European Snow Trip to the Arctic (part 3)

The day had finally arrived for us to hop again on a ferry and cross the Gulf of Finland from Tallinn to Helsinki in FINLAND - the main destination of our European Snow Trip and our 70th country (only roughly 140 countries remaining to be discovered on our small planet...)! We were getting closer to the Arctic…

Helsinki welcomed us with some spectacular views of its port and cityscape! Immediately after the ferry ride from Tallinn, we jumped on another ferry to the nearby Suomenlinna Fortress Island. The blocks of sea ice floating on the Baltic Sea were quite impressive and looked like paintings. 

Despite the cold, it felt like a fairy tale as our ferry was gliding around countless cute little islands with picturesque wooden houses and other boats braving the frozen sea. 

We landed on the island at the perfect time to enjoy the golden hour. 

The light falling upon the quaint wooden houses and the smiling snowmen popping up out of the blue were mesmerising. 

We almost froze to death while watching from the island’s shore the winter sun sink into the sea but it was worth it. 

We stopped at a small café to warm up with a cup of hot chocolate and some delicious desserts with lots of berries and edible flowers. 

On the way back to the city centre, the sun in its orange halo was almost gone for the day.

We spent the next two days sightseeing in Finland's capital before venturing deeper in the country’s wilderness. Helsinki is known as the "Pearl of the Baltic". Located at the tip of a peninsula and spanning across 315 islands, it has some magnificent architecture and breathtaking views on offer. 

The 19th-century neoclassical Lutheran Helsinki Cathedral is the most iconic landmark of the city. Its white facade and green domes looked even more stunning with the surrounding snow.  

The nearby red brick Uspenski Cathedral from the same epoch is the largest Orthodox cathedral in both Northern and Western Europe. Its interior was intricately decorated and the gorgeous celestial blue-coloured dome was covered with golden stars.

And then, at the more modern side of the spectrum, there is Temppeliaukion Kirkko. Helsinki’s Lutheran futuristic church, also known as the Rock Church, was built directly into solid rock and hosts rock concerts due to its excellent acoustics.

The city also features some famous statues in Finish Art Nouveau style. You will find on most postcards the mermaid on the Havis Amanda fountain and the "Lantern Bearers", aka the "Stone Men", on each side of the main entrance to the Helsinki Central Station.

Helsinki is also a dream city for nature lovers. We enjoyed our walk across several parks along the frozen sea and stopped at Café Regatta in Sibelius Park for a cup of hot chocolate and the delicious Runeberg cakes. These cylinder-shaped ginger and cardamom-flavoured goodies, topped with raspberry jam and white icing, are beyond delicious. They are named after a Finnish poet who was said to eat them for breakfast every day. Unfortunately, it seems that you can only find them throughout January until 5 February - the poet's birthday. Along the way, we saw a seaside outdoor pool and watched in disbelief some Finnish guys wearing only swimming suits dip into the cold water after their sauna session, completely oblivious to the crazy temperatures… 

Later on, we learnt that the most Finnish experience ever was staying at a log cabin with a sauna by a lake. We decided that Lakeland, aka the Finnish Lake District with more water than land, was the perfect place for that. We had not realised though that the lakes were going to be frozen in winter and it was going to be difficult to take a dip in them after the sauna but this was still one of our favourite stops in Finland. 

We rented a cute log cabin by the lake for a few days and made it look quite homy. There was so much snow that it was almost impossible to move around, let alone reach the nearby lake. We learnt that the neighbours were taking turns clearing the roads in the area, including the dirty road to our cabin. Finns are amazing at helping each other! 

Even though we did not make it far away, we still went for a short walk along the cleared road in the forest. After the cold, we were grateful for the fireplace and the private sauna in the cabin which brought pure magic to the experience… 

The sauna was invented by the Finns over 2,000 years ago and was originally used as a bath. Women even often gave birth there as it was a sterile environment! There are three types of saunas in Finland - electric ones, chimney ones driven by a log fire and the archaic, and nowadays rare, smoke saunas without a chimney. We tried the first two and the chimney one was definitely better! The sauna "ceremony" consists of taking a dip in the ice water of the lake after the first round of sauna and then going back to warm up, repeating the cycle several times before finishing with a bottle of cold beer! Taking into account the frozen condition of the surrounding lakes, we replaced the dip with a (very) short barefoot walk on the snow and, even though it might sound crazy, it made us feel relaxed, sleepy and pretty close to nirvana!

