I’ve fallen behind on my posts since I left Finland and I’ll start playing catch-up today. I left Finland several weeks ago and here are a few photos of my wonderful visit.
While my time in Finland’s Lapland region was too brief, it was still rewarding.
The Nordic country straddles the Arctic Circle and wasn’t on my travel screen until recently. But I’d always been curious to see the Northern Lights and my friend Minna there said Fall was a good time to see them. Of course, she was right!
Rovaniemi, where I stayed, is on the border of the Arctic Circle, and it’s the capital of the Lapland region of Finland.
Finland also fit with a plan that included a trip south from there through Eastern European countries that aren’t as expensive to travel in as the primary destinations of Europe. It was a terrific 12-day trip, though now I’m in Estonia..
Climate Change?
Some readers asked earlier whether climate change has shown its face in Finland. Yes, it has, according to online reports and the people I talked to in Finland.
Temperatures in Finland in November are rising at a record pace, according to weather officials. A snowfall in Rovaniemi just before I arrived melted before I got there, and another just after I arrived also soon melted. The air temperature mostly stayed a few degrees (C.) above freezing.
The lack of snow on the ground makes even longer, darker nights due to another factor that never occurred to me. Snow on the ground and rooftops reflects the light of the moon and stars and the ubiquitous white birch trees, in a land where winter sun barely clears the horizon for several hours of daylight this time of the year.
Finns are getting impatient with climate change. The people I talked to are used to a steady snow cover that begins no later than mid-November and lasts well into the Spring, which hadn’t occurred yet.
The two snowfalls while I was there disappeared within a day or two when temperatures rose and turned the snow to rain, making a slush on the ground that melted away the beauty of snow-covered land reflecting clear-skied, moonlit nights.
Without it, the Finns, often named the world’s happiest people in popular surveys, start getting a little edgy, while their skis, snowmobiles and other winter recreation gear remain in storage.
I found out when I struck a nerve mentioning Finland’s “world’s happiest people” reputation and one of my hosts frowned with displeasure at the anointing. “Oh,” she muttered, “we’re the happiest again?”
While still colder by far than what I’m used to, I’m surprised at how well my body has reacted. I layered on the clothing and ventured out with minimal discomfort, and overall I feel well. The crisp, clean cold air clears my head and I’m sleeping soundly through the long nights. My respiratory system seems especially receptive to the near pollutant-free air.
Also refreshing is a lack of traffic jams generating exhaust, and there is none of the constant bleating of horns in traffic that is so annoying in most of the world’s cities I’ve been to.
As a fan of walking in the cities I visit, I found that Finnish drivers, even those commanding buses and trucks, are more respectful of pedestrians than anywhere I’ve been in my travels, almost always patiently giving a clear right-of-way to pedestrians, which was a pleasing discovery about the Finnish culture.
I gained an increasing measure of trust in the customs of others, such as winter swimming , which was an unbelievably refreshing surprise providing physical and mental health benefits, something I never would have believed had I not actually done it.
Many Finns belong to winter swimming clubs of enthusiasts who enjoy a bracing plunge in the icy waters three to five times a week or more.
I could be encouraged to take up the practice myself if I’d stayed longer in Finland.
Tallinn, Estonia
Now I’m living in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, a two-hour ferry ride from Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland.
Since I’ve arrived here there has been no shortage of snow.
My host Jelena, who has lived here all her life, said she’s never seen as much snow on the ground in Tallinn as there has been since I arrived.
Currently I’m at my computer desk on the third floor of my lovely new apartment in Tallin, the capital of the country of Estonia, which is my third consecutive visit to a country that borders Russia.
I’m looking out the window over a picturesque residential community as the wind is driving a thick snowfall horizontally across my view. I’d call it a blizzard, drifting to more than a foot high on top of the previous day’s snowfall.
Snow hasn’t curtailed the holiday spirit, however. Tallinn’s beautiful Old Town area boasts one of Europe’s most popular Christmas markets, a colorful collection of traditional local crafts and delicious foods and drink.
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