When we pulled into Helsinki station the weather was much milder (-1) and we got quite warm on the 30 minute walk to our hotel. The Raddison Blu near the ferry terminal in the one part of central Helsinki we hadn’t yet been was really comfortable. It was one of those places that is kept up to date but also has cards all over the room for the billion different extra services offered. We of course used none of them.

After a futile walk all the way across town to our previous hotel to try and get my European adapter back, we found a little restaurant on the corner offering a selection of Finnish foods and other stuff. It turned out to be the restaurant in one of the Sokos hotels .We decided that was an appropriate dinner destination and I enjoyed a fabulous salmon steak stuffed with shrimp, sitting on roast potatoes and artichokes with a magnificent sauce. Dan had a burger which he described as possibly the best he had ever tasted. After dinner, we went back to the hotel  and tried to kip.

We both woke early (again) and went to breakfast about 8. The hotel breakfast buffet (included with our room cost) was impressive – English and Scandi options and an incredibly impressive range of breads. We loaded up and then set out for the walk back to town and the bus to Helsinki airport. The checkin was painless and we were actually able to check in at a kiosk by scanning our passports. We took advantage of the free wi-fi while we waited for our flight for the quick (CBR-SYD length) hop to Stockholm.

Christmas themed activities – 3  War museums and model shops – 0

… we got off the number eight bus in a rush when the bus turned in the opposite direction of our hote and I left my two yuan pompom beanie on the bus. I guess it did pretty well to make it through a Canberra winter and then on to Lapland. Perhaps it will find a new home and live out its days on the head of a Rovaniemi local. Most likely it will end up in landfill. The worst part was it was 4pm in the afternoon, pitch black and about  -9 degrees. Not the optimum time to be walking from the bus stop to the hotel. Thankfully, as Rovaniemi is a pretty small town, the walk was only about ten minutes or so. We checked in and headed straight out in search of a new beanie. Unfortunately, as it was Finnish Independence Day, there was hardly anything open. Our first stop was a hardware store – they had what appeared to be a very plain black beanie for 50 Euros. It transpired this was because the beanie had earphones wired in. Our next stop was a supermarket – alas another dead end. Everything else appeared to be closed until we cam upon this sports warehouse type of store. The prices weren’t warehouse though. There was a spectacular pompom beanie with ear muffs that matched my scarf perfectly and would have kept my head toasty warm Problem was it cost about 60 euros. In the end I went for a snow motifed number from the bargain bin for 15 euros. Not much of a bargain and not as effective at keeping my ears and the sides opf my face warm as the two yuan hero. The search for a proper replacement continues. Something a bit more stylish for the effortlessly cool destinations coming up – like Stockholm and Berlin for example.

Hat purchased, we headed into Lordi square so Dan could use the bank machine and for a bit of a look. The square includes a Christmas tree and a kids luge – not very metal at all. The bank trip wasn’t successful  and required some remediation on the bank’s website. We were pretty cold by now so decided to head to the coffee house just off the square. My first stop on my trip here four years ago, Coffee houses are an essential part of life in these parts – somewhere warm to sit for a while and enjoy afternoon coffee and cake.

We took a bit more of a stroll up to the McDonalds – the world’s most northern McDonalds, where Dan took pretty much the same shots I had four years ago – of the McDonalds and the adjacent snow covered freeway. Then it was back to our room for a bit of respite before heading out for dinner. I was happy with anything, except pizza. All we seemed to be able to find though were pizza restaurants. I was even happy to do the kebab meat on chips thing again but we couldn’t really find that either.

