Logbook from Åre: ski day 4

(WARNING! It was for me to remember about what had happened and not much about giving travel information)

Today I learned a new weather condition named, perfect ski weather. It got clear visibility, sunny and wind breeze.

Daily weather report from the balcony

Mount Åre

From here you can choose to ski on Vargbacken, Björnbacken or Hermelinbacken

My lessons continued on Vargbacken (the wolf slope), tried to change from snow plough turns to parallel turns. We did a whole day skiing with a short pause for sweets and beers at Carins.

Carins korg late lunch

Carrot cake, looked good but too sweet for me

Warm chocolate, tasted similarly to instant chocolate (2 stars out of 5)

Continued skiing!

Another view

It’d been a long day but was worth every second. It’s such a free mind activity esp. when I could ski. However, a less fun part was when carrying ski equipment back to the cabin.

Our cabin on Åre Björnen

JJ’s walkway

So far, our main activity was skiing, we were on skis most of the time since we’d left the cabin if we didn’t rest at Carins. I’d like to go sightseeing but it’s almost not possible. Once we backed, I didn’t wanna leave, my feet and legs were perhaps crying.

Logbook from Åre: ski day 3

(WARNING! It was for me to remember about what had happened and not much about giving travel information)

Back to a normal fun but anxious day. The weather didn’t look promising at all this morning and we knew exactly WHY. We were discussing the night before if we’d buy three-day lift tickets to be able to get some discounts. The break event would be on if we’d go skiing every day and we would and the forecast said so.

Left in town, right in mountains. Top number is temperature and under is wind speed.

But it’s actually getting better after 11 a.m.

Daily weather report from the balcony (after it got better)

I went on Björnbacken again because it’s irritating that I previously failed. It turned out that it was even worse this time, now I had more fear to go back there. Not a good decision to hurry to finish the thing (but I must come back).

Just noticed when writing this blog that not many photos were taken today but I did get some good ones 😉

Snow art created by strong wind between yesterday’s evening and today’s 10 a.m.

Weather report at 18.20.

Weather report at 18.25

Logbook from Åre: ski day 1

An exciting part of the trip was uncertainty of the weather esp. in mountain areas. We were able to rely on the hour-by-hour forecast, still it could be illusive sometimes.

We didn’t expect to do much today when we woke up, it might not be possible to ski. Then, the weather totally changed and it was the first time I could see the whole, long mountain range, from the top to its foot, which lied along Åre lake.

From the restroom

From the balcony

The key keeper who was deeply buried under snow yesterday

Hard work before skiing, JJ made a very nice pathway with leveled steps for us and the neighbors.

Panorama from a sidewalk on Åre Björnen

After the first turn on the road from our cabin, my degree of happiness just went up to its peak, I got excited with the landscape and nature in front of my eyes and it really made me want to ski!

Cheese!

If it was like this, I could go skiing every day!

Picked up our ski equipment

After few hours of skiing, it’s time to feed ourselves and JJ was rewarded with good beer for being a patient ski teacher ^^.

Eating at Carins Korg was double expensive as eating in regular restaurants but there were not so many choices. After tasting the first bite, there was a reason that it could put those prices. Food there were really, really good. Wallenbergare was juicy and had crispy exterior and fantastic presentation. However, Gulaschsoppa was nothing special.

Wallenbergare at Carins Korg

Gulaschsoppa at Carins Korg

First lesson on Nallebacken 😀

Someone still worked to deliver a master piece.

That’s all for today.

Logbook from Åre: Stockholm – Åre

This Swedish winter, JJ and I planned for a ski vacation in Åre, one of the most popular ski resorts in Sweden. I skied first time during the Christmas holiday in Åre last year and was on ski about 3 hours. JJ is a very positive person, he has a dream that we will go ski together from the top of Åre one day ^^.

We booked the trip in January, shortly after we came back from Åre, two return train tickets and a cabin on Åre Björnen were paid. We had quite large space for ourselves as the cabin was for 6 persons, one of the rooms was not used at all.

It’s one of the most memorable and extreme trip for me because of JJ and the weather, respectively.

2 Mar 2013, train from Stockholm C 07.59 – Åre 15.08, tåg 82, vagn 5, plats 52

Leaving Stockholm

Happy travelers!

When passing Ockelbo

The forecast said it’s gonna be a storm, at Hudiksvall.

Ånge station, it was sunny.

Snowed and windy, perhaps the forecast was right! @Östersund Centralstation.

Arrived in Åre

An adventure just began after we’d arrived in Åre. We found that JJ lost his lift card, which led to a change of our traveling plan to the cabin. JJ went to buy some food for next day and called taxi but the answer was there wouldn’t be any taxi for an hour! We didn’t know what was waiting for us when we spent an hour to figure out how to get to the cabin.

We walked from Åre station to Kabinbanan station, found a taxi and an answer that there was a bus accident which blocked the traffic up to and down from Åre Björnen. It started to get cold, we went inside and a girl said, “we are closing in 1 minute”. Now cold and hungry!!! Good we had homemade Swedish meatballs which we planned to sell if we stuck in the storm and others needed food, eiei!!!

Keep walking

Perhaps there is hope at another end of the tunnel

No. Our commerce didn’t work out but it saved us from starving in the coldness 😛 Then, the bus came but before we arrived at Björnbacken, the storm was already there but it’s just the beginning. It got stronger and stronger, the forecast said it’d be 30m/s wind speed and had a warning level 2 (of 3). The visibility was really bad, I couldn’t see people’s footprints who just 5 meters in front of me. Soon, it was hardly any walking trails left either.

