Jokkmokk Sweden

July 15, 2026

Inlandsbanan, our train

This day might be one of the highlights of the trip. The little train is so cute. We chugged along for about an hour and a half through forests, over swamps, and beside lakes before arriving in Jokkmokk. We did get commentary in English but it was kind of hard to understand.

We met two absolutely lovely Swedish women, Nina and Eva, who are on the same tour as we are. They are both from Stockholm but had never met before this trip. There was another couple who got off the train here as well but we haven’t seen them since we left the train. Maybe they aren’t on the same tour.

We went to the Sámi Museum which was really good. It was laid out like spokes from a central hub and the room at the end of each spoke had a theme. One room was all taxidermied birds, and another had models of everyday Sámi life with the people and their environments carved out of wood. I loved that!

One variety of Sámi dress

Models of Sámi life

We couldn’t check in when we arrived just after 10:00 so we put our luggage in the storeroom and headed off. I took my backpack because it had my iPad in it but it got heavy so I took it back to the hotel, ditched the backpack, and headed for the outdoor store. I saw an ad on the map that they carried underwear in merino wool, the same kind I picked up in Copenhagen. While I was there I saw a light sweater that I thought Richard might like to replace the one that he has from MEC that is getting a bit worse for wear. I sent him a photo and he met me at the store.

We both came away with sweaters. The sales woman was an absolute hoot. At one point she told Richard he was lucky that he didn’t have boobs and then said that Swedes don’t care if men strip down to their underwear in the middle of the store in order to try something on. She tried very hard to sell us net underwear which I remember from the 1980’s. Apparently it’s making a resurgence. She also waxed poetic about the virtues of wool shampoo but we’ve had our merino wool stuff for eight years and it’s done just fine with our regular detergent. We managed to get out of the store with the two sweaters.

For lunch we had salads at a little pizza joint then we got back to the hotel and walked around the lake. We stopped briefly in the forest garden but the mosquitos were very enthusiastic so we carried on around the lake where there was more of a breeze.

First walk around the lake

By the time we finished our walk we could check in. Richard had a nap and I texted with Liz W and tried to figure out why she couldn’t see our posts in Find Penguins. I changed my settings so I hope that works. I sent Karen NB a message saying that all I could think of on the train was the song we sang at the spring concert “The Royal Hudson.” I also sent a photo of me in my Adventure Canada jacket in front of a Sámi house to the folks at Adventure Canada. I thought they might appreciate the free advertising.;-)

Publicity shot (not really)

We were going to go elsewhere for dinner but decided to stay at the hotel. We had Arctic char which was delicious and pricey. After supper we walked around the lake again and I tried to get some decent photos of red-throated loons without much success. Tomorrow the train leaves at 9:30 so we can have a bit more of a leisurely start.

Sunset on the lake

Enjoying the scenery

Red throated loons, really

No idea what this is

Fireweed I think

Part of the sculpture garden by the lake

Gällivare Sweden

Looking back at my notes, I’ve written in a lot more detail about the trip on the Inlandsbanen railway than I did about the rest of our trip in Scandinavia. So, instead of trying to condense all of that I think I’ll copy the entries into the blog. What’s the saying? I don’t have time to be brief.

July 14, 2026

Arrival in Lapland

We got up at sic this morning and left the hotel by seven. We had no trouble getting to the transfer point or getting the fast train to the airport. We had to wait a long time at the airport but better that than rushing and wondering if we’d make it. People were very helpful and if someone didn’t speak English they found someone who could. I’m so impressed with the people we meet. Most can understand English and many can even joke in English. Wow!

The fastest speed we saw on the train was 182 kmh. In some ways it didn't seem that fast, but it only took 20 minutes to get from T Centrale to the airport which is 37 km. The plane that took us to Gällivare was a Fokker 50.  I've never ridden on one of those before. We walked from the terminal onto the tarmac and boarded the plane via a set of stairs. I always feel like I'm on a real adventure when I get to walk across the tarmac to board. From our seats we got a peak at the instruments in the cockpit before the flight attendants closed the door for takeoff.

