A Chance Encounter with.. the Northern Lights

Mar 3, 2018

3 min read

For our first stop on Spring Break, we hopped on a plane headed to Finland. We got off the plane to -5 degree weather and had no doubt that we had stepped in to the Arctic Circle. There was snow everywhere and even the airport seemed as if it were part of Santa's workshop!

For our first day, we woke up in time to head to a reindeer farm. We bundled up in about 18 layers each, hopped on a snow train, and took off through the forests to get there. I was in awe of Finland already, but this was when I truly fell in love. Every inch was covered in snow, the air was clean, and the pathway seemed like a scene from a movie.

We were greeted at the reindeer farm and then led up to the fence where they kept the baby reindeer, They showed us what and how to feed them... Apparently, reindeer don't actually like oats covered in glitter. Who knew?

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Instead, we fed them branches of leaves. They all gathered up by the fence to eat the food we were offering. It was so fun!

After this, we went inside to warm up and eat some snacks of our own. Finnish people love blueberry juice, so we tried the classic drink along with their pastries. We learned about reindeer farms and how they go about training them before heading outside to ride them for ourselves.

We got in the sleighs and took a trip around the track. Unfortunately, the reindeer didn't fly us around, but that didn't keep us from having the best time. Afterwards, we were sure to take lots of pictures to ensure the experience was one we couldn't forget.

We rode back to the hotel through the forrest but took a pitstop to make snow angels. Our guide (Minna-- she was the best!!) told us that we were standing in about 3 feet of snow. That just seemed unreal to me. It definitely gave me a whole new understanding of a Winter Wonderland.

Later that night, we bundled up to hunt for the Northern Lights. We'd been hopeful that we might be able to see them, but we had heard several stories about people who made several trips to never succeed in seeing them. I'm counting my blessings to say that we were able to see them in full force. Thanks to the photographer who had come out to shoot them that night, we knew exactly where to be and when to be there.

Shout out to the photographer for getting this picture! We did not know how to work the technology so you could see what we could see

It was freezing, but I got to see the full effect of the dancing green and red lights across the night sky. It was truly magical. I highly recommend putting them on your bucket list.

The next day, we woke up again to embrace the arctic in full force. This time, we went snowshoeing! Minna (she's our new best friend at this point) got to be our guide again. She led us through the forrests in our snowshoes. It was great. I had no idea that one could sweat in the arctic, but after 2 hours, we most certainly did. The snow was deep, and let me tell you, once you fall down, it is nearly impossible to get back up. (I fell twice, but that's not too much of a surprise.)

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We stopped at the end of our hike to drink hot black current cider and roast sausages by the fire. I didn't know that it was possible to sit by the fire to cool off, but after our trek, that is exactly what we did.

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That afternoon, we drove into the city to Santa's villiage. Rovaniemi is the official home of Santa Claus. We were able to meet the REAL Santa and explore his "offices." If the snow didn't already have me in a Christmas mood, this certainly pushed me over the edge. Just 10 more months!!

Excuse the blurry picture, we made my mom get on the livestream to screenshot pictures so we wouldn't have to pay for them...

For our last day, we simply explored the grounds of the hotel.We walked across the frozen lake, went sledding, and played in the snow. It was the ultimate snow day!