By Elizabeth Johnstone
“Next time with
snow!”
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| Santa Claus Village |
These were our parting words to Mensan friends after a trip
to Rovaniemi in October 2011. Being a
woman of my word, I booked a long weekend in the capital of Finnish Lapland in
January 2013. I made similar arrangements
to the previous trip - an ATOL-protected package booked through Guild Travel in
London . Finnair to Helsinki , then on to Rovaniemi. The layover of one hour on the way out was
worrying enough. Thirty-five minutes in Helsinki to make the London flight on the way
back was nerve-shredding! I can’t say I like the new Finnair uniform whose
white bibs have a Star-Trek-goes-Nordic look. Not too flattering to the - shall
we say - fuller figure.
My previous hotel, the Vaakuna, was already full when I booked
in August. The City Hotel was a more
than acceptable substitute. Triple-glazed windows, ample breakfast buffet, a
young and enthusiastic reception staff and a welcome sauna at the end of the
day.
After I had made my arrangements, the Mensa Northern Lights
meeting in Rovaniemi was announced.
Neither the local Mensans nor I could change our timings, but it worked
out well with me as guinea pig for some of the activities. And I was just as welcome as an individual.
I went on my own this time. My husband took the view that the
girls and I would be sitting around in coffeehouses chatting, Arctic or no
Arctic. Now why on earth did he think
that?
I arrived on the Thursday evening to temperatures of
-18°. I had been forewarned about being
properly dressed for the cold. You can
hire Arctic apparel from the many safari companies. I soon discovered I had to
wear earmuffs, scarf, jacket and gloves (not forgetting long underwear)
whenever I stepped outside, even to nip across the road to a shop. It must make it hard to storm off after an
argument when it takes so long to get dressed for the outdoors. I needed ski-type overtrousers for the
snowshoe activity where we were trudging knee-deep in snow and, periodically,
falling over into it. Footwear was a major issue. All pavements and roads are compacted snow,
so grippers on the soles of my boots were essential. I had Wintertrax (from QVC, not too proud to
admit it) Yaktrax are a similar brand. I
had sturdy hiking boots, plus a second pair for when the first got wet in deep
snow and had to dry out. I had lovely
old fur and sheepskin gloves. The fur
part was perfect, but the cold got in through a torn lining. At least there was
no requirement for clothing in the sauna!
I walked down to the river to admire the iconic Lumberjack’s
Lantern Bridge Finland can be
prohibitively expensive, but I remembered Restaurant Martina from our previous
visit. On two separate evenings I enjoyed a delicious Italian-style main course
preceded by a salad from the buffet with a small glass of wine for about 20
euros. Believe me, that is a bargain.
The next day, I headed out to the Santa Claus Village, using
the local bus. Public transport in
Rovaniemi is not great – most tourists are in large groups, ferried around by
coach, and the locals prefer to travel by car.
However, the hourly number 8 bus is well used by visitors. I enjoyed pottering through residential
areas, noticing, for example, that a school playground was an ice rink.
The village was quiet after the seasonal wave of Russian
tourists. The Russians are frequent and popular (i.e. big-spending) visitors,
especially around their Christmas in the first week of January. The municipality has produced an information
brochure for them in Russian explaining, for example, that you do not need to
drive in the middle of the road as you would in Russia to avoid potholes. There is a Russian speaking customer
assistant in the shopping centre. Russia and Finland have a
long history but the present "invasion" seems to benefit both
nations.
I bought my eight stamps (in Finnish - love that partitive
case!) at Santa’s Main Post Office and posted my cards there to get the special
postmark. I had a pleasant discussion with
the elves who were busily sorting the mail to the “Christmas goat” i.e. Santa
Claus. If the letter has a recognisable
address, the child receives a reply.
After browsing around the gift shops and taking plenty of photos, I
treated myself to an Arabia mug as a souvenir
from the iittala shop.
I was invited to lunch at the home of one of my Mensan
friends. An interesting phenomenon here
and at another person’s house. The lady of the house produced a big dish of delicious
food. She looked at me. I looked at her. No-one touched the food. The Finnish
lady did not want to serve me and treat me like a child. I did not want to
serve myself and look presumptuous and greedy. Eventually common sense
prevailed - and we ate.
