Escaping Summer Since it was cold and snowy in Ylöjärvi we decided to head further north, to get more cold and snow. Our trip was a mostly relaxing train journey past Oulu and towards the Arctic Circle. Cassie got to see her first reindeer (poro) courtesy of our train plowing thru one. Reindeer appear to be analogous to kangaroos: cute but stupid.
As it turned out, the day we spent on the train was our anniversary, so we decided to try and find some where vaguely romantic for dinner. But even if a six hour train ride surrounded by randoms that obliterated a reindeer wasn’t especially romantic, walking thru the snow along Kemijoki (a river) at night was.
The next day we visited Arktikum, a museum and science center all about life in Lapland and Finland’s role during WW2. If life wasn’t already tough enough trying to survive in the long, cold, and dark winter months, Russia decided to invade during one of the coldest winters on record kicking off the Talvisota (Winter War) which ended up with Finland losing 10% of its land, including the home of the tasty Karjalanpiirakka (Karelian pie) which we had already eaten in large quantities. There was also a section about the indigenous peoples, the Sámi and their cool clothing style, Gákti. The outfits below were apparently for a couple getting married. I reckon I could’ve rocked a large woven hat:
After getting our culture fill, we took a walk in the snow, along frozen lakes. See if you could spot where the horizon is in the photo below:
Despite the freezing temperature, we found a cart. The sisters on the end are Russian and Ukrainian respectively, which seems like an even better witness than anything anyone could say:
The next day, it was time to meet the beasts:
This husky (and Collie) crew originally came from France along with their humans and now earn their keep by pulling a sledge and being really cute:
After being pulled by an excited pack of doggos, patting them, and nearly getting peed on by said doggos, we had a hot drink and learnt more about our hosts and how they got into the husky(ing?) business along side a beautiful stream:
