Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Another picture from within one of the artist designed ice rooms.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

One of the many artistically designed ice rooms within the hotel.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Here is one of the 4 main hallways within the Ice Hotel. There are 3 different types of guest rooms within the Ice Hotel; standard ice rooms, snow rooms, and artist designed ice rooms.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

The drinks served within the Ice Bar offer a very colorful contrast. They are served in ice mugs carved from the Jukkasjärvi river just minutes outside the bar.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

The Ice Bar in Jukkasjärvi was the first and mothership of all the Ice Bars around the world. Other Ice Bars now exist in Copenhagen, Istanbul, London, Oslo, and Stockholm. All of these Ice Bars use ice mugs cut from the Jukkasjärvi river.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Here is a picture of the main lobby within the Ice Hotel.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Our second day in Kiruna we made a visit to the famous Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, just a 30 minute drive from Kiruna.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

The city of Kiruna, population approximately 18,000, is currently in the process of being fully moved further away from the mine. The continuous mining has caused large sinkholes to form beneath Kiruna, jeopardizing the safety of the buildings and the people living there.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

The LKAB Mine has 260 miles of roads underneath the mine and descends to a depth of 932 miles.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Later in the afternoon after the combi-tour we headed to the LKAB Iron Ore Mine in Kiruna for a guided tour 500 meters below the earth.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

After drinking some coffee and warming up in the Sami tent we hopped on some snow-mobiles for another tour around the outskirts of Kiruna.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Halfway through the combi-tour we stopped in a Sami tent for some warm coffee and tea.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Once those tough, little huskies got moving, they could pull the sled hard and fast.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Another picture of myself standing on the back of a sled.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Here is a picture of myself with two of our sled-dogs. The one closest to me is named Robert De Niro and the one on the right is named Michael Jackson.

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

Upon immediate arrival in Kiruna we headed to the outskirts of the small arctic town for a dog-sledding and snow-mobiling combi tour!

Lapland and the Arctic North, March 2012

After a 14 hour bus-ride north from Stockholm, we successfully crossed the arctic circle and several hours later arrived in the Iron Ore Mining town of Kiruna.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

It took 2 full years for the Vasa to be lifted out of the water. The ship finally broke to the surface in 1961.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

A picture here of the overwhelmingly huge Vasa Viking Ship. The reconstruction of the ship includes 95% original timber. The ship itself is 70 meters long and 52 meters high.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

After leaving the Östermalmshallen we walked along the Harbor towards the Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum). The Vasamuseet contains the "Vasa" Viking ship that sank in the Stockholm Harbor in 1628. While walking to the Vasamuseet we watched the sun melt away the ice filled harbor.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

Seafood galore in the Östermalmshallen.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

Here is some more eye candy from the Östermalmshallen.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

Day 2 in Stockholm started with a quick stop at the food market called Östermalmshallen, originally opened in 1889.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

Whoever thought they would be serving up some Brooklyn Brewery I.P.A. in Stockholm?

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

After a long day of walking and sightseeing we decided to rest our legs at the Skybar/Restaurant called Restaurang Himlen (Restaurant Heaven). The 360 degree views were stunning and the food/drinks actually quite reasonable.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

Another beautiful view from the same location on the archipelago of Södermalm.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

We continued walking and climbed to the top of the very large archipelago called Södermalm. A very large proportion of downtown Stockholm exists on this archipelago. It was here where I took this picture and had a nice vantage point over the city.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

After wandering through the "Old Town" for a while we walked along one of the many harbors within Stockholm and spotted this magnificent vessel docked on the archipelago of Skeppsholmen.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

This is a picture of very typical, historic, Swedish buildings located within the "Old Town" on the archipelago of Gamla Stan.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

We started our first day off in Stockholm by wandering around the archipelago called Gamla Stan. It is here where you can walk around what is called the "Old City" and see Stockholm Palace which is displayed in this picture.

Stockholm, Sweden March 2012

Two days before departing for the Arctic Circle and northern Sweden we spent two days in the beautiful city of Stockholm. This picture was taken from the Skybar/Restaurant at Restaurang Himlen(Restaurant Heaven) downtown Stockholm.

Upon entering the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen, we were greeted by two enormous Elephants. There is in fact a Carlsberg beer named "Elephant" precisely after these two Elephants.

What is the best part of Beer Museums one might ask? You get free beer with your admission! This is a Carlsberg Special.

The biggest beer collection in the world resides within the Carlsberg Brewery Museum. The collection consists of 20,000+ bottles of beer from all over the world.

A picture taken from the front of Frederiksberg Castle.

Once again this is Frederiksberg Castle.

This is a picture of Fredericksberg Castle, located in a park within a five minute walk from my residence.

A picture from the Jordaan neighborhood in Amsterdam. The Jordaan is one of the older neighborhoods in Amsterdam with small, tight, windy streets and old buildings.

Great break-dancing street performers in the Leidseplein in Amsterdam!

No trip to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to the incredible Heineken Experience Museum. It was easily the best beer museum I have ever been to and puts the Carlsberg brewery museum in Copenhagen to shame.

This is a picture taken of the well-known Leidseplein in Amsterdam. While it is a bit touristy, it is undoubtedly the place to be on a weekend night. The square is filled with cafe's, restaurants, clubs, and bars. Luckily for us, our hostel was only two blocks away.

Downtown Amsterdam, Holland. I thought there were an insane amount of bikes in Copenhagen only to find twice as many in Amsterdam. There is a joke here in Amsterdam that says the bottom of the Canals are 2 feet mud and 3 feet bicycle.

This is once again Nyhavn downtown Copenhagen. It is one of the more visually alluring places in all of Copenhagen. If you type Copenhagen into Google images the first picture that comes up will most certainly be a picture of Nyhavn.

This is a canal located just across from the Danish Parliament downtown Copenhagen.

One of the several Copenhagen Business School buildings that I have class in. This building is called Dalgas Have and its' architecture is particularly eye catching.

Downtown Copenhagen on a brisk, wintry, January afternoon!

Beautiful Nyhavn in downtown Copenhagen lit up on a late Saturday evening in February.

Lan Su Chinese Garden

Portland, Oregon

January 2011