Bear Inn Hotel Sodankylä

This is our frist of many night trains accross Europe.
We Leave Helsinki on the 9th and get into Rovaniemi very early on the 10th

We should have a fun packed Day in Rovaniemi. looking to do some arctic rally driving. and other male bonding activities.

No niin, yksi yö vielä ja sitten matkaan. Olemme pakanneet taas aika kevyesti, sillä kyllähän vaatekauppoja löytyy tarvittaessa matkan varreltakin.

Pakkaaminen tuotti tällä kertaa päänvaivaa hitusen verran enemmän kuin normaalisti, sillä iso joukkiomme kulkee osittain eri reittejä. Niinpä piti tarkaan miettiä, mitä kenenkin kannettavaksi laitetaan. Esimerkiksi jo heti alkumatkasta Helenalla, Katariinalla ja Lassilla on lento Helsinkiin, mutta muut köröttelevät sinne y ...

After a bit of running backwards and forwards we got into the town of Rovaniemi mid afternoon. We checked in and headed to the Tourist Information Center <Wow, this sounds just like George/Dad!> to find out about Santa's village and Husky Sledging. We went to the supermarket and got our supplies for the stay. We could also actually buy more of what we wanted this time, as the food was not ridiculously priced! We cooked dinner and relaxed ...

... nocnej Finlandii jako cel podroży sam w sobie nie polecam. Wszyscy mieliśmy podobne odczucie, ze tam są tylko lasy i nic więcej. Na drogach częściej można było spotkać renifera niż człowieka. Ponieważ byliśmy świeżo po ponad tygodniowej jeździe po Norwegii - Finlandia wydawała nam się nudna i mało ciekawa. Dobrze, ze chociaż mają tam Mikołaja :)

This was pretty unreal! The sun shines here 24 hrs a day this time of the year. The weird thing is you don't really start to feel tired... your body clock is totally confused. I mean we were up at 2am and it felt like the afternoon. I guess thats why the Finns drink so much ...

It turns out I was completely wrong, after staying on the roadside for about five hours and four hundred cars, the traffic eventually came to a halt. Then I decided to look for a hotel to spend the night, but it was too late - they had all closed fifteen minutes before. My only option left was to sleep at the bus stop. It was even shaped like a house, what else should I want? :)

This part was easy, on the 27th minute the 15th car stopped, a Russian guy who didn't speak English and was going to Sodankylä, more than 100 kilometers away and the largest town so far. It is close to Rovaniemi too, so the hard times should be over now.

Went on an overnight school trip to Pyhätunturi National Park. Stayed in very cute cabins with their own sauna, but we took advantage of the big sauna by the lake. it was an incredible first finnish sauna experience, and a great way to celebrate fall equinox, alternating the hottest i've probably ever been (it makes a big difference putting water on the rocks!) with jumping in the cold lake under a starry sky... check out the picts!

Were picked up by a Crocodile Dundee looking chap in tassled leather suit at the train station. He drove us 30 km to his husky farm, crossing the Arctic Cirle on the way. It had snowed the day before and powder was knee high. Met and patted most of the 45 dogs before saddling up twelve to our sled. The ride through the forest was great fun. We ...

We visited Santa at his home today. We had decorated the bus with Christmas decorations and us girls had made flora hats to where for the day. We sang Christmas carols and gave our "special friends" Christmas presents. Santas house is lovely, we had ...