We left Dallas on Wednesday 23rd Feb, a day early as our flight to New York for Thursday was canceled, seemed getting out and spending a night in NY was better than missing our flight to Helsinki. I'll spare you the details of waiting endlessly for a plane in Dallas that was stuck in a maintenance hanger, or waiting for the JFK Finnair counter to open so we could check our four very large bags. Needless to say we were very happy to reach our hotel in Helsinki Friday afternoon.
Saturday we met a friend of Sara's for lunch and had a tour of the area. Tavi used to work in Dallas with Sara and it was great to see him and get updated on his new life in Finland. We spent the afternoon wandering around the city center taking photos and enjoying the coffee and pastry shops that are everywhere. The paths are really icy even in the city and we carefully walked around - didn't want to slip and break something at the start of the trip!
Sunday the 27th we got a transport pass and used the trams to check out some cool streets and a park/marina that was full of people - even a cross country skier. It was a beautiful sunny day and we took the ferry to Suomenlinna Island which has a fortress and buildings built in the mid-18th century and is now a World Heritage site. The fortress has been part of both Sweden and Russia before finally transferring to Finland when the country gained independence in 1917. We had a lovely time exploring the island, glad we had added ice grippers to our boots and warm coats to block the biting wind!
We are now in Utsjoki which is about a mile from the Norwegian border and less than 200KM from Russia. We are staying in a delightful cottage with heated floors and a personal sauna! The next three days we will be up late hoping to see and photograph the northern lights. It's been snowing all day today so not sure how lucky we will be, but regardless we are having a wonderful time!
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