31 December 2009 The Northern Lights in Lapland on Christmas Day!
03 January 2010Hi Guys
Firstly I just wanted to say to everybody that I hope you all had a really great Christmas and would like to wish you a wonderful New Year too.
I have literally just returned from a ‘once in a lifetime’ trip to Lapland with Robert, Isabella and Lujzka which was AMAZING though things got off to a really bad start when the airline we were travelling with - Finnair - not only delayed both flights but took off without half the luggage being loaded onto the plane including ALL of ours which had all the Christmas presents in! When we arrived at Ivalo airport, which is in Lapland, nobody had any idea of what was happening so it was really stressful to say the least especially as all our warm clothing was in the suitcases as well and the temperature by this point was minus 28C! Seriously guys don’t use Finnair unless you absolutely have to!
22ND DECEMBER:
ANYWAY, on to the happier time we had in Lapland - the place we were staying at Hotel Kakslauttanen was UTTERLY AMAZING. It was like stepping into Narnia - a real winter wonder land!
After arriving late to this beautiful location (no thanks to Finnair) and getting a quick bite to eat in the cosy hotel restaurant we went by sledges to our rooms for the night - two heated GLASS IGLOOS which were brilliant!
I’ve never seen anything like it before. The hotel also also has real ice igloos too as well as creating an ice restaurant and chapel early on in the New Year (but we like staying warm). It was funny because when you enter the glass igloos you have to go through ‘Alice In Wonderland’ sized doorways and though the ‘rooms’ are very small there was nothing like falling asleep under the stars watching the snow drift down under the moon.
23RD DECEMBER:
The following morning there was still no word on our luggage but we had a husky sledge ride booked which was incredible. After getting attired in huge padded jump suits, (thermal everything) as well as thick boots, we set off around a stunning forest with the most hyper dogs I’ve ever seen. They were lovely and friendly and extremely hyper, so much so that when I had a go at driving I wasn’t strong enough to control them. After the ride our guide took us to a lovely wooden shelter which had a fire burning inside and hot berry juice - so we warmed up fairly quickly. I have to say that all the other guests at the hotel who had heard what had happened about our luggage were really sympathetic and offered to help in any way they could which was lovely and really restored our faith in human beings.
Anyway, after moving into our fabulous log cabin (complete with a large open fire and sauna) and whilst the girls were making snow men or chilling out (excuse the pun),the rest of the day was spent trying to track down our luggage with nobody at Finnair answering our numerous calls and staff at Ivalo airport knowing little else, so I made the decision to go to a local town about 20 mins away to try and find some replacement presents and warmer clothing for us all. Though it was just a small supermarket I was able to pick up a toy reindeer, some jewellery, chocolates and decorations for the girls plus winter woollies, underwear, socks etc and then as I was about to go back to the hotel, a guy called Jarri, who was selling Christmas trees, approached me. He was just about to finish work, but I was able to buy a small tree and after hearing what had happened he very kindly drove me back to the hotel (even though it was in the opposite direction from where he was going), anyway it transpired he had provide a lot of the stunning trees at Hotel Kakslauttanen. The girls duly loaded everything onto sledges to take to the log cabin whilst Robert and I sneakily wrapped up the new presents and hid them.
When we arrived back to the cabin my husband received a message saying our luggage would probably arrive that evening so we waited…and waited…and waited.
24TH DECEMBER - CHRISTMAS EVE:
At 1.30am on Christmas Eve morning Robert finally received a phone call that our luggage had arrived at the hotel so we ran out to reception with our sledges to collect it. Then Lujzka, my husband and I all decorated the cabin and tree and laid the presents out (though we were pretty shattered by the time we got to bed). Isabella couldn´t believe her eyes when she awoke the next morning!
We all went down to the restaurant for an early breakfast before heading off into a nearby forest on sledges drawn by snow mobiles to stand by a massive fire having hot drinks whilst the children went off to look for a tree to take back to the hotel to decorate later. The morning was hosted by the hotel owner (who looked a bit like Santa himself and was such a lovely man, as were all the staff who worked so hard to create a truly amazing stay for everybody!) It was bitterly cold though so Isabella and I decided to head back to the hotel for copious cups of steaming hot chocolate whilst we waited for Robert and Lujzka.
