Blogs from Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland, Europe

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Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi December 19th 2023

Rob Writes Coccyx not sucking (chortle). We were up early today as we had a pick-up arranged to take us on the Huskey sled tour at 7:45am. We had found a hostel that served a buffet breakfast right near where the pick-up was, so that was the first port-of-call. We jumped on the tour bus and after a 30-minute journey we were at the Huskey farm(?). After getting suited up in the provided snow overalls we were directed to the tutorial sled, where the tour guide gave us a run down of what to expect. This briefing was quite a lot of take in and the guide was quite intense (another robot – Tina). By the end I felt like I was about to take control of an unruly rocket ship with a mind of its ... read more
Lapland
Lapland
Lapland

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi December 19th 2023

Tina Writes It was a big day so we have split this blog into two. Rob didn’t mention it was my birthday. Having already gone on the Huskey sledding in such amazing surroundings, it was already one of the best but now it was time to go to Santa Village. You could say this was the reason we came here in the first place. To meet the big man himself (this is as close as it gets id say). Maybe some of you don’t know this about me but I LOVE SANTA!. Santa to me is like what I think people who are religious think about God maybe. I am a believer. I still hear the sleigh bell ring. So it was shaping up to be a pretty good birthday. The bus dropped us at the ... read more
Santa Village
Santa Village
Santa Village

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi December 18th 2023

Tina Writes After a terrible night on what I thought was a hard bed and waking up a lot due to extreme hip pain, we eventually got up and wandered out looking for a brunch place. It was Monday now so everything looked a lot more open. I had marked a few places on my google map for brunch/dinner, so we checked those out. There’s a real lack of places to eat I think, certainly for breakfast which seems non-existent. We could have bought food to cook in the apartment but we’re on holiday and like eating out. We eventually found one of the places I had marked. It was quite busy. We ordered some waffles. Rob had a savoury one with crayfish and I had a s’mores one along with a couple of hot chocolates. ... read more
Snowmobiling
Snowmobiling
Snowmobiling

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi December 17th 2023

Rob Writes: There wasn’t a lot of excitement the day prior to this jaunt. It had been my work Christmas night out on the Friday night, and despite only having drank ½ a pint of lemonade and a couple of shots of spring water (honest) I was extremely ill the following day. Don’t know what happened. In hindsight this worked out in my favour. I never slept much Friday night and spent most of Saturday morning heaving into the lavatory. But what finished me off was trying to fix Tina’s mums (Jean) WiFi on Saturday afternoon. Where is this going? Well, we had to be at Edinburgh airport for 4am on Sunday morning, which meant getting up at 2:30am. The carnage detailed above allowed me to sleep like a baby from 9pm on the Saturday night, ... read more
Lapland
Lapland
Lapland

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi July 27th 2023

Woke up with the sun coming in the un-curtained windows. Allowed us to look at nature all night - behind closed eyes. Still looked good this morning. As we were walking to breakfast we heard the sound of a jet. Next thing a fighter jet zooms overhead into the wild blue yonder. Turns out the nearby airport is also a military base. This thing was going very fast and the noise went on for quite a while. Nice breakfast then went back and finalized packing. Called our valet service who picked us and our bags up. Stored the bags at the hotel and headed off on foot to Santa’s village. A 30 minute walk. Again, whine walking a couple more jets went screeching over us. This time different colored planes. Maybe Air Force and navy - ... read more
Electric Rudolph.
In we go……
Elves must have big heads.

