When I was leaving for Finland in October, I invited people to visit, although I didn’t know exactly what it would be like here. And finally, my mom and Vojta (my nephew) arrived, who had a different spring holidays this year than the rest of the family. I had already planned a lot of things for them/us in advance. But I won’t get ahead of myself.
They arrived on Monday evening with only an hour’s delay, they managed their transfer in London just fine, a few minutes before the gate closed. But they did!!! In Rovaniemi it was easy, just go outside and find me with a big sign – as always! We arrived at the accommodation, found the keys, cooked dinner… They were pretty tired, so I left them and let them sleep.
On Tuesday morning, I picked them up in my work car, along with other customers, and we set off on our first big adventure – snowmobiles. Luckily, there weren’t many of us, 3 snowmobiles in total, so I took them on my favorite route into the forest to the airport. It was a very nice ride, a beautiful morning, except that my mom almost gave me a heart attack a couple of times because she sometimes pressed the gas instead of the brake. And once she even missed a tree by about 5 cm, the guardian angel was very busy! Fortunately, everything went well, there were no accidents and we all returned safely. I then left them in Santa Claus village to go through it, take pictures with Santa, send postcards... And it turned out perfectly because Zsolti was returning from his tour, picked them up there and drove them to the city center. There was still plenty of time left in the afternoon, so we went up the hill for the sunset. We missed it by a few minutes, but it was still a beautiful spectacle.
Since it was a beautiful day and the forecast promised activity in the sky, I rented a work car and we went in the evening for the northern lights. And we did the right thing! Lady Aurora danced all over the sky, we didn't know where to look first!!! It was an incredibly beautiful show!!! We took about a thousand photos and enjoyed the view of the incredible beauty above us. Thanks to the clear sky and a million stars, it was also quite cold, about -20/25°C. On the way back, we stopped at my favorite place (Vikaköngäs), where there is a beautiful river, a suspension bridge and a fairy-tale forest. They liked it there too! But it was cold, so we quickly packed up and went home. A very successful day!
Wednesday morning was a bit hectic, but in the end everything fell into place on time. I went to pick up the car that I had booked for us for 3 days. A beautiful Toyota Yaris, hybrid, automatic, it drove sensationally and held on the road amazingly. I really enjoyed driving it!!! Then I picked up my two guests and another busy day awaited us. We arrived at the reindeer farm (Sieriporo), where we had a 40-minute ride on a reindeer-pulled sleigh. The morning was foggy, but during the ride it cleared up, the fog lifted and the sun smiled at us in the azure blue sky. When we returned, we were given hot juice, cookies and information about reindeer, where we learned almost everything. It was interesting for me to watch how each farm (and each guide) shares information a little differently. Mom was extremely satisfied, because she likes to learn new things and information.
The next stop was lunch at a gas station - a buffet, a typical Finnish thing. It's always a bit of a lottery bet, if it's going to be good, but this time it worked out! Strengthened by the food and with full bellies, we moved to the husky farm (Raitola), where we did 5 km with a dog sled. The three of us could ride on one sled, so the first half of the journey was "driven" by me, the second by Vojta, mom was happy that she didn't have to do anything, just sit and enjoy the ride. It was a great experience to be a musher for a while! And again after the ride - information, this time about the dogs. After the program, I dropped them off at the accommodation, went home to pack a few things, because I moved in with them for two nights so that we could spend more time together.
On Thursday, we had a big trip planned - Korouoma canyon and frozen waterfalls. The journey from Rovaniemi there takes about an hour and 40 minutes. I know it's a popular place, it gets packed with people during the day, so we set off early to avoid the crowds. And we did the right thing. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. We set off on a 5km circuit, through a beautiful forest, snow... The road was well marked and well-walked. I knew there would be icy spots there, especially downhill, so we chose the safest route - riding on our bums. We reminisced about our childhood and laughed like we hadn't in a long time. In the main part, we admired the frozen waterfalls and daredevils who tried ice climbing. We ended the trip in a hut with coffee and treats. Finns drink the most coffee in the world, but they don't know how to make a good one... I've gotten used to it, only the rest of the team had some reservations... But it was a nice end. We completed the entire circuit faster than we expected, so we returned home a bit earlier. We had time to relax, shop and prepare for the next adventure. And that was the sauna. A hot sauna and dipping in a frozen lake. It was great!!! They both dared to dip into the cold water in the end! And we could tick off another sensational experience. After a very full day, the only thing left for us was a nice dinner. I took them to a well-known restaurant, where we tasted reindeer, had wine and that closed the whole day.
On Friday, I got up early for work, Vojta rented cross-country skis and did almost 40km on them. In the meantime, my Mom walked Ounasvaara hill. Then we cooked dinner together and talked. Saturday was already in an undemanding spirit, I was at work, my Mom and Vojta walked around the city, visited a museum… Before they left for the airport, we had dinner together. And then we waited for the bus, which again did not arrive… So I don’t know how it works here. Luckily, Uber is always available, so they were at the airport on time. They even saw a “reindeer Uber” – a reindeer-pulled sleds in front of the airport. Everything went smoothly and the next day they texted me that they arrived safely and on time.
Those were really great days together!! Thanks for them!!!
