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Archive for ‘February, 2025’

Northern Lights Tour Day 04

Day 04, Jan 31, 2025, Kemi to Rovaniemi, Finland

We wake up on the train at 5 AM. Neither of us chooses to brave the shower cubicle that is barely large enough to stand a body in. The train stops at 5:58 AM precisely and we have only 3 minutes to leave the train. So we are in the narrow passageway in advance and we leave the train at 6 am. We board a bus, that will now be our bus for the next 10 or so days. The driver, who will stay with us for that time, Viktor, is a very pleasant man. As it turns out, he is a very competent driver!

We go to breakfast at the Snow Castle. The Snow Castle is fun. After breakfast, we go into the Ice Room, where many ice sculptures are on display. I climb an ice staircase to find an ice slide on the other side! So my inner child comes out to play! I manage to sit down on the ice and let go! Someone in our group has spotted me and films the ride!

We then board the bus and drive on. Two hours later, we arrive at a port on a river where we board an Ice Breaker before 9 am. The Ice Breaker leaves at sunrise at 9:15. Days in this part of the world are less than 6 hours. Sunset will be shortly before 3 PM. The interesting thing is that days get longer this time of year by about 15 minutes each day! But we are also heading further north and the days will also get shorter as we do!

The Ice Breaker leaves the dock and makes its way into a channel. The ice has already been broken and the ship plows through ice flows on its way up the river. The bridge of the ship looks like a log cabin! After a while, the ship turns against the ice and makes its own path through the ice. It is interesting to see and feel the ship crush the ice! Our fingers and noses feeling the chill, we go inside. We find our way to the galley of the ship and steaming cups of hot chocolate and tea warm us back up. There are 180 passengers on the ship, of which we are only 25 with our Guide.

The ship comes to a stop and backs up and forward a few times. We will find out why soon. The crew lays a gangplank out onto the ice and most of the passengers debark. It is fun to walk out onto the frozen river and take photos of the ship from the ice. Our Guide even takes a photo of me as I pull on a lead line, towing the ship!

I meet a crew member, Jussi, with a Pro Nikon camera with all the lenses. I check out his rig and compliment him on his gear. Walking towards the back of the ship, I get too close to swim area and get yelled at. So I make my way back to the people in the front of the ship. This is why the ship backed up several times, to create a swim area behind the ship.

Our group is called to swim and we head for the changing room. Strip down to single layer, we are told. Brrr. We are assisted in putting on the float suit. I feel like the kid in A Christmas Story in his winter clothes. Now it’s time to go in. Climb down the ladder backwards. Enter the water. Wow, it’s not bad. Sit back they say. Hmmm, this is fun! Float away from the ship. A very different feeling! I make it to the ice floes, bumping into other floaters on the way. I see cameras on the ship. Pose for the camera! Pick up a piece of ice. Heavy! I am told later that I was yelled at again for picking up the piece of ice! I’m such a bad boy!

It’s time to get back on the ship. Climb up the steps. Back inside and assisted with removing the suit. Brrr! Get dressed into clothes again. We are the next to last group to float. After donning our clothes again, we have a little time for another hot chocolate before the ship returns to port. Then it’s back on the bus.

Viktor drives the bus across the Border into Sweden and we stop at IKEA for lunch! There are some small flowers in full bloom covered in snow! The menu and all the signs are in Swedish so we have to order by sight! Then the drive to Rovaniemi is beautiful with all the snowy trees. We check into our Scandic Rovaniemi Hotel and haul our luggage to our room. We find dinner and turn in for the night.

Northern Lights Tour Day 03

Day 03 Jan 30, 2025, Helsinki, Finland

We get up and pack up. A leisurely breakfast consists of more bananas and toast. My stomach is better, but not good enough yet.

We check out of the hotel and join the tour bus at 10 AM. Fun sights and monuments entertain our cameras as we travel through the Finnish countryside.

We visit the “Rock Church”, dug into the rock. The acoustics are amazing! With a pipe organ and a choir section also. After that, we visit the Sibelius Monument, made from 600 stainless steel pipes, representing the music of Helsinki.

Today’s bus tour finishes at the Oodi Library. It is a very modern museum with book robots, 3D printing, free Meeting rooms and gaming rooms. They even make some windows look as if it is raining! I snack on more bananas and tea. We find a supermarket and get bananas, rice cakes and applesauce, etc.

We walk back to the hotel and nap and relax for 2 hours. Then we walk our luggage to the train station. We will ride a sleeper train tonight. It is probably our best sleeper train yet. We have a bathroom and shower in the room! Albeit an airline size bathroom, it has a panel that folds over the toilet to reveal a shower! We even get some sleep. Elee lets me have the lower bunk to placate my upset stomach. A photo of some of our fellow travelers shows how narrow the aisle in the train is!

