The Northern Lights are ALWAYS Trending here at Hallandale Beach Blog, whether high above Sweden, Iceland, Norway or Finland. We don't discriminate when it comes to our awe-inspiring friend, Aurora Borealis!; #chadblakley, #graemerichardson

Northern lights in Norway #amazing #beautiful pictures pic.twitter.com/ok1MezJGyn
— Emilia Watson (@WatsonEmilia) October 15, 2013

http://t.co/Ht6H3M1v6l (Photo: Chad Blakley / Lights Over Lapland) pic.twitter.com/wjAjqvZOHM
— Raven (@tolkienreader69) October 12, 2013

Wow! - beautiful "@fpm919: Northern Lights over Kiruna, Sweden pic.twitter.com/DGAbRPr5gq"
— Martin Stevens (@martindstevens) October 7, 2013

Guardianwitness Bridges small or large that make the business of crossing an experience unlike any other. https://t.co/vvX8TCN20J
— graeme richardson (@igraeme) October 4, 2013

The #NorthernLights have arrived in #SwedishLapland again and in #Luleå yesterday evening there was a fantastic show! pic.twitter.com/X6084wiTvv
— VisitSweden (@VisitSwedenUK) August 28, 2013

Though far from us, the Northern Lights are ALWAYS Trending here at Hallandale Beach Blog, whether high above Sweden, Iceland, Norway or Finland. We don't discriminate when it comes to our awe-inspiring friend, Aurora Borealis!; #chadblakley, #graemerichardson 

Real Time Tweets re Northern Lights are here:

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NorthernLights&src=typd&f=realtime

Oohs and aahs as Lapland tourists view Northern Lights: Photographer Pauli Hänninen of Kittilä had to drop eve... http://t.co/UwfyA9uhlH
— Yle News (@ylenews) October 15, 2013

Northern lights. http://t.co/JWeYk6d803
— Lisa Rank (@kumullus) October 15, 2013

On Friday 11, 'Luleå' was Trending Topic in Sweden for 10 hours: http://t.co/FG6yXb1IzJ #trndnl
— Trender Sverige (@trendinaliaSE) October 12, 2013

Sadly, Iceland and the Aurora Borealis have been subtracted from my trip itinerary; Putting the awe back in awesome: Auroras over Sweden make you feel very insignificant in the bigger scheme of things, so you need to positively influence the things that you CAN!; @STFAbisko

VideoFromSpace YouTube Channel video: 3 Years of Amazing Auroras Captured on Video by Chad Blakley at Abisko National Park, Sweden. Uploaded June 12, 2012.
http://youtu.be/DaWAgch0GFM

Sadly, Iceland and the Aurora Borealis have been subtracted from my trip itinerary; Putting the awe back in awesome: Auroras over Sweden make you feel very insignificant in the bigger scheme of things, so you need to positively influence the things that you CAN!; @STFAbisko

Or, jag tänker inte Island som planerat.
Some of you already know this from emails or phone calls of mine the past few weeks, but for others of you, this will be the first you hear of it: I'm not going to be going to Iceland in January as originally planned.
My big plans to stop there for a few days on the way back from Sweden, and to hop on a sweet tour bus and take a long-but-comfortable drive a few hours north of Reykjavik to see the Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis are officially kaput. 

It's mostly because in October, I booked non-refundable airline tickets on SAS and had to pay in advance for the airfare, hotel and the B&B in Stockholm that I'm staying at to get the specific travel dates I wanted, ostensibly, in order to get back in time to watch the public Presidential Inaugural on Monday the 21st.
The non-Romney inaugural as it turns out

This required that I make some changes to my original itinerary, as discussed here on the blog back on July 18, 2012, titled, Want to see a sneak peek of my future? Prescient geniuses with a camera at BeepShow have already filmed part of my future -away from the heat & humidity of Miami- and it includes Iceland and the Northern Lights. But sadly, I'll end up missing Sigur Rós at Iceland Airwaves; #Iceland, #BeepShow, #Icelandair
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/want-to-see-sneak-peek-of-my-future.html

As previously seen on that post: 


London to Iceland in Ten Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.
Beep Show video: London to Iceland in Ten Minutes. 2012.
Complete information about video is here: http://vimeo.com/45121903

http://www.icelandtouristboard.com/

Still, it's not like you can't see the Aurora Borealis from Sweden, you just have to be smart, resourceful AND patient... like the people who captured the wonderful videos above and below.

For me to see it in two weeks, I'll obviously have to leave greater Stockholm so I can be free of the city's light pollution.
On the other hand, while I'm there, there will be a whole lot LESS hours of light -daylight- for me than what I'm used to, as sunrise there will be sometime after 8:30 a.m. and sundown will be around 3:30 p.m.
Yes, you read that correctly, sundown at 3:30 p.m.

