Finland and the Northern Lights

Lapland is beautiful. But in its own way...

 

Its sooo quite it almost hurts your ears. It wasn't as cold as I imagined. Sure it was cold and I had on three layers of socks, but it was dry. Helsinki was a good 10+ Celsius degrees warmer and it felt 50- degrees colder. And every where you look its white...white snow on the ground, on the trees, and white clouds overhead. Its almost sensory deprivation.  But sure, its calming and relaxing.

 

 

Maybe a bit too much for us...Jared and I plus a one year old and the mother in law.  We had a cabin for the week in a good little lodge.

 

 

There were plenty of activities each day - Reindeer sleighs, dog sleds, snow shoeing, snowmobiling...

 

 

AND AURORA HUNTING! We did see a bit but the clouds tended to block it out most nights.  The best night was actually on our flight into Helsinki, where you could see them from our plane.



Most days we would wake up for breakfast at the lodge, go on a walk, and then head out for lunch and our daily activity which lasts a few hours. After getting back in the early afternoon, it would be another few lazy hours (napping and reading) and a session in the Finnish Sauna. Then it was an early dinner and a glass of wine (alcohol is expensive there!) by the fire and we were in for the night quite early. We didn't bring enough books (or toys for Riley) and there wasn't any decent wifi, so we were quite ancy! But still a once in a lifetime opportunity!