We took our discount flights from Valencia to London-Stansted (which is in the middle of nowhere it seems) to Tampere, Finland. Arriving in the middle of the night well outside the city in a country that does not use English as its official language was a little exciting. Unfortunately and fortunately everyone seems to speak excellent English in Scandinavia so we had no problems throughout our trip here. We noticed immediately that only about 1/2 of the bicycles were locked which was in stark contrast to southern Europe where we were constantly warned about pick pockets and keeping a close eye on our bags. I thought it was nice to be in such a civilized society. The hostel we had booked failed to confirm our reservation in time for our arrival. Since we didnt have a room we had to pay 120 euros for one night in a nice hotel. Oh darn.
We caught our train the next morning and started heading north north north to just south of the Arctic Circle. Rovaniemi, Finland is a sort of gateway to Lapland so our rustic hotel catered to tourists with outdoor sightseeing planned. In fact, much of the town was equipped to help people find hikes, husky dog visits, offroad expeditions and snow sports in the winter. We were tempted by some of these but prices were insane so we settled for renting a car and driving through the rain on our own expedition. First we stopped at Santa's Village. While it was a tourist trap, we did get a taste of Finland crafts and culture and officially crossed the Arctic Circle for the first time. The air was getting colder as we drove north and to higher elevations and soon we were pleased to see snow on the ground and roads. We noticed how close we were to the Russian border so we decided it was a great destination goal while we admired the scenery. It looked like any other former Eastern Bloc border but unlike the ones I had been to in Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary this one was still being used in full force.
During the drive we took some diversions onto gravel roads for variety and for me to experience the roads of Finland. The rally roads and drivers here are well-known so it was fun to take the in the snowy and icy dirt curves in our Volkswagen Polo as fast as I dared. Some of the "yumps" and banked curves were cool but I am glad I wasn't driving my own car since the roads were sometimes rough.
Our final day in Rovaniemi we went into the Arktikum Museum to learn more about Lapland life and Finnish culture. The coolest part, if you will forgive the pun, was the Arctic Room which was kept below freezing and simulated high winds. Having failed to see any Northern Lights the previous night, we managed to spot them on our night train while headed to Helsinki. We couldnt see the beautiful red and blue lights that are frequently photographed but instead a soft yellow glow low on the horizon (no, not city lights).
Helsinki was one of our highlights of our trip so far. We were pleasantly surprised by its cleanliness, parks, walking/biking pathways and seafront. Since much of Finland reminded us of Wisconsin, I wasn't completely surprised to see that Helsinki had a Madison, Wisconsin feel as well. People seemed laid back and relaxed (maybe because it was Sunday) and appreciated the greenways that they lived near. Using the last of their short summer, we walked past the Olympic grounds originally built for 1940 but used in 1952 as a result of WWII. I slipped and fell on a rocky boulder but don't worry anyone, my brain is still no worse than it was. After a great lunch in a sunny city park square, we kept walking. For the last 3 days I had been tempted by offers of meals reindeer meat. It was always too expensive until we happened upon a market selling cheap plates of it. I just ate! Oh well. Rudolph tasted GREAT! Apparently reindeer meat is lower in fat but it tasted nice and greasy to me. We finished up our walk in a neighbourhood which was home to gorgeous consulate buildings and homes near a waterfront park. This is where I would buy a house with my imaginary 800,000 Euro.
We caught a short train ride to Turku and jumped on our ferry to Stockholm. The ferry was kind of like a mini cruise ship in size and excitement so we stayed busy wandering around the ship, watching the end of the F1 race, playing Nintendo Wii for free, browsing the duty free shop and eating at the cafeteria. We slept alright but not for long enough because upon our arrival I had a nap in the train station.
Jessie and I finally got to rent some bikes from an automated vendor and explored a gorgeous park island which contained some private homes, museum and parkland. I think of all the places in the world I could live with an unlimited budget, this is up there on the list. The huge houses had large expanses of grass and trees and it was on an island surrounded by park trails, autumn-leafed trees, canals and animals. We took our bikes to the old town which is where you probably picture when you think of Stockholm. Since it contained tiny streets, colourful large buildings, palaces and cobblestone roads it made for great exploring. This was also on a different island making me realize that Stockholm is really on a series of islands. We ate lunch at a italian place where you are assigned a card and must charge our order onto it and pay for it upon your departure. Good system, I thought, but if you lose it you pay about 750 kroner, or 74 euro which would be painful.
Our final day in Stockholm allowed us to rent the bikes again and ride up to the top of some cliffs overlooking the city. These were in the Bohemian and artsy district, we read, and it also seemed really nice and wealthy as well. After admiring the city from across the sound, we wandered into an old, formerly poor, neighbourhood which made me feel as though I was in the middle of northern rural Sweden instead of the capital city. We walked down to the waterfront and watched Viking Lines load their ferry with cars, people and lorries before biking home and finishing laundry. I wish we had been able to spend some more time in the countryside of Sweden but it is hard to do everything. There is always next time when Jessie and I want to visit Norway on the way to Iceland. Tomorrow, I am looking forward to seeing more of the Swedish countryside on the way to Copenhagen.
So far, I have been very impressed with the Scandinavian countries' cleanliness, organiziation, infrastructure and society. I heard they were going to be great and they have already lived up to my expectations. Of all the areas of Europe, these are the ones that most remind me of Canada. Besides the similar climate, these countries are like a supercharged version of Canada where everything is more...more taxes, more regulation more social order and all of this makes for a better country if it can be run as well as this.
