J&J in Sweden

Wow! We have just returned home from a total bucket list trip! We flew into Stockholm and drove to Kiruna. It was amazing driving through Sweden and seeing the landscape turn into a magical winter wonderland. We made pit stops at cute little towns and of course had to pull over a few times to take photos, the scenery was incredible! 

Then all of a sudden it turned into a winter fantasy world of Narnia, blanketed in layers of fresh snow, pine tree forests sprawled across the land and cosy wooden cabins dotted the amazing white landscape. 

As soon as we arrived in Kiruna we made our way to The Ice Hotel, which by itself is an experience of a lifetime! We were able to explore and look around at our leisure, and could appreciate the efforts of the various artists who have created this masterpiece. Each room is designed by a different artist. My favorite was definitely the peacock room. The ice hotel is a temporary structure put up in December and melts away by mid April every year. A memorable place to visit and admire! 

We made our way to Reindeer Lodge where we were staying. It is set on the edge of a frozen river surrounded by nothing but fresh snowfall and reindeer right outside your door! I even found a cute reindeer snowman on the porch of our cute cabin! Best part is you are in the middle of nowhere, everything is quiet. Did I also mention their was a beautiful sauna on site to warm up after our big days out adventuring?!

We had been planning this trip for a while and if you've been a long time reader of this blog you will know Jake is a Paramedic and he had a group of work friends who were very eager to join us on our trip to Lapland. 8 Paramedic's and 1 Wedding Planner, I was definitely in safe hands! 

Time to find Rudolf and his mates! I absolutely loved having a reindeer herd outside our front door! You can walk in and feed them lichen...a very cool experience!

Another bucket list item well and truly ticked off was seeing the Northern Lights!! Not only did we see them, we saw them two nights in a row! We were so thankful as we know that people sometimes visit Sweden 5 to 6 times before actually getting a chance to see them. On our first night we walked out on to the frozen lake and suddenly everything lit up. We could see the aurora dancing through the sky. It was beautiful, and made us feel ever so small and insignificant. We stayed out for as long as possible, trying to capture the memory as best as we could before our fingers froze. 

Of course our main reason for visiting Sweden was for the dog sledding! So watch this space for plenty more snow and Huskies!