The Swede

Ibland är det jävligt pinsamt att vara svensk. Hur blåst får man bli egentligen?

“Det stod att det skulle vara dubbelrum”
-TV4s program Semestersvenskar

Before I start rambling about my trip to Luleaa(Luleå), I’m first going to explain some things.
Why would I go to Luleaa, when it’s located in the north of Sweden, and I live in the lower regions?
Because I wanted to see a hockey game.
You see, ever since I was a little kid I’ve had one favorite team, that beeing Luleaa Hockey.
However, I have never seen them play live. Only on internet, tv and listened on radio, but never live with my own eyes.
The reason that I went to both Gothenburg and Luleaa on this month was that the swedish railway company SJ, handed out coupons that made it real cheap for me to travel anywhere during January. The catch was that I had to be between the ages 20-25, then the ticket would cost $2,5 anywhere!! Yes, I know. More or less for free.
This suited me nicely since I turn 26 in february

So off I went on a wednesday night right after work.
It was a sleeper train, and I shared coupe with two other guys. One iranian pizza guy and a local from Luleaa. We chatted and had a good time, and before you knew it, it was bedtime.
I would lie if I say it was a good nights sleep, but I survive.

We arrived at seven in the morning, and ofcourse I knew nothing about Luleaa other than the name of 1. the hockey arena & 2. the hostel I was about to stay at.
When I got of the train a blistering cold hit my face. From the normal standards I’m used to at 5-10 degrees celcius, and here it was -27!
Thank god for warm underwear and my new Northface jacket, but my supposed-to-keep-warmth-gloves will soon be burned.
Anyhow, I did the usual and asked my way to the hostel. Took me about 20-something minutes, and when I got there I rang the bell. Within a minute a man in his late fifties opened the door, and I got a stench of liqour right in my face. Oh how nice!

So I filled out the form and paid the $22 and started to unload my backpack. You see when I do small trips like this one I only bring my smaller rugsack, but when I backpack I bring my big fucking backpackerbag.
After repacking I hit the streets…
…which led me to the knowledge that there aint really much to do in Luleaa. Well, except for going to hockey.
The town is not dull, it’s just…streets and some shops, a church, loads of restaurants, a couple of pubs, the newly built culture house, but the best of it all was the river(Luleå Älv) that ran alongside the city.
Because of the cold, the water was frosen, and I took a long stroll on the river, about a km straight out, and then back. It was so beautiful, and the air was so clean and fresh. Lovely.

The hockey game

I got to the arena around two hours prior to match start, just to be able to take everything in. See every corner off the place and to watch the arena fill up with people.
I talked to wardens, guards, sales people and other enthusiasts. I ended up getting a Luleaa Hockey-scarf for free just because I told them of the great distance I had travelled just to watch the game
The setting was perfect, and the place was almost packed, only lacking some 2-300 viewers.
The players came in fourty minutes before start for warmup, and at 7pm the game started.

Unfortunately my team made a bad bad bad first period, but the coach must have told the guys to shape it up in intermission because they went out and took the lead.
In the third they were playing pretty good but let two easy goals in, and Luleå lost to Timrå by 3-4.
That bothered me mildly, because I had that night witnessed one of the coolest goals made this season. It was the young, soon-to-become-nhl-player Linus Omark who stole the puck in ofensive zone and then fooled the goalie.
Look at it here.

After the game I headed for the pub, and there I met two couples that lived on the same hostel. We had some beers and drinks and talked about things you talk about when you’ve had alot to drink. Then we took the drinking to their rooms. Very nice

The next day I took the train back home, knowing that I will definately go to Luleå once more to watch some hockey!

All the photos taken during my short stay in Luleå, January -09
Since I havent learned how this wordpress-plugin works yet, you have to open it one image at the time.

The city, scenery & the hockey night