Snow!

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Finland!

Ethan and I are on a trip to Lapland for his Bar Mitzvah.

After a flight that can only be described as horrendous we landed in Rovaniemi, Lapland, and saw snow, icicles and pine forests. We were tired yet excited. Passport control went quickly and without a hitch in the tiny airport, and our guide and bus were waiting for us right there.

We did the mandatory horsing around in the snow before getting on the bus, where our guide, Dror, introduced himself and told us what he had planned for the remainder of the day. He took us to lunch, nothing to write home about. Low grade fast food, but after our flight we really didn't need anything more. From there we went into the town of Rovaniemi and got our outfits. The outfit place works like a swiss clock. In no time at all we all got large bags for the clothes we didn't need, we got wool socks, snow boots, ski outfits, wool hats, scarf and gloves. All of it fit well, was in good repair and clean.

We tested out our gear with snow angels before boarding the bus to Santa's village.

Santa's village is located right on the arctic circle. Besides that it's just what I expected; a tourist trap. But it was fun to play in the snow some more. I don't think Ethan is capable of getting tired of that. We broke icicles off a roof, made snowballs and had a battle, played catch with the snow and Ethan slid down some snow piles.

From there we went to our hotel, just outside of town, and our driver made it up the hill right to the hotel's main entrance. Dror told us that the last group's bus didn't make it up and they had to lug their suitcases up the hill themselves.

Our room for the next three days is very nice. Warm, comfortable, and it even has a Finnish sauna! We're too tired to try it out tonight, perhaps tomorrow.

Supper at the hotel was simple but delicious. Baked salmon, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies.

Have a look at our day:

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Photos

Santa's snowman
That's a real snowman, not plastic!