Advertisement
Published: December 18th 2013
Edit Blog Post
With our Lapland adventure drawing to a close we re-packed our bags after breakfast before putting all of our gear on for one last foray out onto the lake on the cross-country skis. We headed downstairs to put on some ski boots and then off outside to collect the skis and poles. Once we had clicked our boots into the bindings we shooshed off to see how Sophia's igloo was standing up to the weather. It was still there ... I wonder how much longer it will last?
There were only patches of cloud today which meant that the sunlight from below the horizon was reflecting off the patchy clouds resulting in spectacular pink cloud formations. We took heaps of photos without really knowing whether or not the compact cameras could do justice to the show that Mother Nature was putting on for us.
We skied to roughly the same place that we did on Sunday. We couldn't find the track that has been laid by the tool that they tow behind the snowmobile so Bernie blazed a trail for us. He seems to have found his feet for cross-country skiing now - just when we are about to
head home! I was doing OK, sore thigh muscle and all, until we were heading back to the hotel. I went to shoosh forward with my left foot and it sort of stuck rather than sliding smoothly which really overstretched my quadriceps muscle again. OUCH!!
We made it back to the practice track again and finished our outing by returning along that. I found a lovely, pristine patch of snow beside the track to make a snow angel. Goodness knows when we'll be in the snow again so I had to have a go at all the things you do when there is snow to play in. Bernie wouldn't write his name in the snow though!
Back at the hotel we had our lunch looking out at the beautiful pink clouds. When we had finished our lunch we popped outside again to take more photos of pink clouds! We only had the Sony and the Panasonic Lumix earlier so we wanted to take a few shots with the DSLRs. As we came back in we encountered Anne (owner of the Hotel Korpikatano with husband, Timo) who told us that they only get a few days just before Christmas
each year when the sky is as beautiful as today. Lucky us.
We finished our packing and settled our account for the extras we have purchased during our stay. About 3.20pm Timo loaded us and our luggage into the van for the drive back to the airport at Ivalo. For most of the drive we were able to see the almost full moon glowing in the sky. Hmmn, the sky is clear tonight maybe the guests back at the Hotel Korpikatano will get to see some auroral activity?
Our flight back down to Helsinki was on time so we were back to civilisation by about 7.30pm. We decided it was too late in the day to muck around taking public transport into the city so we took a cab. When we flew into Helsinki last week the queue for cabs was ridiculous. Tonight we walked straight out of the terminal and into the first cab at the rank. The fare was just over €40.00 which wasn't too bad. Well worth it for the convenience.
We are staying at the Best Western Premier Hotel Katajanokka - the former county jail! The building was built between 1837 and 1888
in the Philadelphia prison style that was invented in America in the beginning of the 1800s. Helsinki County Prison was a pre-trial detention facility. Criminals were sent from all around Southern Finland to wait for their trial. Around 40%!o(MISSING)f all prisoners in Finland passed through the prison. The Helsinki County Prison on Katajanokka was closed down in 2002. The 164 prison cells were converted to 106 hotel rooms and reopened as the Hotel Katajanokka in May 2007.
We ate downstairs in the Jailbird Restaurant where the jail theme extends to the tin mugs for you to drink water from! After a week of eating nothing but reindeer alternating with fish we both ordered the steak ... and we skipped dessert.
9,929 steps / 6.76 km
Advertisement
Tot: 0.787s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 33; qc: 131; dbt: 0.4545s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.4mb
Chris
non-member comment
Full moon. Have a good trip home.
The moon was spectacular here last night and it makes you seem so much closer reading about you admiring the same moon Just as well you're not home today as it's going to be 39C : wish I was making snow angels! There is a cool change coming ( of course - it's Melboure!).