Walking out on the tarmac to the Fokker 50 

A peak inside the cockpit

When we got to Gälivare we had a bit of a glitch getting a cab. We thought we had flagged one down but, it turned out, he had been called by someone else. He was able to call a buddy of his who was driving an eight passenger van and that driver took the remaining seven of us into town.

The folks who scooped the cab we thought we were getting were a German family who had clearly been on an extended hiking trip. I appreciated, as never before, the fact that when we hiked the Chilkoot and took the train to Skagway at the end of the hike, they put the smelly hikers in a separate car from the rest of the passengers. Probably best we didn’t end up sharing a cab. The three Swedish guys who rode in the cab with us were off to hike for a week.

As we were getting our luggage out of the cab, we chatted to the driver a bit. He is going to Fort Mac to visit at the end of the month and he said if he had known we were Canadians, he would have given us a free ride. Richard gave him a Canada flag pin and he seemed very pleased. He gave us his number and said that if we needed a cab again to call him.

By the time we got there, got into our room, and got more or less settled it was 4:00pm and we had had nothing to eat since the previous evening. We thought we’d have a chance to grab a bite of something at the airport but the area we were in had absolutely nothing in that regard. Richard’s limbs were in great danger by the time the restaurant in the hotel opened. I ate way too much sweet stuff and Richard, being more sensible, had a salad.

Before supper we dropped into the info centre. The woman there told us to go to the museum, that it was worth seeing, and that it closed in 20 minutes. We saw most of the Sami exhibit and I was able to score a couple of pins for my collection before it closed.

Mining is the main industry

Two small events

I have a lot of posts to catch up on. I’m not finished with the Scandinavia trip yet and now I have a whole bunch more that I wrote while we were in Greenland, Labrador, and Newfoundland so stay tuned. In the meantime I just wanted to note two small events that happened lately. 

We were in a grocery store in St. John’s picking up some lunch. When we got to the checkout we noticed that if you bought Sober Carpenter beer you got a free glass. While I’m not a fan of the beer I love their cider. I exclaimed that I really liked Sober Carpenter and said to Richard, “Too bad we’re not in the market for it right now.” The woman at the till said, “You really like it?” I said it was my favourite cider. She told us to wait, left the till and came back with a glass. I get very excited over such things and I asked her if it was really ok. She told me not to worry, just to enjoy it, so we left the store with our lunch fixings and a Sober Carpenter beer glass.

While we were driving around it wasn’t hard to leave the glass in its cardboard sleeve in the back of the Bronco. When it came time to pack to fly home it was another matter. I took it out of the sleeve and stuffed one of my favourite wool socks inside it. Then I put the other sock over top of it. Next I put it on top of my padded jacket and laid some more clothing on top. It was in the middle of the duffle so it wouldn’t get damaged if the ends got whacked. I also thought about what a mess it would be to clean up if it did break in transit. It didn’t and I’m now happily drinking my cider out of the St. John's glass.

The second cool thing happened this afternoon when Richard and I went for a walk in the neighbourhood. It was coolish and there was a bit of a wind. As we walked through a park  Richard noticed a dog with something in its mouth among the trees. He said the owner was up the hill on the gravel alley. The dog, a border collie, spotted us and made a beeline.

The object he had in his mouth was a deflated soccer ball which he dropped at Richard’s feet. Then he looked up at Richard expectantly so Richard kicked the ball. The dog caught it, brought it back, and dropped it at my feet. I got lucky and kicked it into the air at which point the dog launched himself off the ground, caught the ball in mid air and brought it back to us again. After a couple more kicks and mid air catches we decided that, although we could stay and play for hours, we had a hungry bird at home and we’d better carry on. We told the dog to go back to his human and we let the soccer ball lie in the grass as we walked past. As we did, we heard the man whistle for his dog.

