Rovaniemi

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Rovaniemi is our next place to visit and after a fairly long drive with lovely scenery of course, we arrived at the Sokos Hotel Vaakuna. Its a little early to check in so off exploring we go and its not too hard to see where we can go. Our first visit with Kelli was to see a Museum not too many streets away.It was full of interesting items as most Museums do, and we strolled around for quite a while taking it all in. There was lots of culture, traditions and astronomy displays, featuring of course the Northern Lights so a good visit was had by all. The dog in my photos looks so real, but he wasnt and if he was I would have brought him home. The streets of this small city are alive with people and ice sculptures and much to see. The ice chairs, statues and ice bars complete with stools and a server were a delight. One highlight here was the Soup kitchen taking place in the street. Many people were sitting around with soup and a bun and enjoying it very much. Of course we joined in as it appears the idea is to bring people together and of course warm you up.

Our room was so very comfortable and after a good nights sleep, a lovely breakfast we were off to do our optional Snowmobile Safari. A short walk from the hotel down to the frozen river, and into the Lapland Safari Company building for a safety talk, and then another layer of clothes over ours so we were warm and protected out in the snow. Our guide then took us outside to walk down to where the snowmobiles were waiting. A beautiful day with much snow and ice and off we went, two to a snowmobile. I did think it was going to be smooth looking at the expanse of white ahead, however not to be. Much fun trying to stay onboard as a passenger on the back as it was a bit rough at times, however nothing to put us off. The trees flying past were snow laden and absolutely so pretty that one didn’t know what to look at first. A halfway stop was made at the top of a hill and we had a hot drink while looking out over the beautiful scenery below. What a great day with only one of our group falling over but not hurt. That gave us the best entertainment and left us with fun memories. Fantastic day and a standout of this brilliant holiday.

Next adventure here was a visit to a Reindeer farm a short distance from Rovaniemi. Our coach Captain managed to get us there as the country roads all looked alike. We hopped off the coach and walked past the Reindeer enclosure before meeting our host for the evening. First after introductions, it was time to get in the sled and go for a turn around behind the reindeer. A great ride and the reindeers seemed to enjoy it too. After much laughter it was time to go in and sit down for a lovely local meal that of course included reindeer meat. Our host and owner gave us a background to the reindeer farming and the community respect with which they are held. The farm was a delightful place to visit, great food, lots of information and an idea of how reindeer are valued in Finland.