Hello,
I’m back and finally I found the chance to put myself here to update the blog a little.
This week has been quite not interesting, due to the weather and to the fact that my team and I took a week of vacation from the school project, I have not done much.
In fact lately here in Göteborg it has been raining and, sometimes, snowing quite a lot. With the omnipresent wind helping out, going out, even to just catch a bus, is a though adventure.
About me: I am quite good physically, even if emotionally is a whole another story.
Last week I finally started searching for information about a trip I’ve longed to plan and, of course, to do: go to see the Northern Lights (For whom who are not aware of them, or simply do not know what they are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)). They are also called Aurora, and since we are in the northern hemisphere they are called ‘Aurora Borealis’ (from Greek).
When I still was in Canada I was planning to see them in Alaska, but due to the circumstances I did not manage to perform such trip.
Now that I have a new chance, I will try to not miss it, even though it appears to be harder than expected.
In fact even if to see them it is not necessary to go to another country, the place which is highly suggested: Porjus (in Jokkmokk), is some 22 hours away (by train). While by plane they are merely 1-2 hours, but still a quite long trip considering that I won’t leave Sweden.
The price for both the plane and the train tickets are quite high, remembering the fact that I am a jobless student, therefore accurate planning is very much needed.
I am also reading and trying to learn as much as possible about how to shoot the Northern Lights properly and in a good way as well as ways to protect the camera from the low temperatures.
Sadly all my equipment is back home and I did not have the chance to get it yet, so it would be quite hard anyway.
Even if for this year I would not be able to go there myself, I found an interesting website: http://uk.jokkmokk.jp/
It is a great website: some people places several cameras around Porjus (apparently indoor in front of a window facing a quite large field or anyway having a nice vista of the sky) and their pictures are uploaded and updated hourly. There is also an archive of all the past pictures they shoot.
It is also possible to watch the video (the same pictures in sequence) to see the change of the sky.
Even though sometimes the pictures are quite bad (since the cameras are indoor sometimes the reflection of the window does not allow to see the sky, but instead you can clearly see what there is inside the room; and another issue, this time not their fault, since the camera is pointing outside, there might be some cars passing by at the exact same time when the picture is taken, so the front-light of the car might bother and ruin an otherwise great picture). I noticed that, if the sky is not covered (which lately sadly is a quite common event), to see the Northern Lights is quite easy. They usually appear in all their beauty around 01:00AM and they end at 04:00AM.
If you have the time, take a look it is totally worth it!
Luckily I will manage to plan a proper trip and find an easy and cheap way to get there; even if the train idea was very appealing (seeing the whole country by train, its forests and countryside), spending 2 whole days just to travel there, and at then end not spending so much less, I believe it is not a quite economic option, therefore I think I will choose the quick way in order to have more time to visit the area myself.
Extras:
Here it is the Extra section.
As usual, I am going to share a song I specifically liked in these last period and which I have been listening to while writing this post:
[Frida Kahlo – The Floating Bed]
The sounds in this song really bring me back to my happy childhood when I used to play Monkey Island. Isn’t it? It really sounds like one of the many soundtracks of that magnificent series of video games.
In this period of international instability, crisis, famine, exploitation and crimes against the humanity, I want to end this post with a quite known saying from the Native Americans (the real ones), that as it seems not everybody has fully understood (referring to the ones who think they are the owners of the world, Our world).
Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.
I wish you now a good evening as well as a good weekend.
And remember, if you liked it, please share it with your friends :).
Peace,
Nesh
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