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi July 26th 2023

Off the ship this morning. We say our final farewells to friends and crew. No tears but a few more laughs and subtle digs. Good crew. Out to our private transfer. This turns out to be a local taxi but a very nice guy - huge. Into the wild blue yonder. This dude has a booming voice and struggles a little with English but is generally very easy to communicate with. We get to one part where there are signs about militarily restricted areas. I ask if he is worried about being so close to the Russian border - only 10km away. Not at all he says. We find out a little bit later he is married to a Russian. No wonder he isn’t concerned. We have around 6 hours in the car to Rovaniemi. Eventually ... read more
Traffic reindeer.
Our Arctic Tree House room.
Nice view from the bed

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi July 13th 2023

Pas de souci... je ne vous laisse pas tomber... nous vivons seulement activement et chaque journée est bien remplie... soirées aussi vu qu'à partir du passage du Cercle polaire arctique, plus de télévision... pas souvent un très bon internet mais aussi une fatigue du voyage du jour qui fait que si le soleil ne se couche plus... nous oui.... nous rejoignons nos pénates avec grand plaisir !!!! Pour ce blog je vous mettrai des photos de Rovaniemi... le fameux village du Père Noël... Et oui... il nous a reçu et nous a même dit "Moein", en luxembourgeois... On ne peut malheureusement pas prendre de photos... c'est ici le gagne pain des étudiants en photographie... on en achète une pour leur faire plaisir et on garde son rêve d'avoir connu le Père Noël en mémoire... Evidemment ce ... read more
on était prévenus.. c'est le royaume des moustiques !
il ne nous aura plus !
on y est ! reste à arriver au Cap Nord...

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi July 4th 2018

Bonjour à tous, Je vous le dis de suite pour mon entrée en Russie vous n’aurez pas la réponse ce soir. Hier au soir j’étais donc à Inari, là plus grande commune de Finlande 17 333km2, pour 6000 habitants. Un super petit hôtel sur le bord de la route, avec un excellent chef en cuisine, enfin un bon repas, le tout pour une somme modique. A 19 heure le thermomètre de l’hôtel indiquait 32º. La sonde devait être au soleil, à l’ombre c’était aux environs de 25. Soirée très agréable. Je l’avais vu, en prévision, la pluie est arrivée dans la nuit, ce matin plus que 10º. Avant de me coucher j’étais rentré dans le détail de ma carte, qui est a une relative grande échelle, pour ma programmation, au départ du matin. J’avais constaté que ... read more
Pour le concours Lépine!!!!
plus  joli que les Decaud
Rovaniemi rivière Kemijoki

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi March 2nd 2018

Pour commencer, merci les amis pour ce fabuleux cadeau d'anniversaire! Sans votre contribution, je ne serais pas en Laponie aujourd'hui. De mon tableau "Things to do bedore I die", je vais peut-être pouvoir réaliser un voeux supplémentaire: voir des aurores boréales! 6 semaines pour préparer ce voyage de 8 jours en Laponie Finlandaise. Nos sacs à dos sont prêts. Eléa est chez papi mamie. Notre itinéraire est ficelé, ou presque... : 1 nuit à Rovaniemi, 2 nuits a Saariselkä encore plus au nord, 3 nuits quelque part à définir au gré de nos envies et 2 nuits à Rovaniemi pour terminer. Levés 5:00 pour un vol CDG-Helsinki puis Helsinki-Rovaniemi. Arrivée par -5 degrés à 13:30. Les pistes de l'aéroport sont toutes blanches. Notre voiture de location pneus neiges obligatoires nous attend. Un plan qui se deroule ... read more
Des burgers au steack de renne !
Bienvenue au Snow Hotel
Notre mini chambre au Snow Hotel

Europe » Finland » Lapland » Rovaniemi December 14th 2017

Thursday 14 December 2017 Saariselka / Rovaniemi This morning we departed Saariselka, to visit Santa’s Village. Our journey started in the Polar light with the new moon shining in the southern sky. It was a beautiful drive watching the snow covered sides of roads and the conifer forests laden with snow. In time as the outside temperature dropped from -3 degrees to -10 degrees, we saw more light appearing but never the sun. Part-way there, we stopped at a large service station for a morning coffee. After about 1½ - 2 hours we spotted the entrance of the Santa Claus Village which Tom & I had visited in shorts and T-shirt in 2014. The village had grown extensively since that time. It looked so different covered in snow. It was beautiful The first thing we did ... read more
Igloo in main square Rovaniemi (6)
Santas Village Rovaniemi Ice Hotel & Restaurant (37)
Santas Village Rovaniemi (1)




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