Lakeland is more than a nature paradise. If you are a fan of extreme sports, you should go for some ski jumping from the 150-metre-high Puijo hill. In this winter sport competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Since Finland is pretty flat, this is a quite popular sport there but it seemed too extreme and therefore not to our liking. After having watched the Finns dipping in the freezing cold water in Helsinki, we were not surprised to see them literally flying on their skis from the ramps while we were enjoying a cup of hot chocolate in the Puijo tower, surrounded by lanterns made by the local kids. The views of the surrounding lakes and forests from the observation desk were jaw-dropping.

Finland’s Lake District hides some architectural wonders as well. The 15th-century three-tower Olavinlinna Castle ("linna", meaning "castle" in Finnish, is an ubiquitous word in the country) was built directly on a rocky island in a strait connecting two lakes which, due to their currents, remained unfrozen in winter. 

It is the northernmost mediaeval stone fortress still standing. 

During our visit, the snow had turned the area into a magical place and the reflections of the castle in the water were breathtaking.

Driving further north through Lakeland was like crossing a white desert. Since almost all the lakes were frozen and covered with tons of snow, it was impossible to distinguish which part was land and which one - a lake…

Each of us is looking for something different when we travel - R&R, adrenaline rush, encounters, delicious food... However, summer (or winter) holiday makers and travel junkies alike are always looking for the same thing - out of the box, "once in a lifetime" experiences. Our next stop on the European Snow Trip - an icebreaker cruise in Lapland (Finland’s northernmost region bordering Sweden, Norway, Russia and the Baltic Sea), topped with floating in icy water and walking on ice on a frozen gulf - was one of these.

Travel in the Arctic is still dependent on icebreakers. These very powerful ships are capable of breaking up kilometres of sea ice, sometimes several metres thick. Their specific shape allows them to roll back and forth more easily than other heavy ships. Sampo - a retired icebreaker with four engines and three times heavier than a regular ship - is running cruises out of the city of Kemi at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia. 

She was a real giant and we looked like tiny dwarfs next to her. 

The cruise through the white vastness of the frozen Gulf of Bothnia was surreal - we felt like we had reached the end of the world... 

Sampo was breaking the thick sea ice so effortlessly that it looked almost like there were no obstacles on her way at all.

Like Little Thumb dropping breadcrumbs on his way, the icebreaker was leaving pieces of ice that looked like diamonds, unfortunately too heavy to put on a ring!

During the cruise we also walked on the frozen Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden - another unearthly moment. 

However, the strangest but also coolest experience was ice swimming, or rather floating in the freezing water, surrounded by sea ice… The funny red drysuits that kept us dry and warm made us look like Bibendum - the Michelin Tire Man - but I guess that this was the price to pay for having so much fun!

The day ended with a spectacular sunset over the Gulf of Bothnia and the city of Kami…

We could not leave without visiting its Snow Castle.

It is entirely built from snow and ice each year. 

The theme of the ice sculptures in 2022 was happiness, in a Finnish way, with tons of candies, hearts and toys. 

There were rooms dedicated to fishing, music and sports and a kitchen with a sauna and a fireplace, entirely made from ice.

After the visit, we walked on the frozen sea next to the castle and it was so much fun!

Since we were already in Lapland - the home of Santa Claus, our next stop was his “official” residence in Rovaniemi, where we also crossed the Arctic Circle - another milestone! 

In the Santa Claus Village we visited the old man’s office but I guess February was his month off. A sign on the wall indicated that there were 317 days remaining until the next Christmas. The whole place felt way too touristy and I cannot imagine the craziness if you visit it around the winter holidays!

We kept driving north and the days went by without any northern lights on the horizon...