Travel

Our Journey into Lapland

Sometime last year me and our friends decided that we will go to see the northern lights. Once we decided when and where we would be going we started to plan our trip.Our flight bookings were done and we started to do the hotel reservations. Finally our travel day was here and we boarded a Finnair flight going to Helsinki. It was six hour flight and very comfortable. We arrived at the Helsinki airport and then got a taxi to go to our hotel. Our taxi driver was a young guy and he was very helpful and guided us about the city. We arrived at our Luxury Boutique Hotel Hotel Haven which was bang on the water. Location wise it was fantastic as it was in the city center. Me and my friends were going to stay here for two nights and then we were heading to Ivalo which was about two hours by flight.

We checked into the hotel got to our room changed and set out to see the city and go get some lunch. My son had mentioned a nice restaurant for Tapas called Juuri. Sure enough we found it, the guys ordered all the tapas on the menu and us girls went for the mains. Surely the men won cause the tapas were very interesting and tasty.

After lunch then we walked to the city center. It was snowing, the city was all covered in snow and had a beautiful festive glow . We walked a bit took some pictures then it was time for some coffee. We stopped for coffee at the beautiful Kappelli restaurant, with its unique decor and location it was perfect.

After coffee we headed back to our hotel for some rest . In the evening we were booked for dinner at one of the Michelin star restaurant Ollo. It was walking distance from our hotel . We arrived at the restaurant and we were given a special room for our party of 8. The service was impeccable and the food was to die for. The presentation was absolutely spot on. I wish i had taken pictures of my food, kicking myself for not doing that. We had some very interesting things. Firstly the menu was a tasting menu so we got to try a lot of items. It was divided into phases and all together there were six phases each had atleast four to five items. We skipped the cheese phase. The starter phase was also very interesting. There was a plate of rising sour dough on our table and we were instructed to not touch it. Then they took it and baked us fresh bread. It was nice and warm and we could’nt stop eating. Then there were raw oysters and reindeer heart pate, reindeer tongue was also used, in one preparation they used reindeer blood, reindeer steak was also there. Most interesting were the desserts. By the end of the meal i was sure not to eat the desserts. They looked so interesting that i could not resist. There was something called Yuzu Yuzu,which was sour and sweet. I did not particularly like it that much. The buckwheat icecream was my favourite,it was so smooth and creamy and best of all it was lactose free. After three and a half hours of doing nothing but eating and drinking it was a nice way to end the day.

Our second day in Helsinki

We had organized a walking tour. It was snowing, so we were not sure if we would be able to do the walking tour. Our guide met us at the hotel lobby. So we started – our first stop was the cathedral

Next stop- The Russian Orthodox Church called Uspenski Cathedral

Next stop- We passed the Senate square, The Market square and then came to the Presidential palace Helsinki. Where we were surprised to see no guards. We were told that the guards were there only if the president was staying there. We then walked by the Chapel and then came to the Helsinki Central Railway station designed by Eliel Saarinen. We were told that he was very impressed by New York Central station and he had based his design on that .

It was snowing quiet heavily and we were all very tired and hungry so we headed towards our hotel. Passing the Esplanadi on the way. Locals call it Espa.  Is an esplanade and urban park in downtown Helsinki Finland, situated between the Erottaja square and the Market Square. It is bordered on its northern and southern sides by the Pohjoisesplanadi and Eteläesplanadi streets, respectively.  We stopped there to take a few pictures then headed to our hotel.

Our journey into Lapland Continues.

Next morning we boarded a Finnair flight to Ivalo. Once we landed we were recieved by our resorts team and delivered to our beautiful Arctic resort KAKSLAUTTANEN. It is a family hotel in Finnish lapland, about 250kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. It has these beautiful glass igloos and log cabins. Once we were checked in to out respective Kelo’s ,we met for drinks at one of our friends Kelo then headed for dinner at the Resorts main Dining area. Its a huge one ,very warm and cosy. We were greeted by our hostess and then seated at our designated seating. The atmosphere was very calm and cheery. We were assigned a hostess who would explain to us everything and take our orders. she was young and from Barcelona. We noticed that everyone working there was from different countries- like chile, morocco, Italy and even one receptionist from Ipoh Malaysia. Dinner was nice a three course affair. Everyone of them was always smiling and very helpful. After dinner we booked us to go chasing the Northern lights.