Just so you know, since I'm guessing that most of you reading this have never heard of it, the city of Abisko, located in Norrbotten, the northernmost county in Sweden, up near the Norwegian border and the Lappland area of Finland, is considered one of the best places on the planet to see the aurora borealis phenomena.
That's largely because the mountains around there catch most of the precipitation in winter and prevent it from interfering with the night time views.
That explains why so many of the videos on this post and uploaded to YouTube were recorded there.
It's a target-rich environment.


View Larger Map

According to this article in the newspaper up in distant Norrbotten, NSD, i.e. the Norrländska Socialdemokraten, http://www.nsd.se/nyheter/ bookings to the Abisko Turiststation STF, a.k.a. STF Abisko, increased by 130% over last year, a banner year. 
http://www.nsd.se/nyheter/artikel.aspx?ArticleID=7366284

According to this article, what's especially noticeable now are the number of Northern Lights tourists coming from Japan and Great Britain, which sort of stands to reason given both how Internet-savvy those countries are, and how famous their citizens are are for traveling and exploring.

For the Japanese, it's about a nine-hour plane ride from Tokyo, but for the Brits, it's much less daunting to get to the nearest airport, Kiruna, via stops in Oslo or Stockholm Arlanda.

Official STF Abisko website:
http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/sv/upptack/Omraden/Lappland/Fjallstationer/STF-Abisko-Turiststation/


Meanwhile, over at Porjus, the #1 place to see the aurora according to many informed sources, there's a LIVE streaming camera you might want to check out: http://uk.jokkmokk.jp/detail_nr3.shtml
http://www.porjus.eu/


VideoFromSpace YouTube Channel video:Chad Blakley's latest video of an ionized oxygen aurora over Abisko National Park, Sweden. Uploaded December 19, 2012 
http://youtu.be/7yN9lcJIeLA



VideoFromSpace YouTube Channel video: Awe-Inspiring Northern Lights Shine Over Sweden, December 2012. Shot from Abisko National Park, Sweden. Uploaded December 13, 2012. http://youtu.be/N79ATuvHi1Y

See more from Chad Blakley at http://www.lightsoverlapland.com and http://digitaljournal.com/article/327325



tonakai82 YouTube Channel video: Aurora Borealis from Abisko Sky Station in northern Sweden 2012. Uploaded December 15, 2012. http://youtu.be/kc9Ds3b1IKk

More photos at: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/63402501@N07/sets/72157632201759165/  



GregTechnology YouTube Channel video: Aurora in Abisko -The northern lights blaze in Arctic Sweden. Uploaded December 13, 2012. http://youtu.be/E4BbfrF5PxE



skbailey YouTube Channel video: Doggylights. Uploaded December 6, 2012.
http://youtu.be/9b3wgmu_9Ko



tenorsominutesagos YouTube Channel video: A Day and Night at the Aurora Sky Station, Abisko, Sweden. Uploaded December 25, 2011. 
http://youtu.be/NkAJBmg3E1Y

I'm concluding today's post with a non-aurora video of snow-heavy Abisko from two days ago, the day before Christmas, with a temperature of about negative 25 Fahrenheit...



Joachim Floberg YouTube Channel video: Abisko Julen 2012.  Uploaded December 24, 2012. http://youtu.be/lIuwAbbZHV0

Trivia: Sweden has a base compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan that's officially called "Northern Lights."
 -----
See more at...
English aurora photographer Patricia Covern, now living in Porjus: 
http://www.arctic-color.com/

www.auroraskystation.com

http://www.visitreykjavik.is/ 

http://www.youtube.com/user/VideoFromSpace

Want to see a sneak peek of my future? Prescient geniuses with a camera at BeepShow have already filmed part of my future -away from the heat & humidity of Miami- and it includes Iceland and the Northern Lights. But sadly, I'll end up missing Sigur Rós at Iceland Airwaves; #Iceland, #BeepShow, #Icelandair, #InspiredByIceland

Beep Show's VIMEO video: London to Iceland in Ten Minutes. July 2012. Music by Sigur Rós. Move your cursor away from the video to have the text disappear and see the video more clearly. Complete information about this incredible video is here: http://vimeo.com/45121903  http://beepshow.com/
It's truly amazing what genius, talent, ingenuity and technology can create!

Want to see a sneak peek of my future? Prescient geniuses with a camera at BeepShow have already filmed part of my future -away from the heat & humidity of Miami- and it includes Iceland and the Northern Lights. But sadly, I'll end up missing Sigur Rós at Iceland Airwaves; #Iceland, #BeepShow, #Icelandair

Back in November, following several very emotionally-draining roller-coaster months with my dad's health a year after his stroke, where we found ourselves frequently at the hospital or at the doctor's office for one thing or another, I wrote here:

It's not exactly a secret that I definitely could use a break for about a week or two from everything and everyone in South Florida to unwind.

Not that there was really ever any doubt where I'd eventually wind-up to relax, but I've finally made my mind up about where I'll be going to get away from South Florida for a while, which I had originally wanted to do back in February or March to decompress after my dad died, then maybe even return to during Midsommar in order to get away from the summer swelter of South Florida.

