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Published: March 21st 2007
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The third and final full day in Lapland, I again saw how magical the Arctic Circle can be. I thought the magic ended with being in two different places at once, but I was wrong. This time, we found a portal that took us to another world! Narnia! (Ok so, we were really in a national park - but it really did feel like Narnia) Before we ventured out, we checked in at the national forest office to see what trails, if any, we could go on. We were told that we would need either snowshoes or skis to get to most paths, but there was one that we could go on without the shoes or skis. We were told, however, that there was an avalanche pass that we would have to be careful as we passed through. When I heard this, my eyes grew wide and I wondered what we were doing! We were also told to be careful where we walked because there were spots where you would take one step and fall into a pile of snow up to your knees! And this really happened too!
One of our first stops along the way was at a
cute little building that had a fireplace in the middle of it, like they had at the park we went to the previous day. I find that these buildings are common in Lapland. The building is circular and there are benches all along the walls. In the center is the fireplace. Considering how cold Lapland can be, these small buildings prove to be quite useful.
Speaking of cold weather, this was something that we did not see in Lapland! The weather was perfect. It was around 0 degrees Celsius for almost the whole time that we were there, plus or minus a few degrees.
Anyways, right after the building, there were about 200 steps that we needed to go down. Now, normally, this would not be a problem - except that they were so covered in snow that there was no place to put our feet! So we slid down - or at least I did. It was quite fun. It was great. You just grabbed the handle, gave yourself a little push, and slid down. You were lucky if you did not end up falling, which did not happen! I was lucky because I was the one who was
200 steps
Going down was the easy part. On the way back, we had to climb back up! Normally 200 wouldn't be too bad. But remember that the steps were covered in so much snow that it was like a slide. There was no place for our footing. Not only that, but it was at the end went we were tired, which made it all that more difficult. Right when we thought we were at the top, we looked up and saw that we were only halfway done! I was so glad to get to the top of those stairs! most properly dressed, thanks to my roommate who lent me snow pants and a nice ski jacket.
After the 200 steps, we began to step into Narnia and the avalanche pass, which made Narnia all that more magical. We were told to have some space between each person and to be very quiet. Some members in the group wanted to try to get the avalanche to fall. But in the end, we respected the quite atmosphere. The pass was not that bad either. If you weren’t warned, we might not have realized that it was in fact an avalanche pass. It was also at this point were we begun to see how deep the snow really was. We would be walking when all of a sudden, we were in snow up to our knees! I was once again very grateful to my roommate for lending me great winter wear!
Our final destination on this journey was a frozen waterfall. Here in Finland, everything freezes, even the sea! I heard that it is an experience traveling by ferry in the winter, because the boat will break the ice as it goes. Unfortunately, I was unable to experience that. But I did
Waist Deep
Here I am up to my waist in snow! see a frozen waterfall. It was very cool. It was at this point that I realized about a month ago, I was in a similar situation. Except that it was spring - not winter! Throughout the walk, I was reminded of Ireland and my walk among beautiful Irish scenery. I guess I also went back in time as well! From Irish spring to a Lapland winter! The waterfall and the frozen pool really reminded me of a lake in Ireland ( I have a picture of it in my Irish delight blog). We were debating if the water was safe enough to walk on, but we decided not to try our luck on this one. After taking a few photos, we turned around and headed back. One of the great things was that there were not a lot of people out there that day. On the way there, we ran into no one; and on the way back, we only ran into a few skiers and snowshoers.
After we got back, we rested a bit and then went out again! This time, to go cross country skiing! While four of us tried it on the cross country skis, Emil tried
it on the downhill skies. None of us had ever tried it on the cross country skis before, but we managed. Agnieszka had been downhill, so she was able to help us a bit. But I took to it like a duck to the water. I loved it! We ended up going to the same path that we walked the first night. Again, our destination was the café at the end. The good thing was that the way back was mainly downhill. Three of us liked it so much, that we went back after dinner! But this time, the weather was a bit warm, so the snow was not the best. We were also tired from walking and skiing earlier that day. So we skied up the big hill, and turned around to go down it. We had so much fun though that we kept turning around and skiing down it! It was such an exhilarating feeling, to just float down the hill with the wind rushing past you.
Ah, but this was not the end of our day! When we got back from skiing, for the second time, we decided to build a snowman (snowwoman actually). We thought that
we needed one more female to even us out. Three males and three females. But as how thing usually go, we had to have a snowball fight before we started on our snowwoman building. This time, I did have a part in it. Agnieszka and I tried to catch Emil as he came out of the cottage, but he caught on to what we were doing before we could catch him. Our plan did not work out as well as we thought. We did succeed in building our snowwoman though. We named her Piekna (the Polish word for beauty).
After that, we ended the night by going to the sauna again. This time we decided to be brave and jump in the snow! Emil said that it was Finnish tradition to do it 3 times - so we did! We (Agnieszka, Peter and I) would sit in the sauna and count to 60. We would then run outside, jump in the snow, and attempt to make a snowangel. The problem was that we were too close together so we kept hitting each other. Surprisingly enough - it was not too cold either (all part of the magic I guess)! It
was a great way to spend the last night in this mysterious land.
The next day we arrived early back to Rovaniemi where we went to a museum where I learned a bit about Lapland and the Sami people. Sami are the indigenous people who live in Finland, and more specifically in Lapland.
Overall, it was a very nice trip relaxing, trying new things, and hanging out with cool Polish people (and a Fin).
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Claudette Bougie
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Narnia and other Adventures
I really enjoyed this trip with you Emily and your pictures tell more of your story. Next winter if you ever want to go CROSS COUNTRY SKIING I will go with you or you can borrow my skiis and boots. We also have SNOW SHOES. All the fun you shared made me feel like going out and playing in the SNOW!! BUT all our SNOW is gone-so I do have to wait until next year. You will have so many wonderful memories and your blogs and pictures will let you re-tell your stories for years. Love you mean it, Auntie Claudette