Lapland - Days 5&6 (March 7-8)

This was the second day where the poor doctors had to endure 3 hours of lectures. I went for a lovely walk with one of the women - across the bridge, along the river and then crossed back on the ice - frozen rivers are very useful! We also did some shopping, but there really isn't much to buy here.

At 11:30 we drove to the zoo - about an hour away. It's not a zoo in the normal sense of the word - it's a place where they collect the local animals and also some almost extinct species. It's mainly outside and I am not sure how they manage without hibernating, but most of the animals were wide awake and there were also quite a few birds. Was nice as far as zoos go.

We sat at dinner with some very nice and interesting people who were not from the doctors' group - made for a very nice change.

This morning we woke up at 4:15 for a quick breakfast and were on the road by 5:30 (non-trivial as getting dressed takes quite a while here). We drove for almost 2 hours to Kemi on the Baltic sea, enjoying a beautiful sunrise on the way (sidenote - the days are 45 minutes longer now than they were when we arrived 6 days ago!). We boarded the icebreaker at the harbor and started the best day of the trip.

The icebreaker was retired some years ago as it is too small to help the big boats on the water today, and was converted into a tourist attraction. Turns out icebreakers cannot operate without ice due to the egg-like shape of their hulls, so this one is used as a moored floating restaurant in the summer. But today it plowed bravely along, breaking the ice on the way. It was not terribly cold so I managed to spend close to an hour on deck and it was fascinating to see the thick sheet of ice just crumbling away.

Finally we docked in the middle of the frozen sea, and they lowered a gangplank for us to walk on the ice. This was exciting enough but the best part was the floating garments we could change into - they made us look like teletubbies but allowed us to step into the icy water and float on our backs - was amazing! Everybody seemed to enjoy looking ridiculous and paddling in icy water.

After a nice lunch in Kemi we continued to the ice palace. It's a huge structure which is rebuilt every winter. This year's theme was cartoons and it was fascinating to see what can be done with ice. The palace also has about 20 bedrooms and a honeymoon suite and it seems that quite a few people sleep there (they do provide furs and sleeping bags...), despite the cold and the steep prices...

So that's that. We'll probably hang out with some of our new friends tonight and tomorrow will check out and drive to the airport to catch our 1pm flight. It's definitely been a unique and lovely vacation!

Lapland - Day 4 (March 6)

Another beautiful sunny day. We started at 8:30 towards the husky farm. After a short lesson we were on our way. One person sits in the sleigh, the other stands on the runners and tries to control the huskies. The only real control is a brake you step on when you feel they are running too fast. They decide if to obey or not... It's really quite exhilirating especially as the way was beautiful and the ice glittered in the sun. But it was quite cold - around -7 (Celsius) and both driver and passenger slowly felt their extremities freezing.

Midway (after about 40 minutes) we were told to switch places and I got into the sleigh and Keren onto the runners. After a sharp turn I saw one of the Finns running towards us and disentangling the dogs and then he told me I had to drive. I was a bit puzzled and even more puzzled and surprised when I saw Keren walking towards me. Turns out she fell off and I did not even notice. Seems her punishment was to be banished to being passenger again.

After hot berry juice and a most welcome fire in a kuta along with explanations about the huskies, we went out to pet and photograph them and then on to the reindeer farm. That was rather pathetic - a few ragged reindeer drawing sleighs around in a circle - similar to children's pony rides. We skipped that but got our reindeer driving licenses nonetheless.

Excellent mushroom soup for lunch and on to the arktikum which is a very beautiful local museum dealing with the local flora and fauna and indigenous people.

A gala dinner tonight - again with the ambassador...



P.S. The gala was terrible - the worst meal by far! The ambassador told a couple of good stories but we did not like him nonetheless. Then we tried to see the aurora borealis but no luck. Some people are still going to try and walk to a dark spot and wait for it there but we are too cold and sleepy.

P.P.S I forgot we also went to Santa's village today. As expected - a tourist trap but a good place to send postcards from.

Lapland - Day 3 (March 5)

Had a lovely trip towards the town called Kuusemmo (!). We stopped before we got there and walked down the hill for about 20 minutes until we were just below the frozen falls. Some of us clambered about 30 meters up to their base and then slid down on our butts - was great fun and the arctic clothes proved their worth again.

Then back to town and went out for lunch and now a free afternoon while the doctors are sloggin away...

Lapland Day 2 (March 4)

We woke up to another beautiful sunny day with very little wind - perfect for driving snow mobiles! (and it did get a bit chilly occasionally).

We started out driving for a while on the frozen river (which had quite a few signposts, separate traffic lanes etc - not your standard river!), and then through the woods. It's all very peaceful - not an animal or bird to be seen - I guess they are all hibernating or have migrated to warmer places. Driving is quite easy and you get the hang or it after 5 minutes. Nonetheless it is more strenuous than I expected and quite a workout for the arms and hands. We took turns driving and when it was very bumpy the passenger also got a workout by hanging on for dear life.

We stopped on a lake and tried our hands at ice fishing. Drilling the holes was fun, but the fish did not cooperate. Nonetheless we had an excellent salmon-potato soup in an "authentic" Kuta (log cabin) served by a girl in peasant clothes.

Then we drove back and arrived around 5 to the hotel. Fun as it was, 5 hours on a snowmobile are quite tiring and everybody seemd happy to get back.

Dinner in a few minutes - the Israeli ambassador is coming for a shabbat dinner with us. Yay!

Tomorrow we split up - Keren is going skiing and I am going on a hike to frozen falls. The poor pediatricians will have some talks in the afternoon...

Lapland - March 2011

This trip is different - I am on a trip to Lapland with my friend Keren. Keren is a pediatrician and this trip is in the guise of a pediatric dermatology conference - about 5% medicine and 95% fun but who complains.

We left Israel very early and landed in Rovaniemi, Finland at noon. All the passengers on the plane were Israelis (except for 2 Finns who came to see soccer matches - apparently the Finns were playing against Israel and the Ukraines). There are 5 groups traveling in parallel - 2 groups of doctors, a photography school and a couple of other groups.

It's a very nice & sunny day here today - the temps. are just above freezing but the winds are gusty and that of course makes things colder.

The first order of business was being outfitted in the "Arctic Center" - boots and socks, an overall, scarves, hats... A bit bulky but very comfortable. The overalls have zippers all along the legs so that one can change in & out without removing the boots which is very handy. And of course one needs to shed as much of the overall as possible whenever one enters the bus or a building.

After lunch we went for a lovely walk in the woods, crossed a bridge over a partially frozen river and arrived at a small hut where we got some warm berry juice and heard a story by a small campfire.

It will be an early night tonight to catch up on sleep and get ready for a day of snowmobile driving tomorrow!

Finland has an extensive network of webcams. http://www.rovaniemi.fi/layouts/rovaniemi/includes/360/lordi-aukio.asp?sek=10 has a view of the Lordi square which is about 200m away from our hotel!



More photos on https://picasaweb.google.com/ednawig/LaplandMarch2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCOnD-7j0wdDttgE#