Sometimes I need to remind myself to enjoy the little things.

Sweden

It was about a 5 ½ hour drive from Oslo to Stockholm but it was nicely broken up. We stopped for coffee and then at a candy supermarket. I didn’t know there was such a thing but it is just what it sounds like. Instead of aisles of produce and canned goods there are aisles of candy.

You take a bag or a bucket when you go in and then fill it. They charge you by weight. Of course we had to buy some. In addition to the bins of candy, we found a couple of licorice chocolate bars that we saved for special occasions at home. I think we ate one on my birthday and one on our anniversary.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside diner where it was faster to order the special than to order off the menu. We all got fed but it was a bit of a rush. When we got to Stockholm we had supper in a little restaurant underneath a church.

We had Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, and half a tomato. Someone made a comment about hoping the meatballs were better than Ikea’s. The server overheard and said, “Trust me, they are.” I can’t comment, having never had the meatballs at Ikea.

After dinner some of our group decided to walk back to the hotel. I debated and then thought better of it because of my two previous falls. I reasoned I’d have less chance of tripping again if I took the bus. Well, guess what? I fell anyway. I was angry and worried and determined to rule out the easiest cause first. I decided to buy myself a new pair of shoes at the first available opportunity. Even my crocs and heavy socks felt more secure than the Vessies I was wearing. Nothing against Vessies. They are waterproof and fairly comfy but I need a shoe with a lot more lateral stability than they offer.

The next day, the final one of the Trafalgar tour, we went with a local guide on a tour of the city. We saw the city hall where the Nobel prize dinner is held.

In the same building contains the Golden Hall that is decorated with mosaics from floor to ceiling.

We were the only people in there which the guide said was impossible to believe because it’s always crowded. She thought that there were so few people because the school holidays had just started and so many people were out of town.

We got back on the bus and went to a palace to have Royal fika.

I particularly like the idea of fika. It’s a gathering of people around coffee or tea and a cinnamon bun or other sweet treat. It can be a couple of friends getting together, or it can be a quick stand-up meeting at work. It’s a chance for some good conversation.

The bus dropped us off in the centre of the city and we followed the local guide onto the train where we made several stops to look at the public art in ther stations. She explained that if the stations were also art installations there was less vandalism and it also helped people to recognize which station they needed to get off at. One art piece was a series of photos of people in Stockholm going about their daily lives behind glass so they looked three dimensional. Another station paid tribute to all the workers who built the train line.

Photos through glass

Tribute to the people who constructed the station

When we emerged from the station in the center of the city, Richard and I scuttled into a huge mall to get out of the pouring rain. We ate at a little kiosk and talked to the young woman who was making the wraps and to a man from Stockholm who was an architect.

Lunch spot

After lunch it was back on the bus for a tour of the Vasa museum. The Vasa is a ship that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628 in the harbour. It is quite opulent with incredibly detailed carvings throughout. The story goes that the king wanted two rows of cannons rather than just one. This meant that there were two levels of doors that could let in water. The ship is ridiculously top heavy and when she set sail the wind caught her and she started to rock. Water came in through the cannon ports and she sank.

The Vasa

Double decker cannons

Some of the carvings

She remained on the bottom until the 1950s when she was rediscovered in the shipping lanes. She was salvaged in 1961 and in order to prevent her from disintegrating as her timbers dried out, she was sprayed with polyethylene glycol. It was pretty amazing to see a ship that had been in the sea for over 300 years.

View from our window. The dome is a performing arts space.

The bus delivered us back to our hotel for the farewell dinner. Our group made quite the racket with our laughing and chatting. One of the funniest things was a misprint in a small number of the menus. Instead of saying ‘salmon with sauce’ this particular menu said ‘salmon with stainless steel.’ That led to all kinds of speculation about how stainless steel was to be cooked. As the dinner wound down we said our goodbyes and Richard and I began to plan for the next part of our adventure.

