On Sunday, we left home at 4am, and drove through Bristol to the airport. We arrived at the Airport Tavern EzyPark at 5:30, where after checking the car in, we were driven 5 minutes to the airport terminal itself. The airport was unremarkable, except for the amazingly long queue of people waiting to check-in for EasyJet. This is something we'll need to consider if we're tempted to book cheap flights!
After boarding the European Air Charter 737-200 at 8am, we were given a nice hot breakfast as we flew over the North Sea, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, and into Ivalo. With the 2 hour time difference, we landed at 1:50pm. At the bottom of the steps onto the tarmac, we were greeted by a Sami couple in traditional dress with their reindeer. Inside, as we were collecting bags, we watched as a couple of rogue elves danced on the carousel, stole kids' beanies, and kept us generally entertained
. We were allocated to bus "Tinsel", which was to be our transport for the whole trip. On the way to Saariselkä, our tour guide kept us in the festive spirit, with singalongs of Rudolph, We wish you a merry Christmas, Jingle bells, Twelve days of Christmas, and several others. We spotted more mischievous elves at the entry to the village, before disembarking at the Siula shopping centre, where we were given snowsuits, gloves, socks, hats, and boots. There were a few moments to spend on a little toboggan before jumping back on the 
bus to be taken to the Holiday Club hotel. It was quite dark by 3pm, although the crescent moon was slightly visible through the cloud.We were asked to be at a welcome brief by 4pm, so that left about 30 minutes to spend in snowball fights and general first-day-in-the-snow activities.
This photo is the area just outside our room, that we could see from the window. After changing back into inside clothes and hearing the jure de jour (am I allowed to make up French phrases) such as "The bar is open from 4pm to 4am, but children only permitted until 11pm", we got changed again and headed outside. We found a small toboggan slope in the hotel courtyard, and after a chat with a two-days-older-and-wiser tourist and a 300m walk, found the bottom part of a 1.2km toboggan trail. Only the last 70m or so were lit, so that's all we ventured. There were some tailbone-jarring bumps, but it was still fun. We then headed back to the hotel without getting lost, and indulged in a buffet roast dinner, before going to the very fancy pool - waterfalls, waterslide, whirlpool, spas ("jacuzzi"), and a wave machine. There was a strict "no clothes" rule for the saunas. I don't think the eyelids lasted long once horizontality was attained that night.
Monday was our "Activity Day". We had to be ready for a 9am Tinsel pickup, so breakfast was 7:30. (There was a huge influx at 8am!) With another buffet, so I was able to show off my complete lack of dietary discipline. My seven courses were: fruit salad; cereal; porridge; sliced cheeses and meats; scrambled egg, bacon, and vegetable rösti; toast; and self-cooked waffle. After changing back into outside clothes, we hopped on our Tinsel bus for the 20min ride to the Activity Centre. 
Again, our guide kept us "in the mood" with more singalong, including "There was a crazy moose", with lyrics slightly altered from the Boy Scout Trail version, to include "He was a good canoer/so he paddled in the sewer" and other slightly less savoury lines - which the kids loved!At the activity centre, we were given a rides in a one-reindeer open sleigh, a seven-husky open sleigh
, and a one-skidoo open sleight. The latter took us on a tour through the woods where, after discovering an upturned sled with presents all over the ground, we spotted a couple of elves who invited us in to see Santa. Of all the coincidences, he just happened to be reading a letter that Stephanie had posted a few days earlier! After some discussion of Christmas spirit and the 
relative moralities of giving and receiving, Santa and the girls practised these respectively. The packages are still unopened under our tree now.Other activities included ice sculpture, snow-shoeing, more tobogganing, another husky ride (we were lucky!), occasional visits to the hot-berry-juice and biscuits warming-up-around-the-fireplace
hut, and a Sami arctic circle welcome ceremony. It was explained that we are all destined to return at some future time as reindeer, and we have been "marked" to belong to the herd of our welcomer, Maya. Our lunch was a salmon chowder, spaghetti bolognese, and a pancake and jam. We didn't have long after lunch, which didn't matter as the weather was deteriorating - the wind was chilly. We tried some tandem skiing which was disastrous on the now-very-icy surface, and the girls tried the junior snowmobile
. Then it was 3pm: time for Tinsel to take us back to the Holiday Club. We headed straight back to the big toboggan slope, which was also rather icy by this stage of the day. Time for another swim, before dressing for the Gala Dinner at 7pm. Although still a buffet, it was much classier, with about 8 cold dishes (including smoked salmon and prawns), and about 8 hot dishes (including salmon and - importantly for the girls - chicken nuggets and chips). Dessert included Christmas puddings, creme brulee, mousse, rice pudding, and cheese platter. The only wine I tried in Finland was a 2005 Peter Lehmann "Wildcard" Shiraz. Then there were various party games and activities (colouring in, etc) for the children, to let the adults relax and chat amongst themselves for a while.
We didn't last long on returning to the room that night either!Tuesday was our last day. We could have signed up for optional snowmobile tours, husky rides, or other such activities. We chose to look into the downhill skiing (as opposed to "normal" skiing), but after the bus dropped us at the slope, we discovered that only the children's lift was running due to the high winds. So we headed back, and undertook some more tobogganing. It was much lighter at 11am than it had been at 4pm, and the surface had been groomed overnight, so we found it more pleasant
. It was good exercise, too, before the rather long trip home began at midday. The guide on Tinsel encouraged us to join in with more singing, but perhaps we weren't as enthusiastic on the way home. It was a rather slow wait in the airport, but the Monarch Airlines 757 trip home was good: they gave the children activity books, and we had a Christmas dinner - turkey, sausage, roast potato, and Christmas pudding and custard. After a short wait at Bristol airport to be taken to the car, we made it home in just under 2 hours - by 7:30pm (9:30pm Finnish time).For the third night in a row, sleep came remarkably easily.
No comments:
Post a Comment