Rovaniemi, Finland (Lapland)

Rovaniemi, Finland (Lapland)

December 6-8, 2009

Day 1

Snow, snow and more snow! It was early when we arrived. We got in around 7:50am. When we got off the train, there was at least 10cm of snow on the ground. This is pretty much the first time we saw this much snow the entire time we've been in Europe! It was funny how excited I was, since normally I hate snow. I guess I do like it around Christmas time. Trevor had planned that we would take a bus to our B&B, but once we got to the bus stop, we realized that our bus wasn't running today. Actually, most things wouldn't be open today because it was Finland's indepence day and apparently all the shops are closed this day. Anyway, we ended up taking a taxi and arrived in our very out-of-the-way B&B in the middle of a foresty area where we met the couple we would be living with. They were very nice and offered us tea and we were allowed into our room right away. Once we got all the info from them about where to go and what to see, we decided to head to Santa's Village. They were kind enough to take us into town where we caught the Santa Express bus #8 to Santa's Village. It was awesome. First we went inside the info place where they have the Arctic Circle line (though according to Trevor's GPS that wasn't true, but why ruin the fun) so we took pictures. Then we headed to Santa's workshop where we got in line to see Santa and take pictures (though we couldn't use our own cameras, and the pictures were way too expensive!) Then we headed to the Santa Post Office where we saw letters from kids all over the world. You could even buy envelopes from the letters as a donation to Unicef. It was really neat. You could also send postcards and letters from there and get the Arctic Circle stamp. It was awesome. Next we headed to a husky park where we got to walk around and pet some of the huskies. The "bigger than puppies, smaller than adults" ones were super adorable and super excitable. They were fun. Did I mention that daylight here is only 3 hours at this time of year and that we went to eat around 2 and by the time we came out it felt like 7p? It's crazy! We walked around a bit more and looked in all the gift shops and took more pictures and then eventually decided to catch the bus back into town. When we got there, Trevor went on a hunt for some wireless while I went looking through the little market stalls (which I was surprised to find open, though I guess any time is tourist time). We then struggled to figure out if we would be hungry before we got to our B&B and decided to order some food and head back. We decided to walk, now knowing where our B&B was relative to the town, but we didn't quite realize how far and after probably about 30-40 min (and a couple of wrong turns) we got back. We ate and headed to our room to read where I fell asleep around 9p! It was a fun day!

Day 2

13 hours later, I woke up!!! I couldn't believe I slept so long, but I guess when the sun doesn't rise until after 10am, it's hard to believe you need to get up. We decided to hang out mostly around the B&B today until our Reindeer Safari! We were to be picked up at 1:30p from our hotel so we hung out in the B&B and went for a short walk around the neighbourhood (to get at least a little Vitamin D). I hung out with our B & B's dog, Mori, for a bit too. Then our ride came taking us to downtown Rovaniemi to begin our adventure. I was really hoping to be at the Santa's Village again, because I had read they will stamp your passport with the Artic Circle stamp (until I was informed that it's probably not likely that it's the real passport they stamp since that's official documentation). When we arrived at the Erasetti main office, we were pretty much the only ones there. They provided the winter clothing for the safari, so you didn't have to remember your own stuff. We got into our one piece snowsuit and boots and waited. More people started showing up and then finally the bus came to pick us up. They drove us to the site where the reindeers were and the adventure began. Thankfully it had snowed the day before we got to Rovaniemi, because otherwise we might not have been able to go on this safari at all! We were introduced to our guides and then one showed us how to harness the reindeer and let us touch one of the reindeer (who shook every time people touched him; apparently they don't like being touched). Then we were put into sleighs and covered with blankets. Trevor and I shared a sleigh. It was very romantic! All the reindeer were basically linked. There was a leader reindeer, he had a sled and attached to that sled was another reindeer who also had a sled and so on. It wasn't a fast ride, by any means. The tour guides were leading the two lead reindeers, walking them along the track, so you can imagine how quick that would be. It was nice though. The reindeer that was suppose to be behind our sleigh kept wanting to lead so he was pretty much right next to us the entire time. His name was Beekie and ours was Blackleaf. It was a little scary having reindeer antlers in your face, but he was really cute (I'm sure it one of the antlers got too close, he would stop being cute.) We were riding pretty much in the dark as soon as we started, and as much as I would have liked it to be in daylight, the night ride made it much more romantic ; ). They took us to a wooden cabin where we sat around a fire on reindeer skins (that we took from our sleighs and Trevor and I made one of the ladies very angry that we were taking skins from her sleigh instead of ours. I tried to tell her that our guides told us to, but she was not pleased.) We had coffee, tea and cookies around the fire and I learned that it's rude to ask how many reindeer someone owned (apparently it's like asking how much money you have in you account). The same lady that got upset about the skins told the guides that clearly they didn't have a crisis there (as in "the recession"), since all the tours were booked solid! This lady was crazy! Then we got back in our sleigh and rode back. When we got back, our bus wasn't quite there yet, and again the crazy lady who yelled at me about the reindeer skins was super upset and taking it out on our guide because she was cold. It was only about -5C! She just kept yelling at the guide that she paid for the tour and wanted the bus right now! I felt so bad for him. Fortunately the bus did come and took us back to the main office. From here we decided to get some supper (an all you can eat pizza and pasta place, yeah!). Then, since we were downtown, we went to see some buildings built by some famous Finnish architect. We stopped into the library so that Trevor could understand why the Arctic Circle moves and where it's at now, then we headed back to the B&B. When we got back, Trevor decided to do the most ridiculous thing. He had calculated that he hadn't actually reached the Arctic Circle, so he decided to go on an 11km run to actually cross the circle!!! I was so worried about him. Thankfully he made it home alive! And he had made it! It even had a sign! I'm just glad he made it home.

Day 3

We decided for our last day, we would head to their major museum on the Arctic called Arktikum. Once we walked around for a bit we realized that it was not exactly the best museum we had ever been to. It was really expensive, too. It did mention Canada quite a bit, since I guess this is also a research centre for Arctic related things. There was also a section on the Sami people which was kind of interesting. After exploring most of the museum we went to grab something to eat from the café. I've always found it very trusting of people and restaurants where they feed you first and then ask you to pay. This situation proved why you should worry. We got all our food and when we went to pay with our Mastercard, the machine didn't work, and we had no more cash with us. They kept telling me to eat before the food got cold, but I just felt so silly going to eat something that I knew we couldn't pay for. Thankfully, they were absolutely okay with us going back to our B&B and getting money to pay them back. It's a good thing we're trustworthy, because we easily could have not paid for our meal. But, after walking back to our B&B, we told the cab to stop there before we headed for the airport. The airport had a lovely banner hanging saying Official Airport of Santa Claus! For our first flight (to Helsinki) we boarded with no boarding card and no assigned seating! That was a little weird. Once in Helsinki, we had to rush to our next gate and got told that our bags might not make it to Warsaw because there was very little time before take off. I figured it wouldn't matter much. Good thing I had that attitude, since it was my bag that didn't make it! Otherwise, the flights were good. My bag didn't actually make it until 3 days later! But, luckily, nothing was missing or damaged. All in all, a FANTASTIC trip!