Eventually we happened upon a French country kitchen chain we had seen in Helsinki – Fransmanni – but here they also offered a Lappish menu. And it was reasonably priced by Finnish standards.  We chose a tastes of Lapland platter – a blin. Salmon pastrami, smoked reindeer and roast reindeer. It came with a pickled red onion salad, with a mushroom salad – cream or cream cheese with small pieces of mushroom and lots of time. We didn’t get one of our four choices – I think probably the salmon pastrami, but the smoked reindeer was exception al and the roast reindeer prettygood too. The blin is a sort of pancake made with yeast and fried in butter – it looks like a potato cake and tastes wonderful. For mains, I was tempted by the salmon soup but decided on the same choice as dan – sautéed reindeer atop potato mash and garnished with ligonberries and dill pickles. Yum. The reindeer meat was basically small pieces of meat that had been sautéed in butter. The flavour wasn’t at all gamey and probably predictably had a more subtle taste than venison. It was awesome with the ligonberries. For dessert we shared a clafoutti with cloudberry sorbet. I like ligonberries, which are fabulously tart more than the subtler, sweeter cloud berries. Dinner consumed, washed down with a Kiwi Pinot, we wandered back to the hotel to kip before we got up at sparrow’s fart in order to catch the 7am train.

I still haven’t quite got the sleeping thing under control (Tip – make sure on that first day you just push through. Never, ever take the nap option or you’ll have trouble getting out of the habit).  I woke at about 3:30am so was easily able to get up at 5:30 to start getting ready. We packed and headed out into the freezing morning. Dan had one more go with the bank machine – success! Then we started on our 25 minute stroll to the train station. Not that it is anything but dark most of the time but it was also a balmy -22 degrees out for our stroll. It’s true what they say – once it gets past -10 it makes no difference. Fortuitously our journey took us past the cluster of public buildings designed by Alvar Aalto, he also designed the town when it was rebuilt after it was destroyed by the retreating Germans in World war 2. The major streets form the shape of a reindeer’s head and antlers.

The train was at the station when we arrived so we found our carriage and got on. Because we are over 25, we have to travel on a first class Eurail pass. It has some advantages. For most of the journey home, we had the carriage, on the top deck of the train, to ourselves. It also came with bottomless percolated coffee, water, butter cookies, power sockets and free wj-fi. The food was the same as Everything you need to settle in for the 10 hour journey back to Helsinki. It sounds like it would be incredibly boring but Dan had his tablet, I had my MP3 player and blogging and there was plenty to look at out the window. As Dan commented, everything looks more interesting  with snow. Even the junkyard and I was just mesmerized by the never ending Christmas card shots of farmhouses and Christmas trees. Lots of Christmas trees. The food was the same as the first journey but I finally enjoyed a Karelian pastry the way it was intended – warm with a buttery egg filling. It was a great discovery.

Christmas themed activities – 3 (eating Rudolph doesn’t count)  War museums and model shops – 0

The reason we need a better rail service in Australia is… made far more obvious when you catch trains in Europe. Armed with our Eurail passes and private sleeping car reservation, we boarded the train for the overnight journey to Rovaniemi, Lapland, and the home of Santa Claus. The cabin had two single bunk beds that were incredibly comfortable – they come with linens and a pillow. There is a basin unit in the corner that includes cups of water to drink on the way. The head of the bed includes a console with an alarm clock and a power outlet. There is also a pocket on the wall to hold all your essentials. Our backpacks slid under the bottom bunk. You also get access to the shower. I had a pommy shower instead. The idea of going out in -13 degrees with wet hair wasn’t too appealing. We snuggled in for the night on the 12 hour journey north. We weren’t very far north before I peered out the window to gaze upon snow covered pines trees.

Still adjusting to the jetlag, we woke early and utilized the train’s free wi-fi service. A couple of hours before we arrived, we headed to the dining car for breakfast. Train food in Australia is usually pretty terrible – reheated pies and three day old sandwiches but the food on the Finnish trains is actually pretty decent. And compared to Finnish prices more generally, it’s actually quite cheap. For about 7 euro I got a rye bread sandwich with cheese and tomato (still looking for a more interesting option), a large tub of yoghurt and muesli and a café latte (which was the powder with hot water version unfortunately. It was hot, creamy and did contain caffeine.

