Lapland - Last Winter Adventure

While we were in Lapland, we stayed in a wooden cabin 30 minutes' walk from the village of Äkäslompolo, which itself is an hour's drive from Kittilä airport, one of 6 airports serving Lapland.

We cooked some meals, including a few using leftover BBQ pork brought from Paris :)

The log cabin came with modern comforts like a flat screen TV, DVD player, microwave, etc, on top of a rustic stone fireplace 

Unfortunately we did not have enough firewood, so we had a nice fire going for just an hour  

It also came with its own sauna, like all cabins in this part of the world.  You can buy these dried leaves - usually from the birch tree - to slap oneself to promote blood circulation while in the sauna.  We gave it a try and ended up cleaning up a whole bunch of disembodied  leaves and twigs in the sauna after that.  

Look at him go...He loves the snow, and insisted on walking everywhere; the more snow there is, the better!  The -12 degree Celsius temperature did not matter at all.

See his mirth?

Making his first snow angel

Family picture on the road next to the cabin

We had to walk from our cabin to the village center to buy provisions.  The 30-minute walk was a pleasure for the kids because they get to go on their sleds pulled by us.  Ju also loved pulling his own sled.  All offers of help were firmly declined.

Once, when he was tired, we placed him on his sled and pulled him along, and he fell asleep - sitting up, of course - on the walk home.

By the way, if you are wondering, -12 C really wasn't too bad with the right clothing.  Nothing fancy, we were mostly clad in generic Decathlon stuff but we did invest in good gloves and thermal underwear for the kids.  If you are joining an organised excursion, the tour companies will also provide you with a balaclava and gloves and even snow pants if you don't have them.

Here we have just returned from our afternoon walk, and I was wearing a set of thermal base layer, light fleece, winter jacket, beanie, waterproof gloves, and a headlamp for walking in the dark.  I also had those hand warmer packs for some excursions that required us to be outdoors for several hours.  

Reindeers shed their antlers once a year, and you can find the discarded ones for sale at all the shops in Lapland.  

A souvenir shop in the village center