Saturday 14-May--To The Arctic (Circle) and Beyond!!

Today we head off to Part II of our journey, to the Arctic Circle!  After a hasty breakfast, we packed up the rest of our stuff, and hoofed over to the airport terminal.  Finally!  A cool day!  It was far warmer than we expected the whole time we were in the South, until the last day.  We packed for the normal temperatures, of 50s and 60s, but found ourselves in 60s and 70s.  Long sleeves and sweaters just aren’t fun when you are walking in the direct sunlight in 78 degree weather.  So, we were especially looking forward to some cool air. 

Checking in and checking our bags on Norwegian Air was easy, but rather unexpected.  We used the self check in, but were a little surprised to see it spit out the checked bag tape too (I never pay attention to how to put those things on!).  Security was not too bad.  I kept my shoes on, and had no issues.  Theresa was pulled aside because the metal detector beeped when she went through, and given a little extra inspection.  To all of those people who think the pat down in the US is too personal…c’mon over!  There weren’t many secrets between Theresa and the Security when they got done.

We got on the plane, and it looked really nice inside.  (Their OLDEST one is 2008.)  They had the new interiors from Boeing, which includes the colored “mood lighting” in the ceiling, very light surfaces, but black leather seats with a red head pad.  Theresa said the red and black looked very nice.  Being a Low Cost Carrier, it was all coach, and the pitch was terrible!  Sitting down, my face was a mere 8 inches from the seat in front of me.  Thankfully, no one was sitting there, and didn’t recline.  It was only about 75 minute flight, so it wasn’t too bad. 

They call it the "Lakelands" or "Lake Region", and this is why.  Most of the way it looked like this.

Arriving in Rovaniemi, they told us it was 5 Celsius (about 41 F), and felt chilly.  J  We were getting our rental car (a Volvo!) and he asked if we wanted an upgrade.  We already HAD an upgrade (I was looking forward to driving a Volvo in Sweden), but was curious what he had in mind.  So, I asked.  He said a BMW!  My mind raced for a moment at the idea of tooling around Scandinavia, then after the mental picture of me pulled over for more than just my mind racing, and I decided not to pursue it.

We immediately went to Santa Claus Village.  It was kind of cute, and worth about an hour’s time.  But, it was mostly little stores and restaurants.  Lots of stores had reindeer pelts (which are VERY soft), reindeer leather wallets, etc, and Christmas themed everything.   There was a painted line marking the “Arctic Circle”.  This is defined as the line above which there is at least one night that the sun does NOT go down, and at least one day that the sun does not come up.  I guess on such a day, I could stand south of the line and not see the sun, step forward, and there it is!

We headed into Rovaniemi to visit the Arktikum (the Arctic Museum).  It was a very good museum, covering the animals, the people, and the environment.  We enjoyed it a lot.  But, I’ll try not to bore you with all of the details.  We spent a few hours there.

We started up to our time share near Kattila.  On the way, Theresa exclaimed and pointed to a Reindeer just off to the left.  A little while down the road, I saw a completely white calf.  Then we saw one to the right, I growled to a halt, and Theresa took a picture.  Unfortunately, by the time we got the camera ready and the picture taken, he was on his way into the woods.  All three of them looked at us, but none seemed frightened.  Later we saw an elk, but he was mostly in the woods.

We stopped on the way at a grocery store (since they tend to close at 6PM).  Boy, was that an experience!  Most food you can identify by sight, or by picture.  But, when it comes to meat…good luck!  So, we’re trying to figure out what everything is, and of course they are priced in Euros per kilogram, so the prices don’t make a lot of sense (divide by 2.2, multiply by 1.45, uh...).  We can compare by the rates, but the prices are not always next to the product, so it took almost an hour.  It was a good learning experience, though.  [Post Note:  We bought some "sausages", not knowing what they were, and by the time we made them, figured out they were giant (2 inch diameter) hot dogs.]

Outside our cabin at 11:30 PM

By the time we got into our unit, got to dinner, and everything settled, it was nearly 11:30.  But, it was not even as dark as dusk.  So, I did not see the midnight sun, but certainly saw the midnight sunlight!