We pulled into Rovaniemi about 11am in a balmy – 8 degrees. We headed straight to the bus stop to catch city bus number 8 to the Santa Claus village – the cheapest way to get there. The Santa Clause Holiday Village offers a free airport shuttle for guests but not from the train station. The bus was packed and our plan to take the back seat for us and our bags backfired when a young Finnish girl with a five year old joined us. She was quite chatty though and told us she had been to Australia. This was the second Finn we had met with an Australian connection. The waitress in the Pasta Express restaurant lives on the Gold Coast and was back home in Finland for her summer holidays.

Check in for the village is quite late – 4pm so we headed to the Reception to drop our bags off and got presented with all the tour options. Dan was initially keen on the snowmobile safari while I was more partial to the reindeer. At any rate it appeared the chance of seeing the aurora borealis was extremely low – firstly there was very little activity predicted and secondly there was heavy cloud cover. We went away to have a bit of a look around the village and decide.

The village itself is made up of cafes and fast food style restaurants and more souvenir shops than you find in Dublin’s Temple Bar, mostly selling Christmas wares. While not all up to the quality of the Christmas Barn, it is like the Barn on steroids, peppered with Suomi handcrafts. Except there were more than last time I was here. There is also now a holiday village, which wasn’t here last time, the Arctice Park is more impressive than my last visit and there are actually reindeer about. In February the place is a bit like Pissweak World. (The ballad of Hollis Brown – Entombed – a Swedish metal band’s cover of a Bob Dylan classic, somehow feels quite appropriate for this blog given that the most famous other sons of Rovaniemi are Eurovision winners Lordi. Unfortunately the Lordi Rocktaurant visited on my last swing through here is no longer and the leading force of the band now resides in Helsinki. All that remains is the renamed central square – now called Lord Square.)

Our first stop was a café in the main building where we had coffee, a hot chocolate (which Dan wasn’t impressed with) and a scrumptious pastry filled with custard and strawberry jam. We also made a decision on our tour. Instead of spending exorbitant amounts on a tour to see the northern lights when the percentage chance of seeing them was about zero, we opted for a three kilometer reindeer sleigh ride through the wilderness. Really – when else are you going to get to ride in a sleigh pulled by reindeer through actual snow in a forest of real Christmas trees? We had some time to kill before then so we had a bit more of a look around and took some photos. We walked past Santa’s grotto but as I wasn’t prepared to pay the 30 plus Euros for a photo with Santa, I decided going and Sitting on the knee of someone who realistically was probably going to be younger than me was probably a bit weird. Anyway Santa is someone you aren’t supposed to see. For me, this was about the Christmas spirit and the experience of all the Christmas things I can’t get at home – snow, reindeer, the Arctic Circle, Santa’s Post Office – and just some fun in the snow. If I really wanted to sit on Santa’s knee, I could do that in practically every mall in town – a phenomenon I haven’t seen in Finland so far to be honest. (Miss World – Hole – I still think that outside of concept albums, Hole’s Live through This works as an album from start to finish better than any other album I’ve listened to it. A bit of teen girl angst is probably just the thing for a visit to Santa too.)

We decided to head for the Arctice Park, which had just opened. Last time I came, it was practically closed for the end of the season. This time it was still under construction. The upside was that they were only charging 12 Euros entry because of it. When the park is finished it will include some toboggan tracks, an ice skating rink and some igloo hotel rooms. The two important elements were at least partly completed though – the tyre run and the ice bar (even if only a couple of the sculptures had been completed and the lighting wasn’t yet in place. To be honest, it was more interesting to wander through the ice bar structure while it was still being built because we could watch as they do it – there was form work out the back that they clearly packed snow around to build the joining bridges between the igloo shaped rooms. The bar was set up though with cherry flavoured Finlandia vodka and Baileys on the shelf.

