Hyvää joulua! - Barry here. Today’s blog begins where yesterday’s ended as Ellie and I strode in the late evening sun through the Helsinki streets with our bags in tow to the grand train station in the centre of the city. The architecture of this building almost looks Soviet with its grey brick, imposing clock tower and musclebound statues flanking the entrance.
We easily located our train as it was the only remaining departure of the night. This train was scheduled to take us north to Rovaniemi in the north of Finland (AKA Lapland, home of Father Christmas) and would take just under 12 hours to arrive, departing at 23:15 and arriving at 11:00 the next day. Although it was possible to suffer through this journey in a regular train seat, as we’d booked way in advance we managed to secure a cabin with en suite bathroom and shower for only 50 euros each. I don’t think you could get a Norwich - London return for that price these days, bring back British Rail.
Although it wasn’t as spacious as any hotel room and we were in bunk beds the room had everything we needed and we settled ourselves in as the train prepared to roll northwards. We began moving without much fanfare and had our tickets checked by a friendly conductor as we drifted through the Helsinki suburbs. I then persuaded Ellie to join me for an explore of the train and we headed to the bar/restaurant area where many of our fellow travellers were fortifying themselves with pints for the long journey ahead. Being the wild party animals we are we instead opted for cups of tea before returning to our room to watch Finland pass by.
At first we stopped at a few suburban stations where we picked up a surprising amount of additional passengers before eventually moving in to more rural areas. One thing we both noticed was the change in the light, as we left Helsinki on the south coast it had finally seemed to get dark but as we got further north this seemed to recede and eventually we could see the light of sunset again in the west. Very odd and like travelling back in time.
I would have liked to stay up as late as possible to see as much of the country pass by but we had yet another busy day ahead tomorrow so we both settled down to sleep. At first I thought this was going to be quite a challenge as there was a lot of motion and lumps and bumps from the track, we were going pretty fast as well and you could really feel it going round tight corners. G-force isn’t usually something I have to factor in when trying to sleep!
Eventually though we both drifted off without too much trouble. I did wake up a couple of times but had no issues getting back to sleep and we both felt well rested in morning. Apparently the breakfast we preordered could arrive at our room anytime between 30 - 120 mins before arrival so I was up in plenty of time for a shower, which was impressively hot all things considered. We ate our breakfasts (porridge with Finnish blueberries for me, pastries for Ellie) and watched through the window as the train rounded the top of the Gulf of Bothnia close to the border with Sweden and then headed inland to our final destination.
We arrived in Rovaniemi on time to the minute and headed inside the station to meet the rep from the car hire company. Keys in hand and promises not to leave the borders of Finland met (sadly I can’t drive the two hours east to Russia and have a stern word with Putin) and I was in possession of a Toyota in a fetching shade of brown.
We drove north out of Rovaniemi and over an impressive wide river, then along a motorway in the forest for a short stretch. As we approached our destination I noticed a sign stating the main reason for our visit - ‘Arctic Circle, 1km’ and it really began to hit home just how far north we had travelled. I pulled the car into our lodging for the next two night, the wonderfully named Santa Claus Holiday Village and we were both bouncing with excitement as we got out of the car, in a few moments we would officially be in the Arctic!
The Holiday Village is where visitors from all over Europe fly to in the winter season to visit Lapland and meet Father Christmas in his home environment (we fully intend to have our own face-to-face with the big man before we leave). However even in summer the visitors centre was buzzing with guests, although most of them only seemed to be here for the day as the accommodations themselves are very quiet.
We both strode towards the lines and markers denoting the exact spot where the Arctic Circle crosses. It was a very surreal moment, especially when you factor in the blue skies and warm weather, and we both felt very lucky to be here. We had great fun crossing the line multiple times and taking photos, the long journey already felt worth it. There were also many gift shops around which we perused for a while, some felt quite classy and expensive while others best felt under the distinction of ‘Christmas Tat’, clearly produced by the more junior elves.
There were plenty of options for food and drink so we paused for a while to refresh ourselves with Moomin brand raspberry lemonade, sandwiches and a slice of apple cake to share. It was at this point we realised we were both feeling a bit wobbly and our bodies felt like they were still on the train, although the hot arctic weather (never thought I’d write that) probably didn’t help.
We then followed a path into the woods where we paid five euros for the opportunity to meet and pet reindeer. A helpful German lady briefed us on how best to feed and interact with them and we were then handed a leaf-covered branch and let loose in the pen to meet Dasher, Dancer and the gang. The reindeers were highly efficient at stripping the branches of leaves but were happy for us to gently pet them even once their treats were gone. They ranged from large males with huge antlers through to infants with incredibly soft fur. I may have felt slightly guilty my earlier sandwich contained reindeer salami, I guess that’s why there was no red-nosed reindeer in the paddock.
At this point our cabin was ready so we drove over and parked up at our new temporary home. It was a beautiful red building with blooming flowers and a Christmas tree on the porch, the interiors are subtly festive and best of all it contains its very own sauna! I’d hate to think what they’d charge for this place during their busy season. I fired up the sauna which took about half an hour to get to the required temperature and we both enjoyed it, emerging warm but refreshed.
Although there were a few different options for dinner we had a far sillier objective for the evening. Back in Rovaniemi is the world’s most northern McDonald’s and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be the most northerly Big Mac consumers in the world. With that in mind we fired up the car and drove back to the town to collect our order and bring it back to the cabin to eat. Sadly it was only when we got back that we realised they’d messed up our order and several items were wrong or missing. Neither of us could be bothered with another round trip so we accepted what we were given, although I’ve decided that one day we will visit the world’s southernmost McDonald’s in Invercargill, New Zealand and see if they can do a better job.
With the sun still high in the sky as the hour closed on 9pm we decided to head out for a hike in the woods. This took two attempts as the first was thwarted - officially Finland’s national bird is the Whooper Swan but up here it might as well be the mosquito. We were well and truly set upon and had to return to the cabin for bug spray. Attempt II was far more successful and we had a lovely stroll through the woods and rocky outcrops. The setting was amazing and the company even better, Ellie is the best fellow adventurer I could wish for.
I’m finishing this blog at 23:25 and as I look to my left the sky is still blue. Officially the sun sets tonight at 00:34 and then rises 96 minutes later at 02:10. What a world
Looks amazing.