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Email received 12th July 2010 Part 3 of Sandra & Lyle's journey
Hi again all,
Wow we had an interesting arrival in Moscow yesterday!!! (More later)
We arrived in Helsinki on 24th June which just happened to be the mid summer celebrations. We visited Suomenlinna Island which was built as a fortress so learned a lot of Finnish history while there.
We saw the guests arriving for a wedding didn’t see the bride, but admired the fashions of the guests. That evening we attended the celebrations and fire lighting ceremony in another part of Helsinki for Midsummer, at Seurasaari and who should turn up to light the bonfires but the bride who was married on the island earlier. It is custom to have a newly married couple to do this ceremony. After 12 hours on our feet we were ready for bed. (Don’t know about the bride!!!)
Next day had a pass to use on the rail, bus and tram sooooooo we set off!!! We went North, South, East and West on the trams and oops, sometimes we even doubled back on ourselves!!! In fact the Nokia factory and the fun park about 6 times by going round on the loop tram which didn’t include the railway station where we needed to get off by 1pm when the ticket expired. We could use it in the Museums, and the lady allowed us in to there even though we were late!! We saw works by Van Gough, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin etc. (Dana please note) For relaxation we visited a Mall and would you believe we ran into someone Lyle knew, who turned out to be our travelling companions on the same trip round Scandinavia, and yes they live in Appleby, Diane and Ian Thomson.
We finally made Rovaniemi after a 10 hr train trip, and as the sun doesn’t set up there it was still like broad daylight at midnight. In fact the sun didn’t set at all for the next 12 days!!! 39 on this tour, a bit of a shock after 15 in Turkey!! Seven from NZ, the rest from Aussie, Canada, UK and USA.
Next day we went up river in wooden river boats which hold about 20. Three boats took us (our boat came first) to a reindeer farm where we were welcomed in Sámi style, (bit like Maori). He jabbered on across two wooden planks which we walked for a couple of ks and we arrived at his reindeer enclosure, where we sampled food, the men drank reindeer milk and were supposed to become virulent!!?? Temperatures about 20o at this stage.
Next day we crossed the Arctic Circle at Father Christmas' workshop. (It just wasn’t the same fairyland without the snow we saw in 2006 Katrina). We found we didn’t see any animals or local people around this area. In fact we only saw about 8 cars in about an hour one day. Very quiet up that end of the world. Started to see more reindeer though, and everyone was jumping around the bus to take photos when one appeared on the road, or we found them in a patch of bush.
There are a lot of barren mountains up there although still with patches of snow high up. We made North Cape (Nordcap) on the 2nd July. The area is only opened for about 2 months of the year, and we weren’t the only ones up there!! There were at least 75 buses, and as many if not more campervans. Very few cars, but people, people, people!!!
Watched the midnight sun peeping through the clouds. We were lucky to see any sign of sun as it had been pouring earlier and we believe that you may only have one chance in three to see anything at all. Back in the hotel by 1am for a 4am start next morning (Them’s the breaks)!! On the whole it wasn’t too cold but glad of the thermals, when the temperature got down to about 5o. Then we were starting to go south again. Caught a boat to do the Fjords, armed with our boxed breakfasts, yuk!!! (Sure it was left over tea from the night before!!)
We arrived at Alta where we visited the rock carving area dating back to about 4-6 centuries. A bit like the ones at Cave/Duntroon area. By now we were in the area devastated in WWII by the Germans and visited the War Museum at Narvik. (This is where I pulled a muscle in my leg and limped for about 5 day afterwards.( S.)
Started seeing some farming, well at least cut hay etc, still no animals much, obviously housed inside, poor things!! Crossed the Artic Circle again and it was real barren snow country, a bit like Central Otago. Enjoyed arrival in Trondheim where we did a city sightseeing tour including Nidaros Cathedral, where I saw a symbol of a pig and a mermaid holding a mirror, just like I have in the coat of arms for the Prestidge family tree. It turns out that they are part of the seven deadly sins. Great!!! I would say virtues!!!
Into Sweden then, around the Mora area etc lovely areas here. Noticed the difference in the terrain once in Sweden. Lush growth, trees dense and much taller birches than up the road in Norway. Skinny pine trees though. We thought we saw a Moose, (I did see a stuffed one actually on the side of the road!! and the buildings are all wooden and painted red. (My theory was they could find them in the snow, but it was really that there was a lot of cheap red paint!!!(S ) Before hitting Stockholm we stopped at Uppsala a Uni town, It was lovely there. The trouble is that on tours like this you are only given a short time to sightsee, which is never enough. Lyle wants to come back here. (Elsbeth she has you lined up to come!)
Stockholm and we did a walking tour round the old town and had a group final meal down in the converted 13thc wine cellar. Fantastic atmosphere. We had our first night apart as the hotel made a mucking of several peoples bookings, and we all ended up in separate rooms. (Neither of us could sleep with out company!! We were sorry to leave this area but now in Moscow, and what an arrival we had!! We have found our phones don’t work here, and might not work until we get to Poland, and police are everywhere. Although today we had a fantastic look around the city area. It is packed with wonderful buildings. Tell you more next time. (No, we are not guests of the KGB.)
Love to all, S & L
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