From here it was time to rug up, go outside and test out the tyre run. In comparison to what we are used to at home, where five runs down the slope cost about $40-$50 – 12 Euros for unlimited all day access to the runs is great value. It was also more fun – at home the runs are straight down the hill with bumps to make you airborne which really freaks me out. Here the run was designed much more like a luge track (and I imagine the Finns would be pretty experienced at that) with a steep drop off and curved sides. The drop-off itself is a bit nerve-wracking, especially when you are trying to propel yourself over the top without leaving your extremities hanging over the edge. But once you get past that, you get enough speed up for the run to take your breath away but it is well designed so at no point did I feel like I was going to flips over, fall out or go over the edge and you spin just enough to go round the curves. Sure you have to walk back up the hill but it is steep (with stairs carved in the ice) rather than a long way), so it is actually quite good. On my first run I lost my hat in the snow. One of the (very tall) Finnish guys who works there rescued it for me saying that I wasn’t the first and I wouldn’t be the last. But I think that was the beginning of the end for my two Yuan pompom beanie. I tied it around my neck for my following runs, one of which was videoed by Dan.

A few runs was enough to have us clamoring for the indoors again. We decided to grab some lunch before our reindeer ride – the local fast food delicacy – kebab meat served on chips. I went for the reindeer option, which was a bit drier and leaner than the beef. It was OK but like most attractions of this kind, the fast food joint doesn’t really need to be good because it has a captive audience. It was then that the destruction of my two Yuan hat, purchased out of necessity in China in January, continued in earnest. When I reached in my pocket to put it on before we went outside, the pompom on top disintegrated in my hand. Some minor surgery and it was good to go – actually better than before – it stayed on my head better without the huge pompom.

The light was beginning to fade and there was a royal blue haze across the sky. Something magical happens here as the darkness begins to invade the twilight – the Christmas lights and the glistening snow just make it seem like you are in another world. It was the perfect time for our reindeer ride. It was the absolute perfect activity to do here. We snuggled into our sleigh under reindeer hides. There is a reason the Suomi use reindeer hides to keep themselves warm. The hides were about ten times warmer than any of my polypropylene gear was making me and much more snuggly. Our reindeer Topi was harnessed behind the sleigh in front being driven by one of the reindeer herders. He wanted to be Rudolph though – he was constantly trying to get in front or go around the side of the other sleigh. We spent about half an hour riding through the Christmas tree forest in the twilight. It really was a magical experience that I am glad we decided to do. Even better to do with the one you love.

After the ride you can sit and toast a sausage by the fire and drink the Finnish Christmas drink glögi – warm grape juice with cinnamon and cardamom, served warm. The sausage was pretty good too – a mildly smoked wurst of some kind. Frankfurts are really a step above in this part of the world. It was really nice sitting by the fire, although I was carefully avoiding embers lest my synthetic down filled jacket go up in flames. We chatted to one of the women who herd the reindeer about whether they are farmed or not. It turns out that they are actually tagged and then let go in the countryside and then herded during the autumn for the winter months. We also discovered it was Finnish Independence Day (independence from the Russians – yep they were a bit surprised we had to ask). Sitting there by the fire was a really pleasant end to what was a wonderful experience.

It was now getting quite dark and cold but fortuitously it was also time to check in. We got our key and wandered over – the village staff delivered our luggage soon after in a van. The cottage was beautiful, and while it looked a little like the Christmas house from the postcards, you soon realise after a few days in Finland that all the farmhouses here look like that. A red wooden house with white trim and a Baltic pine interior. Accommodation at the Santa Claus Village had the potential to one big plastic tack fest. But this was Finland. Even if it wasn’t Christmas, this would still be a stylish place to stay. Laid out like cabins in a caravan park with a parking space for our non-existent car, each hut had two apartments. Ours was on the right. It had a verandah out the front with table and chairs, a kid’s toboggan and a sled (for ferrying the kid around -ours just stayed chained up) and a tastefully decorated Christmas tree (just a spruce with golden lights. Inside was even more impressive, the ceiling was Baltic pine – the lights were (fake) reindeer antlers, there were snowflake motifs on the walls, and the bathroom contained its own sauna. There were subtle Christmas touches but the whole thing was done with panache.

