Lapland - A Winter Wonderland

We are really enjoying our time in Lapland.  It's seriously COLD - somewhere around -20C - and the snow is so dry it won't even stick together to make a snowball!  As we walk outside we can see the tiny ice crystals sparkling as they form from the moisture in the air.  It's not snowing but ice crystals form on everything.  




Today we've been on a snow mobile excursion.  What a blast!!!  About 2 hours driving snow mobiles at 20 to 30kph along trails through the forests - truly a winter wonderland.  The snow mobiles are easy to drive and manage and the heated handlebars are a godsend, keeping hands warm as well as keeping the controls defrosted and working.  It gets light here about 10am and is dark by 3pm.  Everything looks monochrome - grey and white - except for the sunrise and sunset which streaks the sky with pink.

We're still waiting to see the Northern Lights.  Over the next few days the temperature is expected to rise.  This is not such a good thing as it causes the snow to melt and refreeze into ice - c'est la vie.





Further to our train trip from Sweden, we've heard that our bus detour was caused by a tree that fell onto the lines bringing down the electricity wires.

Our Lapland Experience has been organised and co-ordinated by Claudia Pallaspuro from The Travel and Cruise Co. in Maroochydore (ph +61 (0)7 5408 4700).  We discovered this adventure purely by chance when we parked our car outside a travel agency when we were in Maroochydore in September 2015 getting some work done on our caravan.  A once in a lifetime experience and adventure for us.

Into the Arctic Circle

Our journey into Finland began with rain quickly turning the overnight snow to an icy slush.  We arrived at Morrum station for our train journey to Copenhagen airport to discover we would have to catch a bus after our first stop and pick up the train a couple of stations further on at Kristianstad.  Luckily we had a little bit of time to spare and we made it to the airport, checked in with 10 minutes to spare, cleared security and arrived at our gate just as our plane to Helsinki was boarding.  We breathed a sigh of relief as we had a train connection to make in Helsinki.  In Helsinki we caught a taxi to the Helsinki Central Station where we boarded the overnight train to Rovaniemi the capital of Finnish Lapland.  We had a comfortable night in our sleeper cabins and disembarked in Lapland at 7.47am.

The temperature was -17C and we were certainly glad of our warm clothing we had packed as we waited for the bus to take us to Pyhathantuni about an hour away.  Phya is a ski resort well into the Arctic Circle and we are here for 4 nights for our Lapland Experience.  We hope to see the Northern Lights - the Aurora Borealis - while we're here.  On our way to Phya we crossed into the Arctic Circle and watched the sunrise.  The Land of the Midnight Sun is also the Land of the Midday Dark and today was the first day where there was a sunrise since the winter solstice a week ago.  Today we officially had 15 minutes of sunlight; we had about 5 hours of daylight.





Our travel agent met us and we were kitted out in our outdoor clothing which is designed for the freezing temperatures here.  We visited the interpretation centre for the local National Park, which was the first in Finland, where we saw interesting exhibits of the local birds, animals and geology






After lunch we went on a reindeer trail where we travelled through the forest on reindeer sleds and saw wild reindeer.  We were very thankful for the warm blankets.  After the sled ride we warmed up around the open fire in a traditional lapland tent before feeding some reindeer.  All of the reindeer here are unrestrained and are free to come and go.  Mostly they stay around because there is plenty of food for them here and they don't have to dig through the ice and snow for their food.

Watch this space for more on our experience in the land of snow and ice......

Two Christmas Dinners in Sweden

We've had 2  Christmas dinners with our friends (an english/swedish couple) in Sweden. In Scandinavia, as in much of Europe, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve - December 24th.  So we had a lovely traditional Swedish Christmas on the 24th.  We seemed to be eating all day!  We had traditional Christmas fare, boiled sausages with herbs, herrings (a couple of different ways), baked ham, vegetables and we finished up with a special creamed rice with blackcurrants.  We continued on with afternoon tea of several different cakes and biscuits.  Gift giving was in the evening.


The next morning was Christmas Day and we got up early to attend a special church carol service at a small historic Lutheran Church nearby.  Back home and we were eating again.  This time with a traditional English Christmas Dinner -  turkey, ham, roast vegetables followed by a flaming christmas pudding and trifle.  Again we seemed to be eating all day.  Boxing Day is also St Stephen's Day and the local Lutheran Church had a special service with chamber music by Bach and Flesch.  Their music was written to be played in church and it was most appropriate.  We enjoyed the instrumental and vocal items.

Even though we are not getting many hours of daylight, the dogs, Pepper and Zacho, still demand their daily walks.  we walked along the Morrum River which is famous for salmon fishing (not in season at the moment).  The ducks and canada geese don't seem to mind the dull weather.

