Luostotunturi 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.

... Uimarithan ovat melkein koko reissun ihan eri mantereella (eli Australiassa) kuin muu porukka (joka löhöilee Balilla). Alkumatkasta Helena ja Lassi käyvät kyllä heittämässä Lotan, Kasperin, Hannan, Marjan ja Saanan Australiaan. Ja lopppumatkasta Antti vuorostaan hakee uimarit sieltä pois. Katariinalle ja Elmerillekin kyllä hommattiin etukäteen myös Australian viisumit, vaikka he ovatkin koko porukan ainoat, joille ei ole ostettu ensimmäistäkään Australian lentolippua...

... watching a movie in our private room again. We are getting spoilt!
The Saturday we spent at Santa's Village where we saw Santa, for real!! We had a photo taken, which we did not buy, it being 30 pound for five small photos! We spent the rest of the day there visiting the rest of the village and official post office. Karen linked up to the Arctic Circle Live Web cam and saw us there jumping about, then we went and had a photo on the official ...

Skróciliśmy nieco czas przejazdu do Nordkapp i dzięki temu zyskaliśmy dodatkowy dzień. Postanowiliśmy wykorzystać go na podroż do Rovaniemi - miasta, w okolicy którego mieszka Święty Mikołaj. Po raz kolejny przekraczaliśmy tez biegun północny.
Samo Rovaniemi nie powala na kolana. Więcej w nim pijaczków niż w Polsce. Spacer nasz wiec nie trwał długo - zahaczyliśmy o ...

... to help them sleep in this time ;-)

Thank you so much to the people that showed us around up here! Everybody was very friendly and we had an brilliant time. It was too long ago to write up the stories now... but I hope the pictures do it some justice :)

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!

... up to 30 km per hour with quite a few hairy turns dodging low branches, which added to the excitement. Beautiful scenery. For the rest of the day we wandered around the Arktikum museum and learnt about the native people and environment, very interesting. Ate some reindeer stew at Santa's grotto before catching the Santa Express train back to Helsinki.

... photos taken with him. He is in his summer suite know, so now red suit. I told him what I wanted for Christmas. He asked me if I had been a good girl. I am always good, wink wink, I told him. I could have given him a heart attack with my cheekiness.