I tore myself away from a cosy setting to catch the last
hour or two of light for photographs – it was all of two o’clock .
I walked through town to the church, then back along the bank of the
mighty Ounas River
Next day was the snowshoe outing, a dry run for the event
which my friend was hosting at the Northern Lights meeting. I am unsporty and unco-ordinated. If it
worked for me, it would work for anyone.
We started off from the Santa Sport complex at Ounasvaara. Unsurprisingly, it has the full range of
winter sports activities as well as the normal leisure ones. I don’t know how many swimmers are brave enough
for the replica “ice hole” in the pool area!
We donned our snowshoes, yes, the ones that look like
high-tech tennis racquets strapped to your feet, and set off into the
forest. Plan A rapidly turned into plan
B or maybe C and, to cut a long story short, we improvised our own mini-campsite
in a clearing. Like a Nordic Mary
Poppins, my friend produced a stove, spirit, a pan, a container of pea and ham
soup, rye bread sandwiches, teabags and a flask of boiling water from her
rucksack. She announced that we would
eat like the Finnish army on winter manoeuvres, and I believed her. There was much hilarity as members of the party
fell over or struggled to regain their footing.
The forest was sparkling white in the mid-day sun but, by definition, we
were off piste and this townie was secretly relieved to see civilisation in the
form of ski-tracks. “Ski-ing” to a Finn
is what we would call cross-country ski-ing.
They slightly despise downhill ski-ing as being aided by chairlifts on
the way up and gravity on the way down.
That evening, a different Mensan friend hosted an event
where, after yet another delicious meal, the ladies made soap. This modern
alchemy is a scientific process involving lye, fat, scent and colouring. My contribution was providing moral support i.e.
chatting at the table and taking the occasional photo.
Next day, in brilliant sunshine and -10°, I set off on a
scenic walk across the bridge to look at the town from the other side. After
Rovaniemi was razed to the ground by the Germans in 1944, it was reconstructed
according to a “reindeer plan” by the famous architect Alvar Aalto. Maybe the antlers and back are better
appreciated from the air. Certainly the
buildings blend sympathetically into the snow, and provided some stunning
images.
That evening, we returned to the same friend’s house for a
gourmet meal of local delights. A
savoury mushroom soup, then whitefish with a chef’s salad, wild mushroom sauce
and Lappish potatoes, followed by a fruit soup (a compôte of hand-collected
berries) and Chantilly cream, all washed down by a non-alcoholic beverage made
from blackcurrant leaves. By now, I knew
to serve myself!
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| You have to plug your car in overnight to stop it freezing |
I was fascinated to see how Finns drove in their winter
conditions, which prevail for at least six months of the year. The municipality sends the snow ploughs out
quickly, but there is permanent compacted snow on the roads and pavements. Finns drive with a confidence brought about
by obligatory winter tyres, a three part driving test and long experience. No wonder they are world rally
champions. In the same conditions, which
we might have for a week or two in the UK , we crawl along. Of course, you can over-do the confidence. I was slightly nervous as the airport taxi
driver chatted away on his phone and looked at paperwork while driving back to
town on the frozen dual carriageway.
All too soon, it was the last day. My case was full of bulky winter clothes, so I only
squeezed in two tubs of lingonberry and blueberry preserves and a packet of
xylitol chewing-gum. I was mildly apprehensive about the return journey. The day after I flew out, winter struck the UK with a
vengeance. Nevertheless, I surmised correctly that winter conditions were
nothing new to Finnair and I returned to Heathrow without incident (and with my
luggage, despite that 35 minute layover).
All in all, a fabulous weekend. The Arctic temperatures were melted by the warmth
of my welcome. I was hypnotised by the
magical landscape and I learned to respect the cold. There was only one disappointment. Not even those resourceful Arctic Mensans were
able to conjure up the “foxfires”.
However, there is a simple solution.
I have to go back.
“Next time with Northern Lights!”
First published in VISA `109 (June 2013)
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