When we woke up on our last morning in Sweden we were delighted to see that it had been snowing overnight - a rare occurrence in December in this area.  Thank you Inga and Phill for giving us such a memorable Christmas.  So began our day of travel into Finland.

Christmas in Sweden

Our 6 days in Paris passed very quickly and before we knew it we were on the plane to Copenhagen and from there onto the train to visit our friends in Morrum, southern Sweden, where we will be spending Christmas.  Cherryl has known Inga and Phill for almost 50 years and we've had a couple of enjoyable holidays with them at their home in Sweden in 2007 and also in Germany in 2012.  The day after our arrival we travelled to the nearby town of Karlshamm (Karls = Charles, Hamm = Harbour) which is about 10km from Morrum on the coast to stock up for Christmas.






The next few days we will be experiencing our first traditional Swedish Christmas.  The main celebration is on the 24th December and so far today we seem to have been eating all day.  Tomorrow is the 25th December and we will be celebrating an English Christmas, with more eating and drinking.

We are finding the very short days challenging.  The sun doesn't rise until around 9am and it's dark by 3.30pm.  At least now the days are getting longer.

More from Paris

In total we've had 6 nights in Paris, staying at the Hotel Alhambra.  Our hotel is only a couple of blocks from where the terrorist attacks occurred in mid-November, where about 130 people died.  There's plenty of evidence of increased security around with police and soldiers stationed in our street and in all places where crowds gather. Entry into the large shops and shopping centres requires a bag search, as does entry into most tourist venues.  We spent a day just wondering around looking at some of the sights.  We visited the Galeries Lafayette department store with its spectacular Christmas decorations.

Then we walked to the Hotel de Ville, the City Hall, where there is usually an ice-skating rink in the winter.  This year there's no skating. but we did find these turtles.









The next morning we caught the metro to the Louvre.  No visit to Paris would be complete without a visit to this amazing museum with its world famous works of art.  As well as classical works we saw oceanic art and central american art.










We played "Ninja Turtle Bingo" as we sought out works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Donatello.  We saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and Venus de Milo.









There were plenty of people around but the Louvre wasn't crowded and there was no queue to buy tickets.  Once again Robert's"magic" ICOM card gave him free entry and a discount at the gift-shop.










The glass pyramid in the Louvre was commissioned by President Francois Mitterrand and it's reflected by the inverted pyramid in the Carrousel Shopping Centre which is underneath the Louvre.

After our visit to the Louvre we had lunch and decided to buy a 2 day ticket for the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus to explore Paris for our last 2 days there.  We rode around on the bus past Paris landmarks - The Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Triomphe, French Academy.  The Christmas Markets are in full swing along the Champs Elyssee.

On our last day we walked to the Place Bastille, where the infamous Bastille prison was previously located and from there to the Place de Vosges, a lovely park which had been recommended to us.  We walked past Victor Hugo's house (now a museum) and a statue of King Louis XIII and had lunch in the sun overlooking the park.  Then we got back on the bus and toured the streets of Paris some more.




During our stay at the Hotel Alhambra we became regulars at the nearby Cafe Metro for dinner each night.  We bid farewell to our regular waiter as we are off to Sweden in the morning.

The Eiffel Tower, a Paris Landmark

Day 2 in Paris and we're planning an easy day with a visit to the Eiffel Tower.  The Metro is our main means of transport while we're here and today is no exception.  The Oberkampf Metro station is only about 40m from the hotel, so it's pretty easy for us to get around.  This morning we're on the green #9 line to Trocadero which is close to the Eiffel Tower.  Once out of the metro we've got a short walk across the River Seine.  The Eiffel Tower is HUGE.  It dominates the landscape - there's no missing it.

We queued for our tickets - to The Top, by lift.  We're certainly not going to attempt to walk all the way up there!  Once into the lift we have a brief stop at Level 1 before changing to a smaller lift at Level 2 to take us all the way up.  Even though its cloudy and overcast, we still get pretty good views from the top.  It's pretty chilly today, about 10C with a bit of a breeze so far above ground level.


We spent some time at the top looking around and taking photos before getting back into the lift to head downwards.  At Level 2, we get out again and this time stop for a cup of coffee and to buy some souvenirs.  Then back into the bigger lift.  At Level 1 we decide to get out again, this time so our grand-daughter can go ice-skating on the small ice rink there.  What a thrill - ice-skating on the Eiffel Tower!

Once back on the ground we walk alongside the river for a while, past the Museum of Modern Art, before getting back onto the metro again.

A much more relaxing day ends as we have dinner at the Cafe Metro near our hotel.  This small restaurant has become our regular eating place while we're here.