TURAS GIRLS

Roughly a year ago I gave Stef four itineraries to choose from for her big initiation into 4-0. To my surprise, she chose a trip to Finland.

We spent the next several months planning…and paying for this journey into winter wonderland.

On November 22 we flew to Rovaniemi, arriving at 5 pm into a dark, wintry landscape.

We grabbed the keys to our rental car but before we embarked on our journey, we were told to never engage the emergency brake as it’s too cold. The brake would just freeze causing it to well…break.”Just park on flat ground and keep it in gear” is what the rental agent told us.

Stef grew up in Syracuse, NY and myself in Colorado so we were used to snow and found this a bit befuddling to us. Little did we know how cold it could get here and that this was a very real possibility.

Despite only having 3-4 hours of daylight during our time in Lapland, we made the best of the time we had there. We walked up into the snow covered hills of Ounsvaara, went snowmobiling in the forests, snowshoed in the Arctic Circle Hiking area, floated in an Arctic lake, participated in a traditional Finnish sauna experience (which included a frigid dip in Arctic water), learned how to mush a husky-driven sled, had the opportunity to stay a couple of nights in a glass hut (Apukka Resort), and even got taken on a reindeer sleigh ride through the forest where the Northern Lights appeared and danced across the night sky.

We had fantastic food, particularly at The Arctic Light Hotel and Gustav Kitchen and Bar . We met the kindest people. We saw Santa and sent mail from Santa’s Village. We even had Finnish vodka out of an ice glass sitting on an ice chair.

We froze our butts off in Finland. It was a new kind of cold to me. Even the locals admitted a couple of the days were cold for them. Nevertheless, our time in Lapland was magical! It was truly a once in a lifetime trip that was so charming and lovely that all I can call it is magical.

I was ready to come home to our mild winter weather, but I was sad to leave a culture I find so comforting and simple. I had never dreamed of going to Lapland but I would have missed out on experiencing the magic of winter had Stef made a different choice.