We walk through several train cars and find the bar car. Yes, it seems that every train in the world with sleeper cars has a bar car! I smuggle a banana and a bottle of water in as I am keeping to my strict BRAT diet. Elee and others in our group order food and drinks from the bar. The conductor walks through and I hide my banana and water under the table. The conductor inquires about our tickets. Luckily, he accepts our story of being in a group and seems to recognize the validity of the group.

We continue to get to know the members of our group and all chat amicably together. The Aussies are a very friendly group! I take my leave and make it back to our car and sleeper unit for the night.

Northern Lights Tour Day 02

Day 02, Jan 29, 2025 Tallinn, Estonia

This morning it’s on the bus at 6:15 AM. Everyone is on time! We drive to the port where a Ferry is docked. We board the ferry that is larger than CMV Columbus or Ambassador Ambiance that took us around the world in 2020 and 2024!

The Ferry is a 2 hour ride to Tallinn in the dark. Breakfast on the ferry is really good. I blame my upset stomach on food poisoning from a burger I got in LAX. But I feel good now. So I enjoy a hearty breakfast. Once docked in Tallinn, we board a bus in the sunrise light around 9:30 AM.

The bus tour of Tallinn is interesting. There are some really interesting old Russian buildings. An interesting term is used several times. Russification. Russification is a policy of cultural assimilation that promotes Russian culture and language over other ethnicities.  It can be imposed by a state or adopted voluntarily. It seems in Estonia, it happens voluntarily. During the walking tour, it starts raining. We stop in a colonial restaurant and order soup to warm up. The rain stops at about 1:30 PM. We resume walking around the old city. We spot a small cafe and have glass of wine.

Here, as in many parts of the world, graffiti is no stranger. In the cities, it is just there. Like a plague. There are people in the world that do not know respect for people or property. It is sad.

We meet up with group at 3 PM and get back on the bus. The tour continues at an old park. We board the Ferry at 4:00 PM. It seems my stomach is doing flip flops again. Maybe I shouldn’t have had that big breakfast. The Ferry leaves at 4:30 and I’m feeling sick again. I find some airline type seats that recline and I try to relax and sleep. The Ferry ride lasts 2 hours.

We board a bus and travel back to the hotel. My dinner consists of bananas and crackers. I will put myself on the BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) diet for a couple days. This is not a good start to vacation! I turn in early, vowing to beat this stomach bug, whatever it is.

Northern Lights Tour Day 01

Day 01 Jan 28, 2025 Travel to get there!

Our good friends Rick and Marilyn give us a ride to the airport. We board Scandinavian Airlines in LAX for a 5:40 PM flight to Kobenhavn (Copenhagen). The flight is an uneventful 11 hour flight. The notable thing is the temperature. It is quite chilly in Danmark (Denmark).

We change planes and the flight to Helsinki, Finland. It is also an uneventful flight lasting about 2 hours. We land at 5:40 PM. It is interesting that we land at the same clock time that we took off in LAX, only one day later). It is even colder in Finland. We have worn our Arctic Coats and Boots as these items do not fit in our already overstuffed suitcases. Winter cold weather clothing takes up a lot of space!

We have a ride scheduled to our hotel. Sure enough, there is a driver with our name on a placard waiting for us. I tell the driver that I need to get a sim card for my phone before we leave the airport. He helps me do that and all is good.

It is 6:15 PM and the ride to the hotel is 40 minutes. So we walk into the lobby at 7 PM and check in. We bring our bags up to our room. I head back down to meet our Guide and Group for the Introduction Meeting and Dinner that is scheduled to start at 7 PM. Yes, we are late. But there’s nothing we can do about it. Our Guide is looking for us. He sits us at the same table as he is sitting so he can bring us up to date. The other table mates introduce themselves and are very friendly. The light above the bed in our room elicits conversation among the group!

It turns out that the Group of 24 is from Australia and we are the only 2 from the USA. But everyone is friendly and we get along with everyone also. The important news is that we need to be on the bus at 6:15 AM. The Guide, Mikael, is very laid back. He has only one rule to adhere to, “Be on time, All the time.” It will turn out that everyone will pay attention to that very simple rule.

These next two photos are of the decor above the front desk in the hotel! I wonder how many other people photograph them?

Up to our room and settle in for our 2 night stay here. Goodnight! We have traveled for over 18 hours and it is 28 clock hours later. Jet Lag. Get over it, you’ll need to.