We were going to travel by the snow tank and started driving out of the city , to avoid any light pollution we headed towards the highest point. It was a very cold night about -36 degrees. The stars were shining it was a clear night there was a good chance of seeing the Northern lights, we kept going and going and seeing all these weird forms and sculptures made of snow by natures. In the night they all seemed very eery more like something out of Game of Thrones as if they would come alive and start walking towards us. My imagination was running wild. At the same time i was getting my gear ready to take pictures. My camera was set and i quickly attached it to my tripod. So that once we stopped i would start taking pictures, i was very excited and anxious at the same time. It was dark and freezing outside.

Our guide had sighted the moving lights. He stopped our snow tank and all of us desembarked. It was freezing, I got out and setup my tripod and adjusted my camera. But i could barely see anything on my screen. Even though visually we were noticing the changing movements. Tried taking few shots, still no luck, i think like me and my camera was frozen. It was Nikon 7100 and i was using wide lense 10mm by 24mm. We were out for 15-20 mins and i was completely frozen. Luckily our friend Manny did get a few shots. Then it was time to head back. I was very disappointed that i had not managed to get any shots but this was our first night so we still had time to get lucky.

The next day was also a very clear night and we thought we will try again. This time we booked us all into a Horse Sledge . All of us bundled up and started from our resort very excited that we should be lucky to see the Northern lights as it was again a very clear night. We were taken to the stables to get into some more warm clothes as it was going to be open. Soon we started driving the sledge into the forest in the dark night, we kept going till we were brought to a spot like a camp area with fire going and we were served some warm berry juice. I started getting my gear ready to take pictures. Once myself and my friend were ready to take pictures we were asked to go back into the sledge .We were told we were going to another place. We had no chance to take any pictures so we thought ok when we get to the other place will take some shots. The next thing we know is we were back at the stables and they asked us to desembark and get out of the warm clothing.

We were so disappointed , we had totally been taken for a ride. The girls had no clue and they did not even give us a chance to take any pictures. They were not even apologetic. When i asked one of them why they did not tell us that this was it at the camp after this we were going back. Her answer was we were just unlucky and thats why we did not see the lights. This was the only experience in the whole trip that was not good where we felt we were ripped off. Other then that the whole trip was fantastic. I would do it again.

Our receptionist Nordin who was from Morroco was very sweet. He advised us on where we could possibly take good pictures of Northen lights .These are some of his shots taken at the resort. I am sharing these with you. The credit goes to him. Unfortunately for us the rest of the days were cloudy and snowy.

The next day we went to the small town of Saariselka. We walked around a bit it was snowing and was very cold that day. We went into department store to buy some local stuff . Then stopped for lunch . It was nice and cosy the hostess who was a local was very helpful and charming.

On our third day we went to see the Reindeer farm on the property.

The evening was fun too. We had all decided to go Snowmobiling. We were picked up by the guide and transported to the location where we all had to get properly suited up.

We all had lot of fun that day. One way my husband drove and the return trip i drove. It was fun. Though a bit difficult to manouver but it was fun.

The next day we had breakfast and headed for checkout and then to the airport. We headed back to Helsinki and were staying at the Hilton Hotel at the airport. Once checked in freshened up we headed back into the city where we had booked ourselves for dinner at the GAIJIN Restaurant. Its fusion pan asian restaurant. Sure enough it did not disappoint us. We had good food great time and our trip ended on a good note.

The next morning we were all heading back. Manny and Roopa going on another holiday to Greece but all of us were headed back to Dubai on Finnair flight. I only have good things to say about our trip. If i had to i would do it again this time i would stay a few more days in Helsinki so that we could see some of the islands and enjoy what the city has to offer.

This is my first blog post. I have really enjoyed my journey i hope you do too with me.