Arctic Circle

Greetings from Kiruna, Sweden at 67.51 degrees North, Anchorage is 61 degrees, Reykjavik is 64. We are in Santa Claus country in Swedish Lapland. We left Oulu Finland this morning and again had a long drive, mostly uneventful except for the Elk on the road. Apparently, only called Moose in Nth America.  We actually saw 2, within a short space on the road but only managed to get a photo of one. We also crossed over into the Arctic Circle (and I did not get a diploma). At this spot only coffee and souvenirs were on offer.


Kiruna is a mining town but has a healthy tourism industry. Today, has been cold, only about 13c when we got here and it rained a bit on the way. According to the news tonight, all of Scandinavia got a break from their 50 year heat wave. Tomorrow will be long trousers I think.

The first photo was taken in Oulu last night at 2.55 am and whilst the sun had set, it was still light. Where we are tonight, the Sun does not set until after late July, so it will be borderline tonight.

Oulu at 2.55 am

Lots of Trees

Elk

No diploma, but passed Polar Circle

Distances from Arctic circle

Close up of Trees

Land of Trees e.g Ante-nullabor

Yes, we are still in Finland and this night we are in Oulo, which is about 600 km north of Helsinki and about 65 degrees north, not quite arctic circle club yet. We drove up today in a long and largely uneventful drive, apart from a cracker thunderstorm and downpour near Jyvaskyla.

Mongolia has virtually no trees for hundreds of km, Finland on the other hand has trees as far as the  eye can see. We passed many very pretty lakes on the way up here, but the overall dominant feature of the scenery was trees, trees and more trees.

We reached Oulu about 5pm and went looking for a Coin operated Laundromat. Could not find one so went to a hotel and fixed up accommodation and asked about where to find a coin laundry mat. Apparently, Oulu does not have a coin operated Laundromat. I found this a bit difficult to believe so, having access to wi fi, started a google search for laundries in Oulu. To my horror, I discovered through other peoples blogs that there is a general nordic aversion to coin operated laundries and that it is true that you will not find one in many places across Finland.

Will soon be time to turn the t shirts inside out.


We found another "Hemingway" Bar in Oulu, apparently there are 2 in Oulu and 4 in Helsinki. Prior to this I thought the one we went to in Prague was unique and a one off, - seems not. Prague was probably nicest and certainly the cheapest. Everything in Finland is very expensive.

Not many pics today - mostly driving in the car. Tomorrow, much the same, lots of driving to get somewhere.

Finnish Roadside Truck Stop/Burger Place

Fish Sculpture near lake stop for lunch, just before storm.

Lake stop for Lunch

Trees, Trees and more trees

For Carol, Ad for Garlic Festival (we think)

Another Hemingway Bar, being franchised like Irish Pubs.

(Watch out Melbourne, you might be next)

Hottest week in Finland for 50 Years

Our trusty hotel staff person has reliably informed me that this has been the hottest week in Finland for 50 years. It has been consistently around 30C every day and not much below 20 at night.

This morning I managed to get Ross & Jenny to the airport without "Wanda" our GPS. Apparently, Wanda doesn't seem to have in her knowledge banks that Helsinki has an Airport. Therefore you cannot guide to what you do not know. By now, Ross & Jenny are in Stockholm, ready to tackle the next part of their adventure, travelling in a canal boat across Sweden. Whereas, Joy and I will be heading north through Finland to Lapland through the Lakes area.

After that, the rest of the day was pretty much a non event, we had lunch of leftover picnic stuff in the car, got lost and frustrated trying to find a laundromat, on top of this I spilt my coffee over Joy's skirt requiring it to be immediately hand washed.

We did however enjoy some fine Finnish chocolate that Ross & Jenny gave us this morning along with a cool drink.

Me, blending in with Forest in my new shirt and Shorts.

LB

Picnics in the park

Sunday is a relaxed time in Helsinki, especially on a beautiful warm sunny day. Our day began with a walk, along the waterfront, through the markets, coffee, an big church on a hill, an even bigger white church, a old railway station, some shops, an ice cream in the park, an unusual looking pushbike and finally back home.

Tonight we had a picnic in the park with Ross and Jenny, a collection of stuff I grabbed from the supermarket, but was amply sufficient. We sat in the park at the top of the hill near our hotel, outside what is believed to the Helsinki Observatory, or at least one of them.

Pics attached

LB

Architecture in Helsinki

Greetings Blogettes,

Today we arrived in Helsinki, Finland by ferry from Tallinn, Estonia, a pleasant 2.5 hrs journey in the sunshine. As usual, Wanda managed to get confused and try to take us where we were not allowed to go. To be fair to Wanda, there were rallies on in Helsinki today and some of the streets were temporarily closed. Wanda was not to know about these, even so, her alternate navigation skills in responding to unforeseen events needs work. She keeps trying to take you the way she originally wanted to. Wanda issues overcome, we arrived at our hotel (very nice hotel) and were told yet again, there is no free off street parking (contrary to the Facilities blurb on the booking sites). Luckily we can park free on the street until monday AM, but then must pay about $50 to park the car Monday night. Welcome to Scandinavia, it is not cheap, 12 euro for two small beers, 12 Euro for 3 single scoop ice creams. You get the picture.

The good news is we got here OK and had no hassles looking for a place to stay. The other good news is I got to catch up with Ross Erickson, my boss and friend from when I worked at Defence. Ross and his wife Jenny are having a holiday in Scandinavia and they just happened to arrive in Helsinki the same day as we did. (Spooky)

When Joy and I arrived, Ross and jenny were already out and about exploring and fighting through the jet lag. So Joy and I wandered into town and took a Tourist tram around some of the highlights of the city. We also saw some quirky things in shop windows. (see pics)

There is a band called Architecture in Helsinki and it is a good line, The Architecture is quite varied and there are some unusual buildings, right next to one another. Here is a sample of Pics taken during the day, including our ferry ride.

bye bye Tallinn

enjoying the sun on top deck

The mind boggles as to what this on about

The Helsinki railway Stn

The Tourist Tram

Interesting features of a building

See Billy Boy, it's not just Germany

The latest in Bling shoes

Local Expensive Beers

Our Hotel

Ross Erickson and I (with Ice Creams) We are Happy in Helsinki!

A building with a face

Signing out, LB