Sportlov: Part 1 - Kiruna

 

In February, students get a week off for sportlov (sports week).  The goal, I guess, is to get kids outside doing winter sports.  To avoid overwhelming ski resorts, what sportlov your school gets depends on where you live.  The schools in the south go first and it works its way north. Uppsala County's sportlov was scheduled for Week 8 - 2/20, 2/24.  The Swedes count their weeks and know instinctively what week of the year they are in.  Brilliant, no?

Anyway, we decided for Sam's sportlov we would head to the Artic Circle!  We took the overnight train from Uppsala to Kiruna.  The end destination for this train is Narvik, which we did get to, but that's for another post.

The hallway in our car.

Our "room" after it was converted from seating to beds.  On our way up we shared with a French couple and an Austrian woman.  On our way back we felt spoiled because it was just us and a German couple.

Did I mention it was a night train?  Sam fell asleep before we even got our beds made.  Or maybe she was trying to ignore the fact that she was surrounded by a bunch of adults.

Kiruna is a fascinating place.  It's a mining town, and, as you can see, the mine dominates the landscape.  The mine is what drives the economy, but it also caused the city to sink.  The city is in the midst of moving!  The old centrum (downtown) feels like a ghost town, only a few businesses are left open.  It's bizarre. 

However, like any good Swedish town, Kiruna can't let good snow go to waste.  You can see they have created a ski hill on an old mine.  

Some scenes from around town. 

We hiked on the Midnight Sun Trail.  Well, actually, we lost the trail, but we walked on some trail.  Not too worry though, we felt right at home...the above picture could very well be Virginia, MN!

My favorite parts about Kiruna, well, not my favorite, but here are two northern Swedish gems I love: old people using kicksleds around town (for balance), and yarn in the grocery store!  The grandma in me loves this so, so very much.