Well, I'm back home, and I have made my photos available here:

http://www.bios.ch/photos/stockholm2004/

Greetings to all who have followed this journal, that will be finished with this entry.

Well I lost my Lucia entry because I'm sitting on a really stupid public internet terminal. Please check goolge about Lucia :-(.

I was attending a really nice Lucia concert at Engelbrektkyrka.

My Swedish course is almost finished. Tomorrow will be the last day, and that will be the day when I leave Sweden. Monday evening I will be back home.

That's it for the moment. To hell with this terminal!

I had a really great weekend in Kiruna!

When the night train arrived at 11am in Kiruna, I decided to stay in the train and make the detour to Absiko and Björkliden and come back with the next train. I think it's one of the most beautiful railway lines on the shore of Torneträsk lake and it was worth the additional 3 hours on the train.

One myth to prove false: It's not dark there (200 km north of polar circle). Though the sun did not rise above the horizon, it's bright between 9am and 2pm. The snow (only little was there) adds to the light of course.

In the evening at 6pm we (me and two Australians I met during the trip) were collected by the sled dog team. We were brought to the dog farm, where we could borrow clothes and say hello to the dogs. The dogs are really cuties! Our sled was pulled by twelve dogs. Three passengers sat on it and the leader stod behind. Driving with the sled is really nice. The dogs are eager to pull. It's very quiet. A faint greenish light was seen on the sky: the northern lights. That's something special.

After a coffee break, and the loss of one sled (I can't go too much in the details here) we continued our journey back to the farm. It was an extraordinary experience and I suspect it will not remain the last time ...

Sunday morning we went by bus to the Icehotel. We were lucky since it was the first day that the hotel was open for visitors. It's the 15th icehotel on that spot (Jukasjärvi), and I must say, the idea alone is really crazy. Building was still in progress, but the rooms with the ice sculptures that are already finished are fantastic! I can't say more, you have to wait for the pictures which I will publish after my return to Switzerland.

The journey back by train was an experience too. Sitting in the dark appartment and looking outside at the trees that are illuminated by the stroboscopic light of the light arc between power line and pantograph - it's like an old black and white movie.

I'm afraid I have to write of Santa Lucia another time since this entry is already too long. :-)

Some info about Kiruna:

http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?queryArt5665=kiruna&searchDepartmentArt5665=332&param0Art5665=xxxkeyword_articletypexweather&d=332&a=5665

The weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday is good! -4/-13 and -8/-12 degrees C.

Saturday the sun will rise 11:18 and set 11:49. Sunday the sun will not rise at all. Wow! :-)

Long time since my last entry. The weather was really bad the last week. About 5-7 degrees C, the snow hast mostly melted away. Furthermore the sun didn't show up, it was all grey.

Today for the first time we had sunny weather again and I used the opportunity to go up Kaknäs tower, the tallest building in Skandinavia (about 150 m, that's not a lot, but the view from up there is great). I did my Swedish homework there and stayed until the sun set at 14.50h.

Yesterday (sunday) Stockholm's Lucia was crowned in Skansen park. I'll write more about Lucia later, since Lucia day is December 13th. Yesterday we could see the girl that was elected to be this year's Lucia (compare it to the "Miss Schweiz" elections :-)).

This time I found the clubstuga of Järla IF. Most of them did the training with the skis, since the slope is just beside the cottage and the conditions were still good. But I ran with three young orienteers through Nacka and Södermalm, mostly through the city, since in the forest it would have been dark :-). We ran for almost an hour and the pace was quite high.

Afterwards there was sauna and a small meal in the club cottage. It's a good thing - something we don't have in Switzerland. Thanks to Järla for letting me participate!

Some info about my trip to the north: Friday the 10th I will take the train to Kiruna, arriving there Saturday around noon. In the evening I will do a short sled dog trip (3 hrs). I'm hoping for a clear sky, for that there is a chance to see the northern lights. Sunday I will take the train back to Stockholm, where I'll be in the language scool again. That's it :-).

Today it's raining and really ugly here!

I moved again, to Stuvsta (belongs to Huddinge) which is about 15 min from Stockholm Central with the Pendeltåg. I'll stay there for the next two weeks. I have a one room appartment with a small kitchen. A family I know from Switzerland lives very close and it's through them that I got there.

Besides that, planning for a weekend trip to Kiruna is going on, more information follows.

Oh, and tonight I'll try to join the training of Järla IF orienteering club. I hope I'll meet them this time, after I completely failed last week :-(.

Finding internet cafes is really a pain here. My usual one is closed on Mondays. I checked a list I got from the tourist office, and two of the cafes have closed in the meantime. The one Im sitting in right now is really cheap, but they disallow telnet and ssh (as most do). It sucks ...

Yesterday I have been to a Gudtjänst in Engelbrektskyrkan. It has been the 1st advent, remember. It was really nice. An impressive church, full with people. Several choirs, organ and trumpets. And many candles and julgran (christmas tree).

Oh and there has been an outage of my server at home, but its fine again :-).

Right now its snowing. Its cold again ...

Today I made a boat trip to Vaxholm. It's about a 5/4 hour ride. Vaxholm is a village in the Skärgården and to be honest, there is not really much to see there. Its nice to drive through the archipelago though.

The internet cafe is closing in 5 minutes, so I have to stop for today.

Thursday now, and its warmer. The snow is melting and its really wet on the streets.

Yesterday I have been to "Skansen" park. Its very nice. It is rather lonely now and I didnt stay to long outside because it was a really cold day.

I have seen the bears (not yet hibernating), lynx, a wolf, the järv (dont know what's that in English ...) and: älgen (moose). Some female älgs, two young ones and one male with a big "Geweih".

Generally now the sun sets here after 3 pm and at 4 pm it is really dark.

Okay, its tuesday now and I had swedish lessons the second day. Its not too hard, 2.5 hours plus the homework. We are a class of 12 people from all around the world.

Today I moved from the youth hostel to a bed and breakfast place, which has a more personal atmosphere. The host woman talks only Swedish too me, what is good :-). My room has the view to a park what is very nice.

It has been winter since Ive arrived, but yesterday night we had a real blizzard. Lots of snow now in the city. I like it but dont ask the car drivers :-).

Well, I have arrived in beautyful Stockholm: Its winter here, everything is white by snow.

Today I went ice skating in the city (Kungstraedgarden). The sun has been shining, of course only until about 3 pm.

Tomorrow my Swedish lessons will start.