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Feb 18th 2010
After the excitement of the night before (when both couples got engaged) we decided we would get up late and have an explore of Kiruna itself.
According to a leaflet I picked up from Kiruna Town Hall (or Stadshus), some facts about Kiruna are:
*Area - 20,000 sqkm
*Pop - 26,000
*1,400km north of Stockholm
*140km north of the Arctic Circle
To be honest, at no stage did I feel I was out in the wildnerness. I had expected to feel that way, thinking that because Kiruna was so far away from other towns, it would be somehow apart from what was going on.
The population is such because of the Iron Ore mines (Britain and Germany fought over them in WW2). Unfortunately the Iron Ore mining has had a disasterous effect on the environment, creating cracks and fissures to such an extent that the town in likely to have to move in the next 10 years. In the Town Hall there was an interesting display showing where the cracks were, and the votes that had taken place on which buildings to save. The Town Hall was included as was the Church.
We visited the Town Hall - it was a really nice building. Quite 60s in style - it was inaugurated in 1963 and the architect was Artur von Schmalensee.
Being an architecture nerd I liked a few details I found out about it -
* the clock tower is adorned with sculptures made by Bror Marklund and the 23 bells chime every hour in daytime.
*the front door knobs are made of reindeer horn and curly grained birch wood
*Italian stone mosiacs adorn the floor
*the walls are built of Dutch handmade bricks
There are also some interesting art pieces -
*big painting on the wall of Kirunavaara, painted 1905
*the big sculpture in the entrance hall is made of birch and reindeer horn by the Lappish artist Lars Sunna and represents a mixture of Lappish signs.
From the Town Hall we headed to the wooden Church. Another award winning building and totally different to the churches I have visited in UK and southern Europe. There is no decoration or ornamentation. I'm not sure whether this is by design or because of religion.
After a walk and photo session we were cold and hungry so headed for pizza. The guy at the pizza place spoke no English so it was a case of pick something and hope for the best. We ended up with ham, mushrooms, onion and prawns!
I sadly don't have any photos of the evening's activities. I left my camera at home due to the cold and because Paul was taking his.
We had booked to got Snowmobiling and Dog Sledding. A double package for £95 each. This was a good deal bearing in mind that each on their own seemed to cost round the £70 mark. Bit of prior research paid off.
We were picked up at the hotel and headed off to meet two other couples (who had also happened to be watching the Northern Lights the night before and had heard that 2 couples had got engaged!).
After changing (or rather putting on over our own clothes) an all-in-one snow suit and boots we headed out into the snow.
Our group was give the snowmobiles first and we were to meet with the dog sled group at the Sami tent half way and then swap after warm drinks and cakes.
Me and Paul shared a snowmobile as did Stephen and Susie. Me and Paul followed the instructor and were wizzing along at a good speed, doing a few jumps. I let Paul do most of the driving but did have a go and managed a couple of jumps myself.
Stephen and Susie were what Paul called "Driving Miss Daisy". At one point they veered off the track and had to be collected by the instructor. We were nearly at the Sami tent when we realised that Susie and Stephen were no longer behind us and we couldn't see their lights. The instructor turned around and headed back over the snow field. 15 mins passed and they hadnn't returned and Paul said he spotted smoke. I told him he hadn't and it was somewhere in the distance. Paul became instant - he had seen smoke behind and now he saw a fire.
With that we attempted to reverse our snowmobile but became bogged down in the snow. I climbed off to help and was up to my thighs in snow. Eventually we managed to loop round and headed back towards where Susie and Stephen were. There was indeed a fire blazing and Stephen and Susie's snowmobile had exploded and caught fire. They said it was felt warm, and they had seen smoke and fire in the engine so jumped off. Good thing really because there was a full tank of fuel on board. Fortunately no-one was hurt and the dog sled had been following so caught up with us.
After some debate the other couples swapped and rode the 2 remaining snowmobiles and we were put on the dog sled.
It was a short, but very smelly, distance to the Sami tent for drinks and cake. The guy lit a fire which smoked out the tent but eventually was bearable and warm.
We complete our trip back to base on the dog sled. It wasn't especially comfortable and the dogs poo-ed, trumped and farted as they ran along so it was quite stinky! One dog fart is bad. 12 becomes unbearable!
After 2 hours our trip was over. Another eventful evening in Sweden!
We finished our evening in the hotel pub having a meal. I chose the traditional Pytti Pana which is chopped meat, onions and potatoes with a poached egg on top. It was really nice.
Susie and Stephen had just about recovered. We debated about letting parents know and Paul texted his and Stephen's mum and dad who were obviously worried, but at least knew we were safe.