Though there was a candle lit carol service planned for the guests later on that day we were all very tired so we decided it would be more fun to put on some Christmas carols and let the girls open half of their presents (as presents are generally opened on Christmas Eve in Finland) before heading to the main part of the hotel for the BIG EVENT - Father Christmas arriving in person on his sledge pulled through the crisp snow by Rudolph - which was incredible! All the children were so excited young and old alike as he very kindly spent a good hour handing out some very special presents before leaving to visit the rest of the children round the world that had hung their stockings out! He was clearly a close friend of the hotel owner and because the various children that were there had travelled so far to visit him in his homeland. Though he was treated like a superstar by everybody in the hotel, he was really down to earth and made time for everybody (even the adults) - it was an experience none of us would ever forget!
25TH DECEMBER - CHRISTMAS DAY:
Again we were up fairly early to grab some breakfast before we were taken to get ‘kitted out’ in our thermal clothing ready to go on a reindeer ride through some more wintry forests. Now I had always thought that reindeer would be cute and cuddly, but nothing could be further from the truth! The ones we met seemed intent on trying to head butt anybody that came near them and those antlers are not things you want to get poked with! I have to say they weren’t the happiest looking creatures I have ever seen and the ride was painfully slow in comparison to the fast paced huskies but lovely all the same.
After this we headed back to the log cabin, got a fire going, phoned my parents Jane and Patrick also spoke briefly to my sister Em, then Lujzka’s mum Kim - texted my brothers Mark and Tim and their wives Jo and Chloe - then we put on ‘The Grinch’ and opened the rest of the presents before heading out for an early dinner and getting ready to head off for a snow mobile safari.
NOW THIS WAS TO BE THE BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER !!!
It was so cold as we set off for the snow mobile safari that I was seriously beginning to wonder whether it had been a good idea to book it in the first place, after all it had become increasingly clear that the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis) were not something that many people saw on a regular basis unless you lived there and knew when to look for them! So, once again we got ourselves dressed up in the thickest clothing you could imagine with 3 sets of gloves, socks etc not to mention the crash helmets before a brief lesson in how to drive a snow mobile (which is a cross between a quad bike and a jet ski for want of a better description) then we were off and away.
We had been driving for about half an hour in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere before our guide stopped us and suddenly in the distance a very vague green cloud appeared which swirled and changed shape every few seconds. Naturally we were all delighted to have seen the Northern Lights and after about 15 mins they faded and we continued on our safari until the guide took us to a small wooden shelter, built a fire and started a BBQ (I know bizarre!) By this stage I was frozen and couldn’t feel my toes or fingers, let alone my nose! All I could think about was getting back into the warm when suddenly the most incredible thing happened again - the Northern Lights appeared again - though this time they were a bright vibrant green, like slow fireworks across the sky. It was so much better than the first time round and nobody could take their eyes off them (though they only lasted a few minutes or so), but this was the best Christmas present EVER!!!
Anyway, we headed back for our last night in Lapland, lit a lovely log fire, ate chocolates and watched a film.
26TH DECEMBER - BOXING DAY:
Packed up our stuff, had breakfast and off to Ivalo airport for (you guessed it - our flight being with Finnair - more delays!)
The airport was packed and everybody was concerned that any flights were going to take off at all. When we finally did board our flight to Helsinki and arrived we literally had 15 mins to run across the airport to try and catch our connecting flight - nightmare! Once we arrived in Manchester our luggage was once again nowhere to be seen nor did anybody know where it was indeed we still don’t know where it is as I write this on the 31st December!
ALL IN ALL THIS WAS A REALLY MAGICAL TIME (despite Finnair). We also had a great time before and after with Lujzka’s mum, Kim, and grandmother, Rowena, - who made us feel very welcome when we stayed with them in Wales - many thanks to both of them. Many people think it is a little strange spending time with your husband’s ex-wife and mother-in-law but it works for all of us and we had a great time with them.
So all that needs to be said now is A VERY HAPPY 2010 TO EVERYBODY!
All the best
Ana
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