At the last turn from the road to the cabin (which at that time, we didn’t know where it was), we couldn’t even see our cabin, in fact, it just lied next to the big house in front of us. It seemed all houses and lights had disappeared in the storm. Cold, dark, windy and snowy. Strange enough, I thought it was fun.

Now, we’re standing in front of the front door to our cabin, JJ’s gone to find a key, which we were told hints where it’s hidden. He came back and said, “I couldn’t find the key”. And I was like, WHAT!!! In the end, we found it, it was where it’s told, but the hints didn’t say that it’s gonna be a feet under snow.

Now I felt safe and warm, we liked the cabin, it was homey and I started to observe the storm outside.

Arrived safely at the cabin

Shoes also needed special care 🙂

Good night!

P.S. Thanks JJ for pictures on the train ❤

Visiting Tännforsen

We discussed at home that this year we needed to fasten our belts on travelling budget. On the 5th of January, I recognize that I’m searching for info to plan our vacation in Spring. Oops!

Well, nobody to blame in this case and it’s the trip to Åre that has inspired me to either seeing more in Sweden or within Europe (I have a devilish thought that I’m gonna have both). To be fair to myself or to find a good excuse, it’s not an unwise idea to travel domestically or travel to some countries in Europe because it doesn’t need to be expensive.

The trip to Åre has really brought back my appetite in travelling. Deeply I realize that I expect similar experience as I had from Åre, that there were so many natural wonders, warm moments from Christmas with the family and dramatic experiences from skiing and visiting the nature in Norrland.

I almost fall in my own trap of the good end-results of the trip. In reality, there are many factors that are out of our control when we travel, for example, bad weather resulting in no ideal scenes for photos. Therefore, we should not allow such things to stop our happiness. Instead, we should always enjoy the moment when we are on the trip, to experience, to learn, to appreciate, to thank and to live.

Below is another set of photos, shot at the Tännforsen waterfall, the largest waterfall in Sweden. It’s not enough to describe in words the moment when I was on location, searching for the waterfall. It was like you know you’re about to meet your hero or something similarly. It was because when I was told about the trip, I was also shown a picture of the waterfall in winter, therefore, I was hoping to visualize it with my eyes and at that time we were unsure if it’s possible since it’s early winter.

Once I was there, at that very moment, it was peaceful and calm, it seemed the world stood still but it’s not because it had life. Then, it came the sound of the powerful waterfall.

Peaceful and calm yet powerful

Natural wonder in Tännforsen when temperature gets lower

A flow of life

Even in coldness there is a beauty

Winter wonders

Happy New Year 2013!

It feels good when saying it, however, I prefer the version when saying it to a person and not on facebook, twitter, blogs, or other social media.

I mentioned, before I was off for a Christmas vacation, that I was going to Åre which is one of the most popular destination for Swedish skiers.

The ski area in Åre was founded in 1909 and is situated just outside and above the village of Åre. The mountain where people go skiing is Åreskutan, which is 1,420 meter-high.

One thing I like most about Sweden and Åre is you don’t need to have a car to be able to travel and enjoy outdoor activities. In the city, there are buses that run between the city and different slopes. It’s also possible to get to Åre by train, the train station just stop in the city, then it depends on where you stay, which you might require transportation.

Even though, the most common activity of people who visit Åre in winter is for winter sports, I find that it’s worth a visit for people who can’t ski like me, it is still abundant of natural wonders. And, you don’t want to miss it, if you are from a tropical country, have never seen snow in your life, have never experience real cold winter, and has just a few years in Sweden. All are worth the visit. It’s a valuable experience of staying aboard.

Last station

Defying the coldness

It could have been an untouched place for a hundred years

Frozen meeting place

Freeze over!

Struggle in deep snow

Travel in the frozen land

Coldness just disappeared when I saw this view

After a storm

I have a series of photos that I shot shortly after we were back from Thailand. Next day after we landed, Sweden closed its main international airport due to a snow storm.

My first day to work, the street were full of snow, in fact it snowed all day which caused chaos in the public transportation systems.

As soon as the weekend arrived, I drew myself and JJ up to the top of the roof of the house. Wow, it’s beautiful! The early morning sunlight casted on the white city and I could feel tranquility of the city. Yet, I saw a sign of life when I saw smoke came out from a factory lying at the horizon.

I’d like to forward this series of the photos to my kind and supportive readers, visitors, bloggers, friends, family, you name it. I wish you beautiful days and a glorious year. Please remember, after a storm, it’s always beautiful.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Good morning!

Red brick chimney in sunlight

Blurry houses and the city development project, Hagastaden

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wish all of you a brand new day!

A white hill at a sunrise

I still have photos on sea, sand, sun and mountains left in a photo bank from the trip. I will wait with them until the  new year.

At this moment, it’s time to synchronize with the greeting seasons, soon it will be Christmas and we are going to a ski resort in Åre this weekend. It’ll be the first time for me to visit Åre and a ski resort in winter. Hope I get some good photos to share on this blog.

Now, welcome to Sweden where the sun rises around 9 a.m. and sets around 3 p.m. and daytime is yet shorter in the north.

A white hill on the roof as sun rises