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| This is NOT one of our photos! It was this impressive in person, though. |
Destination Northern Lights
After reading about Mary's exciting trip last month, I felt compelled to share my family's latest adventure.
Many of our friends had gone to Tromsø to see the Northern Lights, but most of them had come home with stories of "chasing" the Lights into Finland. Some didn't even get rewarded with a sighting, but they spent a lot of time driving. So my husband thought that maybe it was because Tromsø is by the coast and subject to more cloud cover. He set out to find someplace farther inland that was at about the same latitude as the border of Finland.
What he found was, Björkliden, the best kept secret of Sweden. We flew from Oslo to Narvik, Norway. From there, we rented a car and drove for a couple of hours to arrive at our cabin at the Fjällby Ski Resort. At about 8:30 in the evening our first night, we left our cabin by car and drove about 15 minutes down the road to Abisko National Park, home of the Aurora Sky Station. Here, they outfitted us in warm jumpsuits and boots over our own warm clothes so we wouldn't freeze while experiencing the most spectacular shows Mother Nature has to offer. We rode a chairlift up to about 3000 feet above sea level. It took us about 30 minutes to get to the top, where we had a chance to go inside to thaw our toes inside a small gift shop/cafe. We then braced ourselves to face the cold, but we were oblivious to the weather because the Northern Lights had us in a trance. We lost all sense of time. It was just magical. It reminded me of laying on the ground watching clouds changing, only the colors were amazing. If you've not seen them, it's really impossible to describe. It must be experienced.
As far as the resort is concerned, the cabins are not fancy, but we were comfortable. Our second night we were supposed to do the Northern Lights Dog Sledding Tour, but it was brutally cold and visibility was ZERO. Thankfully, they were able to reschedule for the next morning. After all, we'd already seen the lights; we just wanted to love on some dogs. The sledding was a neat experience that wasn't nearly as fast-moving as I had feared it would be. Great fun for everyone.
Of course, there were skiing opportunities for those who are confident to do that sort of thing. My husband enjoyed both of the cross country trails, as well as all the downhill slopes. The kids were able to ski, as well. I chose not to because I didn't have enough confidence yet.
That's pretty much all there is in Björkliden, however. It doesn't have the cute appeal of Tromsø, but they've got the corner market on the Northern Lights. So if you need to check this item off your bucket list, I would highly recommend the trip.
:) Jamie
For more information:
http://www.visitabisko.com
To see a stop-action video of the Northern Lights:
*Warning: If you see this, you'll want to go.
https://vimeo.com/85657307