While I wouldn’t say that doing laundry was a particular adventure, it was necessary. The next day we bought train passes that were valid long enough to cover our stay in Stockholm and our trip to the airport to fly to Gallivare. Passes in hand, or rather on our phones, we loaded our dirty laundry into our backpacks and caught the train into the center of the city. While the clothes were in the wash, we went to find a shoe store to see if I could get a better pair of walking shoes. The laundry needed attention before I had decided on a pair so Richard went on ahead and I made my way back to the laundromat once I had my shoes.

The hanging sculptures help with navigation. 

When I arrived I was surprised to learn that the dryer had eaten enough money to dry our load twice over but still refused to work. Being unwilling to lose any more money, we gave up, loaded our wet laundry into our backpacks and headed back to the hotel where we strung up a laundry line and spent the evening dodging hanging clothes.

Somehow you sort of expect that when you go somewhere to wash your laundry you should also be able to dry it. We had supper in the food court across the street from the hotel. The rice bowls were perfectly acceptable and we got to do some interesting people watching.

The next morning we went to Skansen, an open air museum. It’s a fascinating place which includes a zoo and a number of historic exhibits. We did a tour of the zoo but were less enthused about seeing bears than some of the other visitors. I did see a gorgeous owl but wasn’t able to get a good photo because it was behind mesh. The highlight for me was the historic furniture factory. We spent quite a bit of time talking to the young woman who was working there on some marquetry.

Vintage drill press

Scroll saw demo

I asked her if she would demonstrate the treadle scroll saw which she did. From there we went to watch the glass blowers.

Glass sculpting

I left before the sculpture was finished but Richard saw it to completion. I walked around and noticed a bookbindery which wasn’t open but I got a pretty good look through the window. By then our feet were tired so we caught an old streetcar back into the center of the city. We decided to have dinner at an outdoor restaurant before going back to the hotel.

Tram car

Dinner spot

On our final day in Stockholm we went to the Viking Museum and the Shipwreck Museum. Rather than take the train out to the island we opted to take the small ferry from the center of the city.

Ferry line-up

I’m not sure I understand exactly what a Viking is but they seem to have been aggressive and nasty if you weren’t one of them. The governor of one place they landed welcomed them and they responded by killing him on the spot and proceeding to kill the townspeople and take whatever they wanted before moving on.

Viking ship

Viking carvings

One of the interactive stations in the museum asked if you could row as fast as a Viking. I decided to give that little exercise a pass although there were plenty of people trying it. The rowing machine gave readouts as to how well you were doing compared to the Vikings. Some guys managed to keep up but most didn’t. The part I found most interesting about that museum was the exhibit detailing how much influence the Vikings have had in all areas of modern life, from names of appliances, to characters in video games.

We liked this sign

After the Vikings we went to the Shipwreck Museum. The whole top floor was given over to hands-on exhibits. One involved a series of 4 bins with what looked like plastic cutting boards in them. Each board had a tab listing a particular subject on it. You pulled the board out and put it into a slot and information about that subject came up on a touch screen where you could navigate through various layers of information. Most of the exhibits were available in English which we really appreciated. Then again, some of the signs didn't need translation.

And this one

In one spot there were 4 stools on which you could sit and, using a virtual reality head set, try to take photos as if you were a diver under water. There was a lineup so I didn’t try that one. Other stations had artifacts under microscopes. On the main floor was a movie projected onto the walls and ceiling of a room. The movie was in the form of a monologue by the ocean. I wasn’t impressed by the monologue and I was less impressed by the fact that the doors remained open throughout the showing and people came and went contributing their shadows to the atmosphere of the sea. The guy beside me was on his phone the whole time.

There was a good vegetarian restaurant not far from the museum where we both had tomato, feta, and lentil salads which we really enjoyed. On our walk to the train station we stopped for ice cream for dessert. When we arrived back at the hotel it was time to pack our stuff in preparation for the next day’s flight to Gallivare.

I met a friend at Skansen