids were still surging strong. Actually, the ice was so thick that you could walk to the very spot where it ended and look over into the crystal-clear flowing water and see exactly how much ice you were standing on. It was exhilarating and yet terrifying. It took Ryan a while to coax me into going out there because I was convinced that the ice would break and I would be carried down the river and freeze to death. Thankfully, he assured me that "Even if you did fall in, you wouldn't be carried too far because just up ahead the open area is much smaller, you'd get hung up on that for sure!" It was almost comforting knowing that I was too wide to drown and freeze... While we were out on the ice Ryan even got down and drank some of the fresh, freezing water. I was too scared, of course, but apparently it tasted delicious...
3.) Being in Abisko while the Northern Lights were out and the best they've been in years...
Now you may or may not have noticed that I didn't mention anything about actually seeing this fantastic show of the Northern Lights. That's because we didn't. The first night we were there, we stayed up until almost 11 pm waiting and checking to see if the Lights would show themselves because you have a much better chance of seeing them when you are so far north. We decided at that point to just hit the sack because we had a busy day of dog sledding the next morning that we didn't want to be tired for. After all, we had the next night too! Well, sure enough, the Lights decided to show themselves about half an hour after we decided to be lame and go to sleep. Just our luck, right? Even the guys who own the hostel and have lived in the area most of their life commented on the fact that even they just had to go out to see them because they were so bright... Heartbreaking, isn't it? The fact that we just got a tiny peak of them the next night is even more disheartening... we waited up until well past midnight, but it was just too cloudy. To console ourselves, we decided that it was much more memorable to have missed the "best show of the Northern Lights in many years" because that will be something we'd never forget. Over the years we would remember seeing them, but our memory of them would naturally distort and warp what we really saw... but this way we'll always remember missing what could have been our only chance to see the Lights so clearly. Yeah, I know that's lame... but it helps me sleep better at night, so just let me think what I want!
This was the only semi-decent picture we captured of the Northern Lights that second night...
4.) The traditional wood-burning, naked Swedish sauna.
In case you just skimmed over my number four pick for our trip to Abisko... yes, I did say naked sauna. We knew before going on this trip that one of the main draws was the large, traditional Swedish wood-burning sauna that they had there. What we didn't know is that, apparently, they think if you wear a swimsuit inside you are bringing in germs? I don't know. Don't ask me. I don't understand why sitting naked is less "germy" than sitting in a clean swimsuit... And without going into too much detail, let's just say that both Shannon and I became very well acquainted with some girls from another university in Sweden during our bonding time in the sauna. Unfortunately, they had found out the hard way the previous night that the sauna required you to be nude... the old guy who helped the brothers run the hostel taught them how to use it... hahahaha. Really, it's okay to laugh. I know I sure did. Seriously, how traumatized would you be if a guy (who is old enough to be your grandpa) was in the changing room with you and unexpectedly announced "Okay, now we get naked!" (which I imagine to be even more hilarious in a Swedish accent) and just dropped his drawers? Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving and all, I'm going to go ahead and say that I am thankful it didn't happen to me. I might have cried.
Here is a picture of the changing room. Yes, we used antlers to hang our clothes on...
5.) Discovering the wonderful world of transportation by train.
The trip to Abisko was the first trip we took by train here in Sweden. It was amazing, let me tell you. Although it wasn't nearly as fast as taking an airplane, it sure was more relaxing and much cheaper. You don't have to deal with going through security, showing up early, and there's so much more freedom to move around. Plus, I felt like I was on the Polar Express? Please tell me that you've read that book... it's one of my favorite Christmas books ever! Anyways, the point is that rushing past all of the pine trees dusted with snow and drinking hot chocolate made me smile imagining that I was on my way to go see Santa. Only if I really was going to go see Santa, I would've asked for something wayyy sweeter than a reindeer bell...
Well, that's thatt! My Top 5 Favorite Things About Abisko, Sweden... Up next, we will have another addition of My Top 5 regarding our trip to Norway this past weekend. Although, that one might take a little more time to narrow down... you can't even imagine how many stunning pictures I managed to capture in two short days...
Until next time friends...
Peace, Love, and Swedish Saunas!
-The Bogarts
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