Arctic Expedition 9

We spent a lot of time tracking the weather, hoping for clear skies in Abisko. It didn't look promising, and when it came time to decide for sure, there was just no way. So, we chose to stay in Kiruna for two more nights.

When we called the manager of the Såmegården to see if we could extend our stay, she told us they were booked solid for the weekend.

We shrugged our shoulders, and walked down the street to the Arctic Eden Hotel. After booking a room for two nights, we packed our stuff and dragged it through the snow to our new home.

This place is really cool. It's a converted school. A multi-level library takes up the old staircase.

In the basement is a huge gym. A different room for any activity you desire: Spinning, rowing, 3 kinds of circuits, marshal arts, free weights, tread mills, and a 2.5 story climbing wall.

There is also a spa area. This has a sauna, and a cold pool, as well as lounge areas, showers, and locker rooms.

We decided to take advantage of this with a traditional Nordic spa treatment.
First we showered, then into the sauna, for as long as we could stand it, now a plunge into the cold water. At 4c (39f) it burned the skin, and took my breath away. Then we ran back to the sauna for a little longer cooking time. One more dip in that terrible pool, and it was time for a shower and scrub down. Since there was no one around, we were able to shower together, and scrub each other with the natural soaps, shampoos and scrubs provided in our kit. Feeling baby smooth, and invigorated, it was time to find some food.

The hotel and restaurant manager, Barbro, had told us that the restaurant was booked for Julbord, and there were no seats left.
Julie suggested that we try anyway, in case there had been a cancellation. Since she is smarter than me, I agreed.

 Barbro presenting the birch schnapps. She had picked the leaves, in the forrest last spring, herself. 

We walked into the restaurant, and Barbro greeted us like family. She told us that there had been a cancellation, and she told the staff to save the table in case her Americans showed up.
The Julbord of the north looked the same, but was quite different. Lots more reindeer and moose meat, almost no vegetables. It was very good, we tried some new things, including reindeer tongue and blood dumplings.

They also made their own schnapps. Röllaross (fire weed) and Bjorn (birch) so tasty, we had a few too many.