Here comes Santa Claus (a few days in Finland)

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WEDNESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

Very early start this morning with breakfast at 6am and departure at 6:30am. Meant that I was up at 5am to shower before the crowds. The wind at breakfast nearly blew the cook tent away. First stop was at 8:30am which was still in Norway to get rid of any coins that we wouldn’t be able to exchange. After that it was about half an hour until the ‘border’ crossing which we simply drove through - despite the fact that Norway isn’t in the EU and Finland is. But no passport check nonetheless. When we crossed into Finland we also had to turn the clocks forward an hour, hence the early start this morning.

We stopped for lunch after midday which today was baked spuds with all the trimmings and the usual fruit and cheese and biscuits. They must spend a lot on cheese as its mostly brie and camembert etc. It was raining through most of lunch so we were all on and off the bus.

From there it was a few hours until we arrived in the Finnish region of Lapland, where legend has it Santa comes from. As Santa didn’t arrive until 4pm we had a chance to look through his ‘workshop’ which was really just a stack of souvenir shops, before we could go and see him and get our photo taken. Obviously Santa is capitalising on this market significantly, with photos costing 25 euro each. Needless to say, I didn’t feel that strong a need to see Santa; although I did pick up a few random souvenirs.

Then it was a brief drive onto our campsite which was just outside the city of Ravaniemi which is said to be a nice little tourist town. After checking into our cabins, Jess and I went for a ‘quick’ walk up to the local supermarket which ended up being a 5km round trip and took over an hour in the end. I got cash out of the ATM and bought some snacks for the following day on the bus.

By the time we got back to the campground it was time for dinner, which was salmon with roasted potatoes and veg - very tasty even though I am not a salmon fan. By the time dinner was over it was blowing a gale and was 9pm so we all headed to our respective cabins and my cabin proceeded to watch a reality TV programme (in English) about a cooking competition. For once - there were no bunk beds so it made for a nice change and was also quite good to watch some rubbish on TV too!!

THURSDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

Another drive day today with a slightly later start than yesterday - breakfast this morning was at 8:15am with a 9am departure. Short service stop at about 11:30am, then we stopped for lunch at about 1:15pm or so - another picnic lunch of burgers again. I skipped the luke warm meat and opted for the vege option.

We got into Jyvaskyla at about 5pm, and checked into the hostel. Managed to avoid putting up the cook tent as there was some other tent already up the back so all we had to do was unload the cooking stuff. Left Timmy to prepare dinner while the rest of us dressed to go out that evening - as it was a student city and about the first option to go out for a few drinks - with Norway being so expensive!!

Had a drink with dinner which was burritos and Mexican food tonight. Yummy. Then we loaded onto the bus as Matty had agreed to do a drop in town. Found a bar and had cocktails and then moved onto another bar where they were checking ID. Unfortunately many of our group hadn’t brought ID so we tried to get them in but it just resulted in some hassles and in the end a group of about
Of us got the bus home as we couldn’t find a cab.
FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

Another bus day today so up early for breakfast before an 8am departure from Jyvaskyla. Lunch (pasta) was on the bus and we arrived into Helsinki just after midday. It was too early to check into the campsite so we put our bags into a cabin before heading out on a driving tour of the city.

I didn’t have any real expectations of the city which I am somewhat thankful for as even though it was quite pretty; I was bored very early. The driving tour took us past the Sibelius Monument, the Church in the Rock (otherwise known as the underground church), Uspensky Cathedral and Senate Square. As far as cities go - Helsinki was relatively small - probably because the population of Finland is only about four million or so!!!

Once the driving tour was finished the rest of the day was ours. I wandered around the market square and up to Uspensky Church for views over the city. I tossed up about going out to the island to se the fortress but ended up wandering around the shopping area for a bit before an early dinner (burger) and back to the campsite for a relatively early night.

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Comments

[Ben Jensen]

Jyvaskyla aka 'The Student Town'
You left out the details of who didn't have the ID..

[Mandaz]

That's because I didn't expect anyone who knew the people I was talking about to read my blog!! Just as well I wasn't saying how much I hated you all!! Kidding ;)