Spring Break in Finland!

Written by Brittany

This past week has been our spring break from school, and we finally got to go on a trip we have had booked since September! We traveled from Prague up above the Arctic Circle to Finnish Lapland, and it was amazing!

We landed at Ivalo Airport, and then directly south of it is our resort: Kakslauttanen

 We had four main bucket list things we wanted to achieve on this trip: 1. Go above the Arctic Circle, 2. Go dogsledding, 3. Go snowmobiling, 4. See the Northern Lights. And we did three of the four! A bittersweet aspect of our trip: it was unseasonably warm during the time we were there – it stayed right around freezing instead of being 20 degrees below like it normally is, and because of the warm weather, it was also very cloudy. (Many of the natives we talked to complained that it was too warm, and they wished it were colder. They are more comfortable in 20 below than I could ever be!) Because of the clouds, we were not able to see the Northern Lights, but I’m convinced that if it were as cold as it usually is, I, at least, would not have enjoyed the activities nearly as much, because I was freezing most of the time anyway. So all this means is we will have to go on another Northern trip in the future to achieve our fourth bucket list item :) 

We arrived in Ivalo, Finland around 6:30pm on Monday and were picked up from the airport by a bus from our hotel. Once we got there, and took our bags to our glass igloo (!!!) by sled, it was time for dinner. To get to dinner we had to walk about 5 minutes through the dark & cold, but it was very exciting. Dinner, and all our meals while we were there, was delicious and much higher quality food than we were expecting.

Our igloo with Jadon peeking out

 On Tuesday we went to breakfast and then had to check out of our igloo. The igloo was SO cool, but also very small. We were glad we stayed there one night, but also glad that we were changing to a cabin for the rest of our stay. After checking out, we were picked up for our first excursion: dogsledding! This was what we were most looking forward to, and it did not disappoint. Jadon was the driver, and I, the passenger. Once we got our tutorial, we were waiting with our 6-dog team to get started. The dogs were pretty intense. They were barking and pulling and fighting a little, waiting to get started. As soon as we started running, though, they were silent. It was such a neat experience, and so much more peaceful than we were anticipating. Since the dogs were silent, it was just us going smoothly through a beautiful winter forest. We were able to talk and just enjoy the time together. This is something we definitely want to do again some day! After our approximately 2 hours in the forest, we had lunch in a teepee with our fellow dogsledders.

Riding behind our team

With our 6-dog team

During our break in the afternoon we went back to our cabin & made use of the personal sauna in our bathroom! It was a great way to warm up.

That evening after dinner we went on a reindeer pulled sleigh ride “safari.” The main point of this excursion normally is to be outside to see the Northern Lights, but since we weren’t lucky in that department, it was just a nice relaxing ride through the forest. The sleighs were all connected to each other, so we did not have to drive at all, which was a nice difference from our other two activities. Halfway through the journey, we stopped at a fire pit for a hot drink and to learn about the indigenous Finnish people, the Sami. We learned that the Sami people were nomadic people who traveled the way we had been traveling that evening, with reindeer pulled sleighs all tied together to carry their belongings and children. That made the journey even neater since we were doing something native to the area. We also learned that in Finnish the word for money and the name for birch tree bark are the same word. Birch bark is very valuable because it is an easy way to start fires outside, especially in damp, snowy conditions. One of our guides says she keeps her paper money in one pocket & her birch “money” in her other.

Wednesday we went snowmobiling in the afternoon. We were kind of nervous for this activity since neither of us had ever done anything like it before. We got our warm clothing, helmets, and instructions, and then got ready to head out for 3.5 hours in the frozen Finnish countryside. Jadon, again, was our driver, and ended up being very good at it, and I was a very good (though very cold) passenger. We traveled over many miles, and saw a lot of different types of landscapes. We climbed a fell, went through sparse areas with few trees, and traveled through a pine forest (our favorite part). We really enjoyed it, but it was not nearly as peaceful as dogsledding. Aside from the obvious noise from the snowmobile, it was also very bumpy and harder to control. It was a very neat experience, but we would pick dogsledding over snowmobiling every time.

Ready for our adventure!

With our snowmobile in the pine forest

 Snowmobiling was our last planned activity, so we just relaxed that night, had dinner, and packed. The next morning we caught the 6:00am bus back to the airport, and headed back to Prague. Though it was a short trip, we had a wonderful time, and cannot wait to return to the far north again some day! 

To see more pictures from our trip:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.966746490817.1073741850.69601108&type=1&l=8303c76010
 

Praises:

-       Safety during our travels & activities

-       We got to experience our favorite parts of traveling: new culture, foods, etc.

-       Only 3.5 weeks until Easter Break ;) (but seriously)

Prayer Requests:

-       Drama Club (5.5 weeks until the performance!)

-       Some American high schoolers with CRU will be coming to Prauge at the end of March to meet with our students, so prayers for their travels and their time once they’re here.

      -    We’ve been having issues with our Internet, which we’re hoping to get worked out this          weekend. While it’s not impossible to live & work without the Internet, it definitely makes it easier, especially as we create a curriculum from scratch and keep in touch with family. So prayers that it’s an easy fix and all goes well as we try to communicate our problems with the Czech workers.