As the city prepares to put its best cultural foot forward, here are five tips on what Ume? has to offer.
Elks and the great outdoors
With the serene Ume River forming the vein of the coastal city and the wilderness at its doorstep,
cheap jordans for sale, Ume? is a great base for outdoor pursuits, from kayaking around the Kvarken Archipelago and High Coast, a World Heritage Site, to snowmobile rides and dog-sledding in winter. Located just an hour by plane from Stockholm, Ume? makes a good quick and quiet escape from a big city.
For something offbeat, get up close and personal with elks at ?lgens Hus, Europe’s first elk farm in Bjurholm, a 45-minute drive from Ume?. These gentle giants have been raised by a local family for several years. The farm also houses a restaurant serving elk meat, a typically Swedish meat dish, and elk’s milk cheese, a Swedish delicacy said to be a favourite of the king of Sweden.
Sitting 400km below the Arctic Circle, Ume? is also a haunt for Northern Lights seekers as well as for catching the midnight sun during the summer.
?lgens Hus
Sami culture
Ume? was founded in 1622 by Gustav II Adolf, the king of Sweden. The most prominent living example of its history are the Sami people, Europe’s only indigenous group which has lived in the Arctic region for thousands of years.
A glimpse of this heritage can be experienced at the Gammlia open-air museum of the V?sterbotten Museum (vbm.se), which has set up three forest camps depicting Sami life as reindeer herders in the 19th century. Tours of these replica sites are led by a ‘modern day’ Sami,
cheap air jordans, who is among the nearly 25 per cent currently working as reindeer herders.
The camps are scattered with tree houses and huts built using the same methods of traditional Samis. But the highlight of the tour takes place at the heart of the forest over a traditional Sami meal of smoky reindeer meat and potatoes, sat around a campfire where storytelling and yoiking ensues. Yoiking is a form of traditional Sami singing done by reindeer herders to “connect with nature” and ask for the protection of their reindeers. It was also sung in remembrance of the herders’ loved ones at their loneliest hours in the forest.
Smoky reindeer meat and potatoes
The Museum of V?sterbotten also features exhibitions marking the county’s fishing and maritime history as well as a ski museum displaying vintage ski gear and equipment from the 18th century to the Eighties, including the world’s oldest ski.
A sculpture park
The grand Umedalen Skulptur (
umedalenskulptur.se), an open-air sculptural museum set on the park grounds of a former psychiatric hospital from 1930, is the city’s most popular tourist attraction and is part of the second largest art gallery in Sweden. The hospital’s historic buildings have been preserved and a sculpture park was built around them. The public park is open for viewing all day year-round and holds 35 sculptures in its permanent collection. It displays works from artists around the world, including several pieces from British sculptors Sean Henry, Antony Gormley and Tony Cragg, and other celebrated artists such as Anish Kapoor. The park is replaced with new sculptures every other year.
The city’s contemporary art museum, Bildmuseet (
bildmuseet.umu.se), based at Ume? University, was named as one of the most beautiful university art galleries in the world following a redesign in 2012. The building itself is a thoughtful work of art, made with a fa?ade of Siberian larch wood panelling, which will fade to a silver grey colour in a few years’ time, staggered with randomly-placed windows. Its stark white interior is warmed by the natural light piercing through its windows which offer scenic views from the museum’s riverside location.
Giant artwork at Umedalen Skulptur
More recently, the city has also become home to Europe’s largest glass artwork, a 170-metre long glass wall piece near Ume?’s central railway station.
The Guitars Museum
Music has played a large part in Ume?’s placement on the world map, as home to several heavy metal and punk rock bands including Meshuggah and Refused. But at the other end of the musical spectrum, it has also been a base for the Norrland Opera, the opera of northern Sweden, from 1978,
cheap real jordans, as well as the Ume? Jazz Festival from 1968, one of Europe’s oldest and among Scandinavia’s largest modern jazz festivals.
Next month the city also welcomes the Guitars Museum (
guitarsthemuseum.com), Europe’s largest guitar museum and one of the world’s largest privately-owned vintage guitar collections, presenting 500 electric guitars, basses and other vintage items. The building will also house the Scharinksa, Ume?’s renowned live music venue which was formerly a historic family home built around 1904, as well as exhibitions on photography, fashion, art and design inspired by music. A music shop and studio alongside a café, bar and restaurant will also be available at the site.
Wild meat, fish and berries
Seven of Ume?’s restaurants have each earned a place in Sweden’s prestigious White Guide which selects the country’s top restaurants. Ume? offers a range of international cuisine from Italian, French, Greek and American to Indian, Chinese and Japanese.
But for an innovative take on local flavours, DU? (
duaumea.se) is the space to watch. Run by two young twin brother chefs, this unpretentious “food studio” has an intimate, laid-back supper club feel and also hosts cookery classes and other food events. The meals are prepared in the small kitchen of its rustic, home-like setting and served by the chefs themselves including Per, one of the twins,
cheap wholesale jordans, who has a striking ‘Heston Blumenthal-esque’ vibe, from his shaved head and quirky black-rimmed square glasses to his white ‘lab coat-like’ chef’s jacket holding a pen in its pocket.
His simple but elegantly-presented dishes offer a burst of rich flavours featuring a cast of regional ingredients including Arctic charr, a salmon type local fish, and perch, similar to the sea bass, and reindeer, alongside local brews. Other key ingredients are soft almond potatoes, chantarelles as well as a feast of wild berries including cloudberries, lingonberries, and Arctic raspberries, and V?sterbotten cheese, the famed local cheese produced exclusively in the Burtr?sk area close to Ume?.
DU?
ESSENTIALS
Getting there
Ume? Airport (
umeaairport.se) is less than 10 minutes by car (3.5km) from the city centre.
Norwegian (
norwegian.se) is offering flights from London Gatwick to Ume? (including a stop in Stockholm) from ?158 return and direct flights to Stockholm from ?79 return next month.
Direct flights between Ume? and Stockholm are available with SAS (
sas.se), Malm? Aviation (
malmoaviation.se) and Norwegian.
Where to stay
Hotel Scandic Plaza (
scandichotels.com) is a smart and simple business hotel with basic but clean and comfortable rooms and a superb central location, steps from restaurants,http://www.hjjyky.cn/guestbook11.aspcheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, shops and the town hall. The sauna on the 14th floor offers a scenic view over the creek of Ume?.
Stora Hotellet (
storahotelletumea.se) is a historic maritime-themed hotel dating back to 1895 which will be reopened this spring.
Opening this autumn, U&Me (
umehotel.se) is said to be Scandinavia’s most innovative hotel and will be placed at the centre of V,
cheap jordans online?ven (
kulturvaven.se), Ume?’s new cultural complex to be completed this spring. It will also include a library,http://www.qdtongyun.com/qingdao/E_GuestBook.aspcheapjordanshoesfreeshipping.com/bolg, theatre, restaurants and cafés among other cultural facilities.
More information
visitumea.se/en
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