skellefteå in the winter: what the hell was i thinking?
ok so i landed in skellefteå thinking it'd be this cute little swedish town with cozy cafes and maybe a moose or two wandering around. instead i got hit with a wall of freezing air that made my nose hairs freeze instantly. seriously, what the hell was i thinking coming here in january? the weather was brutal-like, temp was barely above zero and the "feels like" was negative two point six nine. yeah, that's a real number, not just me being dramatic. and the humidity was at 93%, so it felt like the cold was crawling under my skin and setting up camp there for the weekend.
anyway, first thing i noticed was how quiet everything was. like, eerily quiet. no honking cars, no street performers, just the sound of my own teeth chattering. i walked around for a bit and stumbled upon this tiny coffee shop called kaffebar. the guy behind the counter had a beard that looked like it could survive a nuclear winter. he told me the best thing to do in skellefteå is visit the Nordanå park, but honestly, i couldn't feel my toes after five minutes outside, so i just sat there sipping on the strongest black coffee i've ever had in my life.
later, i overheard some locals talking about the skellefteå museum. apparently, it's got some cool stuff about the sami people and the history of the region. but let's be real, i was too busy trying not to turn into a human icicle to actually go inside. someone also mentioned the skellefteå aik ice hockey games, but i'm not really into sports where the players are moving faster than my brain can process in this cold.
if you get bored, umeå and piteå are just a short drive away, but honestly, why would you leave this frozen wonderland? (i'm kidding, please go to umeå, it's warmer there.)
i just checked and it's 0.74°c there right now, hope you like that kind of thing. personally, i'm never going back until at least april. or may. or maybe never.
anyway, here's a map so you don't get lost like i did:
and because i'm a sucker for punishment, here are some photos i took before my camera died from the cold:
also, if you're brave enough to visit, here are some links to survive:
- skellefteå tourism
- tripadvisor for skellefteå
- yelp for local eats
stay warm, friends. or don't. i'm not your mom.
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