Rantasipi Oy - Rantasipi Pohjanhovi Rovaniemi

Skrocilismy nieco czas przejazdu do Nordkapp i dzieki temu zyskalismy dodatkowy dzien. Postanowilismy wykorzystac go na podroz do Rovaniemi - miasta, w okolicy ktorego mieszka Swiety Mikolaj. Po raz kolejny przekraczalismy tez biegun polnocny.
Samo rovaniemi nie powala na kolana. Wiecej w ...

... of railroad to Irkutsk. From then on, my plans are quite open. I'll probably travel through Mongolia, so I would need to get the Mongolian visa either in Irkutsk or in Ulan-Ude as I didn't have time to get in Finland after the problems and delay with my Chinese visa in the Chinese embassy in Helsinki. The prices of the train tickets were about 1300 roubles (equals about 30€) from Saint Petersburg to Kazan (third class, platskarta, about 1500km ) and about 5500 roubles ...

... t see the road at all. I have never been so glad to get back, there were times when I thought we were going to have to camp out at the side of the road until the snow had passed.

We had a fantastic time in Lapland and would recommend it to everyone. It was very expensive, particularly due to the strength of the Euro against the Pound, but was well worth it. I just hope that on one of our visits back to the UK in the future we can experience the magic again.

... me. Santa is of course there but was apparently on a break at the time we were there. After we found out that the picture with Santa costs €19, we were headed out the door and back to the next bus going back to town. There was no sickly reindeer to gawk at and there was no elves of anything fun to do there. It was a giant gift shop complex. It was kinda cool to be at the arctic circle but there is only so much laughing at ...

... the past few weeks, first due to the cold, and in the past few days because freezing rain and hovering zero temperatures have made the sidewalks and roads treacherous. the fresh cool moist air filled my lungs like music as i approached the river. why do they always warn us that bridges become icy before roads, but fail to mention that sometimes, they also de-slippify themselves first too? as soon as i stepped onto the bridge i ...

... out and stood behind her, and chanted while she sung another song - it was incredible and beautiful to witness. by this point all our expectations were gone, so we weren't surprised when next a choir of finnish men and women dressed in matching somberly colored clothes came onto the stage and sang a few finnish songs, only to be joined by the entire group of monks. in all it was one of the most interesting cross-cultural displays i have experienced!

... philosophy and metaphysics. I brought it with me to Finland last year along with a few other "comfort books", with the vague notion I might want to reread it at some point, but as it started to gather dust on my bookshelf, it seemed to have been a silly thing to have lugged overseas. But when I woke after my first good night's rest here this September, feeling at a complete loss over my thesis topic, feeling unsure about even the basic direction to face in trying to take ...

... once our "Golden Rax" had worn off! We began our quest to find an Internet terminal in the town so that we could e-mail loved ones or just update travel diaries. However it appears that as Finland has the greatest amount of technology per capita in all of Europe (To add a little perspective: 91% of Finnish people own a mobile phone!), there is no need for any public Internet terminals apart from in the public library, which was shut, maybe tomorrow then!

... i am not ready for that to end in 2 months. my life is so much simpler here, i have fewer possessions, fewer memories, fewer loose ends, fewer obligations, yet i have more purpose than i currently would have in edmonton. i came here with a specific goal and i am pursuing it, the further i walk on this path the more sure my footing becomes. certainly being here is not without challenges, and sometimes peace can feel more like lonliness ...

... and i'm slowly stocking my kitchen and making my room a bit more me. it hasn't snowed yet, the weath** is a reminiscent of alb**ta, in that if you don't like it, wait 5 minutes, although it may be cold**. it has gen**ally rained one day, been gorgeous and sunny (but only about 7-8 degrees) the next. apparantly they really get a lot of snow h**e. my next task is to buy cross country skiis, and i will probably bring my snowboard back with me aft** christmas. oh ...