But perhaps as these things sometimes do of their own accord, it's worked out for the best schedule-wise, since despite it meaning I'm still here during the hottest part of the summer, I'll now be able to experience, first-hand, one of nature's most amazing sights and spectacles.
 
Ten weeks from this morning, unless something crazy and unexpected happens, like a powerful hurricane barreling its way across the Atlantic or the Caribbean towards South Florida -and maybe, even if there is!- I'll be greeting the sunrise far, far away from the land of gridlocked traffic, sleepwalking journalists and corrupt politicians, with nary a decent Ethiopian restaurant to be found that compares to the Red Sea in D.C.

I don't want to give everything away right now with this one post, but I will tell you that as of now, The Plan, as such, is that ten weeks from this morning, I'll be having a relaxed and delicious breakfast right near the water and my temporary home-away-from home in a place where I can sing or hum Stockholm i mitt hjarta to my heart's delight.

Måns Zelmerlöw, Björn Skifs, Loa Falkman and Peter Jöback sing "Stockholm i Mitt Hjärta" (Stockholm in My Heart) from the intro of a 2011 episode of SVT's "Allsång på Skansen" in Stockholm, Sweden. http://youtu.be/JEPvZBDOjdc

http://www.facebook.com/svtallsang

View Larger Map

After more than a week or so in the greater Stockholm area, mostly in and around Gamla Stan, but with some boat trips with friends along the archipelago as well, finally doing the things I've wanted to do the last few years but had to keep on hold because of my dad's health, I'll be heading for fun in a place that is THE polar opposite of South Florida, our old friend, Reykjavik, Iceland, and eventually, a night-time encounter with destiny and the Northern Lights.

And with any sort of luck at all, maybe I can even run into longtime blog favorite, Yohanna, whom I just love, and want to see succeed and get the world-wide success she deserves, because her talent is so immense. 
Yes, to quote myself, Yohanna "hennes enorma talang!"



@yohannamusic

Below, from TV3 in Sweden, Yohanna's amazing performance at their "En Sång För Hemlösa 2009" (A Song For The Homeless 2009) telecast, singing "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day." 


http://www.myspace.com/yohannamusic

Arctic Motion from Tor Even Mathisen on Vimeo.

http://www.facebook.com/temPhoto

http://vimeo.com/tittentem

http://twitter.com/#!/tittentem

Icelandair video: Unique Iceland: What to do in Reykjavik?

Icelandic actress Þóra Karítas Árnadóttir -a.k.a. Thora Karitas - explains a few things about the fascinating and awesome island known as Ísland. http://youtu.be/Rkr1O6mvHUc

LIVE camera of Blue Lagoon: Bláa lónið - Live Webcam - Inspired by Iceland

Unfortunately, because of when I'll be there, I won't be able to see Sigur Rós at the Iceland Airwaves music festival in Reykjavik, owing to it coming later in October, right before we have elections here in the U.S.. http://icelandairwaves.is/
http://icelandairwaves.is/sigurros/

http://www.icelandtouristboard.com/ 

http://www.visitreykjavik.is/

In a word: Wow! Terje Sorgjerd and Ole Christian Salomonsen's spectacular videos of the aurora borealis from Norway will amaze you. Häpnadsväckande!

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

The Aurora -Terje Sorgjerd spent a week in northern Norway near Kirkenes, close to the Russian border, and somewhat to his own amazement, captures some astounding video of the aurora borealis in clarity and action that has rarely been seen before.
http://vimeo.com/21294655

To get a sense of how very far North he was when he shot this video near Kirkenes, that's almost exactly the same as the northern-most point in Alaska.
I just checked on Kirkenes and right now, the temp there feels like 6 °F.

I remember 6 degrees -and lower- in Bloomington in January of 1982, one of the brightest sunniest days I ever experienced, where the snow was literally blindingly bright. We eventually had wind chills of -40 to -50 below zero, and I remember it so well because it was the same week the Chargers played at the Bengals for the AFC Championship, the week after beating the Dolphins here in Miami, where I'd watched the game on TV near my mother's home near The Falls. The weather there in Cincinnati was the same as it was at IU, a couple of hours east.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

MSNBC photoblog: Northern lights, like never seen before
Article at: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/03/23/6329101-northern-lights-like-never-seen-before?chromedomain=cosmiclog

Other examples of Terje Sorgjerd's talent at: http://vimeo.com/terjes

And also shot from cold northern Norway, Ole Christian Salomonsen, and In The Land Of The Northern Lights

In The Land Of The Northern Lights from Ole Christian Salomonsen on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/21419634

http://vimeo.com/arcticlightphoto

Just imagine what the Vikings must've thought about on their sea journeys at night with no land or torch lights visible for miles, and then suddenly seeing these images flash across the sky?
Their own insignificance?

But to get near there from here....






Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) TV commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if486a186YE&feature=player_profilepage

FYI: Starting on Monday the 28th, there's a NEW daily SAS non-stop from Newark to Oslo for only $413 each way.
Promo code: KKUSSC5

SAS homepage for USA -in English: http://www.flysas.com/en/us/

http://www.norway.com/