Blue Skies

Last Sunday marked the FIRST day that I saw blue skies in Umeå! Though the sun does rise, clouds have filtered what little sunlight we receive. So I was delighted when I woke up Sunday morning and saw the snow sparkling in sunlight. I enjoyed a beautiful ski through Gammlia forest by my house. I do this quite often, but the forest looks so much more beautiful with the long shadows of trees cast upon the snow and the rays of light filtering through the evergreen branches.






Umeå is known for its birch forests. The city has burned down and been rebuilt so many times, that they finally started to plant stands of birch between buildings to act as a buffer. Apparently birch trees hold a lot of water and are quite difficult to burn.








Swede's also seem to have mastered little tricks to decorate outdoors during winter. You can all make your very own ice sculptures. Just fill a bucket or garbage can with water, place some leaves or other organic materials in the bucket, and let it freeze for a few hours. Then dump out the remaining water and voila - you have yourself a series of little ice sculptures to decorate your doorway!







I also managed to go out to a night club last weekend called the Plaza. After standing in line for 40 minutes, we entered the hotel that turns two of its floors into a night club once a month. The DJ's on both dance floors seemed to adore techno versions of 80's and early 90's music, much of it from the states. Though I did not recognize some songs, they all had a similar flavor. A huge marble staircase connected the two floors and appeared to be the place "to be seen". That was the only reason I could imagine that so many people lined the railings.

Although I did dance, I spent most the night gawking at the outfits everyone was wearing. Men in tight jeans, one whose rode so low that his tighty-whities were the only thing covering the upper half of his butt. Several men wore fitted pants, white shirts, suspenders and boots... others wore teal and hot pink warm-up jackets covered with stripes and triangles. The women wore tights and scandalously short dresses that really looked more like long shirts. Another woman wore an outfit that made her look like a German beer maid. Hot pink and black zebra print stretch pants, a black puffy sequined dress with black gloves, a strapless black unitard with a fat red belt... had I been old enough to go to the clubs in the early 90's, I think the scene would have looked very similar. Needless to say, I felt a bit old and outdated (or maybe a bit too new) in my black lace shirt and black, wide leg pants. Next time I will bring my camera!