Igloos, tumbling and ice glasses at the Arctic circle

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Finland Day 2



Igloos, tumbling and ice glasses at the Arctic circle



A lie-in!! Yes I was allowed to sleep all the way through until 7am today and even managed to wangle breakfast AND lunch! It's getting a bit like a holiday already and we're only on day 2. And what if breakfast was a hot dog on the go from a convenience store and lunch was a sandwich to take away....I've still been allowed to eat! PLUS we have snacks for later. It's like Christmas it really is.



Especially as Santa has his own minimarket here.... I think he's sold out but hey he has a diffcult job. For one day a year.



Anyway, we got up before the free coffee was ready at the hotel and then Claire made me walk down 6 flights of stairs cos I'm so fat (i never said that at all !! - Claire) and she hasn't seen any massive flights of stairs to make me climb. She's only thinking of me.



She then dragged me off miles in the wrong direction to see a church hewn out of solid rock. When she realised we were going the wrong way she dragged me off in the wrong direction again to make sure I don't get even fatter. We did get to another church though called the silent church which is wooden and an odd shape and, true to its name, it didn't make a sound.



And then to the rock church! No time to go in but it was probably impressive inside. The outside just looked like a pile of rocks. But Santa's minimarket was just outside....which was closed. I don't think they're expecting many tourists although there are quite a few Japanese here. At minus 9 though I don't suppose it's that appealing to many people.



After finally grabbing some free coffee at the hotel and checking out we made our way to the train station and made a real effort to buy tickets today after yesterday's faux pas. And after some time and speaking to the world's grumpiest woman we did manage to pay cash for two train tickets back to the airport. Good job really as there was a conductor in our carriage today although we suspect that some carriages are advertised as having conductors and others not. Which would be good if you were a fare dodger I would imagine....



At the airport I found out that you cannot buy chocolate at a duty free shop if you have a domestic flight booked. It wasn't that cheap at all (well nothing is!) so I went to WH Smith to get ripped off instead. There are plenty of shops to make you feel at home here. Marks and Spencer are here as are mini Harrods and Hamleys as well as various chain stores so ubiquitous on our high streets. The prices are enough to make your eyes water though even if the biting cold doesn't manage it. I hope the wages are high here!



Also at the airport I had an oops moment when I was stopped by security. As he went to swab my waistband I realised my fly was down and the guy doing it probably misinterpreted the odd grin I gave him as I didn't realise until he started swabbing my hands. Ah well!



On the plane up to Rovaniemi I realised the bonus of this trip being my birthday present as Claire said I could have the window seat again. I had a wonderful view of the wing. White it was.



And white the north of Finland is too. We shared transport to our hotel with two Geordies and were initially yabbering about the snow but after a few miles of snow covered trees conversation petered out.



But then we arrived! The glass igloos and snow hotel are in the same complex with a toasty warm wooden reception building. A very jovial chap checked us in and we were soon walking across the snow to our igloo. A very fancy igloo.



It has two beds that you can adjust the height of electronically, a bathroom, a fridge and a northern lights alarm that will buzz if the aurora borealis appears. It's also warm as well. And someone has built a snowman outside our door. Marvellous.



After taking photos and getting sorted we ventured out into the snow to take some photos. There is a lake that is blue on the map but white in real life and almost guaranteed to be safe to walk on. But not 100% as cheery receptionist guy told us later. We walked across it a bit and then headed into the snow hotel.



It's rather large in there with an ice chapel, an ice bar and an ice restaurant so there's a bit of a theme to it.... There are also quite a few bedrooms. Most of them are quite basic but ones we found at the end had fantastic ice sculptures including one with giant chess pieces and board. Stunning.



We took lots of pictures and, as it got colder, I started to wonder how the hell I'm going to stay warm tomorrow night.... It's constantly at between -1 and -5 in there with temperatures outside dipping to -10 earlier. Nippy! People pay 25€ just to look around inside so gawd knows how much it cost Claire for us to sleep there tomorrow!



After a warm up in our igloo and some snacks-yes I've been allowed to eat those too-we ventured back to reception to book some things for tomorrow with Mr Jolly. And then, as I'm sure everyone else does on their holidays, we went to stand on a frozen lake in sub zero temperatures taking long exposures. The northern lights look unlikely to appear for us (as usual!) as it's only predicted to be kp2 tonight but there is some definite green in my pictures. After failing by an hour in Iceland and probably here there's talk of us going to Norway next....



There were snowmobiles jetting accross the ice so we felt a bit safer but then we tried tobogganing. And both fell and hurt ourselves. Claire tried to take a picture of me hurtling down an icy hillside. What could go wrong? Especially with no means of steering. My first run went okay but Claire was concerned I wasn't in pain and so made me go again (or she missed the photo....she says...)



Next trip down and my sledge is flying straight at her and her tripod and it doesn't look like she's going to move so I take evasive action and bang my arm falling out. And Claire still didn't get a good shot.....



So she has a go. The sleigh spins, she falls off half way down the slope, bangs her head, hurts her arm and her rings cut into her fingers. And I fail to get the shot too. And then after we've walked back up the road a bit I realise that my torch fell out of my pocket when I tumbled so I have to go back and get it. Well done us!



Hopefully we'll have some decent photos from this holiday but shots off us sledging....nahh!



After a bit of a warm in the igloo we headed to the ice bar which is only open two hours a day and they're not consecutive. I guess people can't afford to spend more than an hour a lifetime in there as they have the most expensive drinks I have ever encountered. Claire's two shots, albeit served in glasses made of ice were €10...each! I had a spit of sacheted hot chocolate in a tiny styrofoam cup for £5, the same measure of glow wine for the same price and a spit of strawberry fizzy stuff in an ice glass for €6.



The hot chocolate was tepid and I would expect it with gold plated marshmallows for that price. The glow wine didn't glow but tasted okay and the strawberry stuff was probably about 2p worth out of a bottle of Morrison's strawberryade. We're on holiday apparently and should do it for the experience. Mind you when a small bottle of coke is €4 you know you won't get out of here until they have the shirt off your back. And it's a bit nippy for that. We did get to smash the glasses against the wall though and the sight of Claire jumping up and down on her glass as her throw had been a bit feeble will be a big hit on Youtube I'm sure.



We are now lying in our beds with the backs raised so we can see the clouds through the glass roof. The alarm is set just in case the northern lights appear but they're the opposite of scaffolding for us. Wherever we go scaffolding appears and the northern lights naff off somewhere (or nowhere) else. Ah well, there's plenty of exciting stuff coming up tomorrow! And I get to get up early too!

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