As we ate our meal we debated what the headlines would have been if something worse had occurred - "Newly engaged couples burnt alive on snowmobile" etc.
Frame :*BLACK MOUNTAIN CYCLES* la cabra
Headset :*WHITE INDUSTRIES* external headset
Wheels：*WHITE INDUSTRIES* XMR disc hub × *MAVIC* a1025 650b rim
Tire :*ULTRADYNAMICO* mars JFF tire
Handle :*CRUST BIKES* towel rack bar
Stem :*NITTO* FW-31 stem
Seatpost :*NITTO* 92 seatpost
Saddle :*WTB* silverado race saddle BL special
Seat Clamp :*DKG* flip lock clamp
Brake :*PAUL* klamper disc calliper
Brake lever:*TRP* RRL alloy road brake levers
Rack :*NITTO* M-1B front rack × *TUBUS* tara front rack
Bar tape:*SALSA* gel cork bar tape
Bag :*SWIFT INDUSTRIES* jr. ranger pannier × *ULTRA ROMANCE* fabio's chest small
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External glass 'conservatory' outside of Tower Place near the Tower of London. Not quite sure what this spce brings to the building, but what do I know, I'm not an architect or a Town Planner!
ww.fosterandpartners.com/projects/tower-place/
VC light meter atop my Nikon D40. The D40 accepts all my old AIS and pre-AIS Nikon-mount lenses, but it doesn't meter with them. This allows me to take meter readings and set them manually.
Photos for participants and USLA. Tag waterbloggged! Others: DON'T PUT ON EXTERNAL SITES WITHOUT PERMISSION.
Internal and external aspects of this fine Catalan architecture. Situated less than a ten minute walk from Sagrada de Familia in Barcelona this hospital deserves scrutiny for the discerning traveller. Do Not Use Without Express Permission From Peter Wheeler.
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar called on President of the European Council, H.E. Mr. Antonio Costa and President of the European Commission, H.E. Ms. Ursula von der Leyen in New Delhi
ET-134 as it is guided onto the Pegasus barge during the early morning hours of
Thursday, Oct. 15, in preparation for departure to Kennedy Space Center.
Credit: Lockheed Martin
Liguus fasciatus graphicus Pilsbry, 1912 - Florida tree snails, modern (latest Holocene). (public display, Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA)
The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores.
Liguus fasciatus is a land snail in Florida and Cuba that has an attractive, colorful shell. Over 120 nominal subspecies have been described, some of which are extinct from the activities of shell collectors.
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From museum signage:
Once abundant in the hardwood trees in "hammocks" throughout southern Florida, the brightly-colored Liguus snails have almost disappeared due to the destruction of their habitats. Over 54 color forms, or "subspecies", have been described.
"Ligs", as they are popularly known among conchologists, prefer to live on the trunks and branches of smooth-barked trees, such as the gumbo limbo, the Jamaica dogwood and the wild tamarind, Lysiloma. Sinistrally coiled, or "left-handed" specimens are very rare. Heavy growths of fungi and lichens serve as their food. Winter freezes will kill them.
Enemies of these snails include birds, the introduced European rats, beetles and illicit shell collectors. Liguus are prolific breeders, but their main danger comes from fires, hurricanes, pollution and the cutting down of their preferred trees. Transplanted colonies now extinct in the Lower Florida Keys, are now surviving in the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve.
When early naturalists [in the 1800s], like Titian R. Peale and Charles T. Simpson, explored southern Florida, they found the Liguus tree snails abundant in all the hardwood "hammocks" and along most of the Lower Florida Keys. Past hurricanes had spread this species to almost every area in southern Florida, except in pine forests, watery swamps and where severe freezes occurred.
In less than 150 years, man-made fires, new roads, tree-clearing and commercial farming have made many of the subspecies and unique color forms extinct. Shell collectors reduced the numbers of some colonies and mixed various forms, thus producing new hybrids. Thanks to wildlife sanctuaries, many populations of color forms still survive today.
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Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Orthalicidae
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More info. at:
and
This face was added to the inside clock about 70 years after the original. i.e. around 1460
Wells Cathedral, Somerset
In March 2020 Greece requested support via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism following the sudden increase of refugees and migrants at its external borders.
In response to the request, 14 European countries offered nearly 70,000 items of assistance.
It included sleeping bags, blankets, power generators, tents, and other shelter, sanitation and health items. The EU’s emergency response coordination centre in Brussels coordinated the aid deliveries and co-financed the transport of the assistance to Greece.
Source: © Greek General Secretariat for Civil Protection, 2020
Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, Kauai
HI__0611_046
Fine Art Prints are available at www.wildphotons.com
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