Monday, March 27, 2017

Binge Blog #5: Rovaniemi, Day 2

We spent the morning of Rovaniemi, Day 2 exploring some of the local museums.  First we went to the Arktikum, which is the Arctic Science center and museum.  There we learned about arctic wildlife and Sami, the indigenous people of Arctic Finland.

Image may contain: sky, tree, cloud, outdoor and nature
The view from our Airbnb.  We think it feels a bit like being in Duluth.


Some pictures of our chilly walk to the Arctikum.  
You can tell from these pictures that we still didn't have a ton of daylight that far north.
It was probably 11:00 am and the sun wasn't very high yet.







Image may contain: sky and outdoor

Image may contain: text
Very helpful sign in the Arktikum bathroom.

Image may contain: one or more people and closeupImage may contain: one or more peopleImage may contain: one or more people and sunglasses
Sami "sunglasses" to prevent snow blindness.  
Which ones do you like best?

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, standing
I'm telling y'all...it's really just Minnesota here.


Image may contain: one or more people and people standing
Traditional Sami Costumes

Image may contain: sky and outdoor
Arktikum atrium.  Lots of windows for Northern Lights viewing.

Next we headed to the forestry museum.  

Image may contain: one or more people and people standingImage may contain: indoor

Image may contain: 1 person
We momentarily lost Lydia in the forest museum. When I called her name I heard, "guys, I'm up here!"

Image may contain: 3 people, outdoor

Image may contain: outdoor
The birch bark wallpaper again...because I love it.

That night we went on a snowmobile safari to hunt the northern lights.  Spoiler alert:  we didn't see any.  And we still haven't, as I type this on March 27th.  We tried last week to see them again - no luck.  The aurora forecast for the next two days has the KP index at 6, which is the highest we've seen it.  So in true Finnish spirit (I don't really know if that's true), we are giving it one more go, and spending two nights at a farm about 40 miles north of here.  We're hoping we get to see them...I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, despite not seeing the northern lights, it was a really cool experience riding snowmobiles through the arctic wilderness.  We started on the frozen river and then headed up into the forest to a tent where we roasted sausages and drank warm berry juice.  I think my favorite part of the trip was showing Ruthie constellations.  She loved looking at them! 

It was, again, a very magical night.

Image may contain: 3 people, people smiling


Image may contain: one or more people and outdoorImage may contain: one or more people, snow, outdoor and nature



Image may contain: one or more people
 Ruthie and Lydia got to ride behind our guide's snowmobile in a cool sleigh.
They were bundled up, sitting on top of reindeer hides and under lots of blankets. 
Can you stand the cuteness????

Image may contain: 2 people, people smiling, sky and outdoor

Image may contain: one or more people, sky, ocean, outdoor and nature

Image may contain: tree, plant, outdoor and nature

img_0857Image may contain: 1 person, night

img_0856

Image may contain: 4 people, people smiling, people sitting and night

Image may contain: 1 person, hat, closeup and indoorImage may contain: 1 person, closeup

Image may contain: 1 person, outdoor
Family pic #2. 

No comments:

Post a Comment