Before we settled in, we pulled our cold weather gear back on and headed up to the ice bar for a drink – Dan had a beer and I had a Baileys in an ice glass. Ice bars are a dime a dozen in Scandinavia these days but it was cool to enjoy one that was built inside an igloo that would only be there for the winter, rather than one created in a normal bar. The (very tall) Finnish guy who had rescued my beanie served us and sat down for a chat. We talked about the perils of kangaroos and reindeer on the roads and he explained that it was really easy to build the igloos – they just blow up a giant balloon and form the ice around it. I bet that’s not how the Eskimos did it! After our drink, we headed back to our apartment for a snooze.

A couple of hours later we awoke just in time for dinner. The great part about staying here in December is that there is a buffet dinner and breakfast included in the price. The bad part is that the dining hall was full of overly excited kids running around. Not what you are really looking for when you first wake up. There is a kid’s menu and which consists of universal kid favourites like chips, nuggets, fish fingers and meatballs. The adults buffet, although it didn’t look too impressive, was really tasty – beef bourguignon, potato bake or rice, honey carrots, salads and lots of fabulous Finnish breads. For dessert there were cheese and crackers, and fruit. After consuming our fill we headed back to the cabin to snooze contentedly.

We awoke early and decided to give the sauna a go. I gave up after about five minutes. I really hate sweating – which is why generally I prefer winter. If I wanted to sweat from just sitting there I could just sit in one of the upstairs rooms in our house after three 30+ days. Dan on the other hand wanted to stick it out and he did for about another 20 or 30 minutes, getting the temperature up to 65 degrees. Then we went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I got up and went for a bit of a walk to take some photos of the fresh snow that had fallen overnight.

We went and had breakfast to recover from our hectic morning of chilling out. I am a firm believer in booking hotels with buffet breakfast, especially in expensive destinations like Finland. You may pay more for the hotel but you get a really comfy night’s sleep and if you load up on breakfast, you don’t need lunch or sometimes even dinner. The buffet was pretty good for the type of hotel this was – there were scrambled eggs, bacon, little frankfurts, Scandinavian choices and lots of breads, I drank Cranberry juice,  had a bit of eggs and bacon and then hoed into pickled herrings and boiled eggs on rye bread, the Scandi way. Dan stuck with the familiar, backing the bacon and eggs up with cheese and salami. I have gotten used to drinking percolated coffee again – the quality here is much better than espresso or latte and the cups are quite often bottomless. I am actually convinced the only place in the world that serves flat whites is Australia. I have never found one anywhere else.

After breakfast we (sadly) checked out and trekked down to the husky farm. The huskies were different to the ones we see in Australia or maybe they were yet to grow their full winter coat. While they were keen if they thought there was food to be had, these dogs were bred for working not patting so you were warned to keep fingers away from the cage. They had an older dog that was just out in the open but he was too busy snoozing. Others were snoozing too, including one curled up Charli style in the snow – of course Charli does that inside a warm house on her mat instead. There was a patting dog at the entrance – not a husky, a bitsa who, like our Charli, wanted you to keep patting. Unlike Charli, this one didn’t complain though.

From there we wandered through the fresh new snow in the forest along the freshly groomed cross country skiing trails. There is quite a network around the village and the town of Rovaniemi. After a quick stop by the reindeers, it was time for mass consumerism. What really happened of course is Dan sat down somewhere while I flitted through every souvenir shop in the village (I am pretty sure there are more than 20). A new decoration and fridge magnet in hand (and sans the fab stylized husky pillowcase that was just a bit more than I wanted to pay, I headed to the Santa Claus post office to send cards to those who missed out last time. It was a complete nightmare. I am pretty sure every tour bus in Northern Europe had chosen this particular day to visit. The 2:45pm bus was a pipe dream. We lined up to find out when the next one left (they were on a Sunday timetable) and I was greeted by an Australian woman who said she came here every year she loved it so much – pretty good working holiday. I also discovered that for 50 Euro cents you can get your passport stamped for Lapland. So I did. Not sure how that goes down with the Passport authorities but it now says I’ve been to Lapland so who cares.

We stood outside and waited for the bus – didn’t want to miss another one. It came pretty quickly and we waved goodbye to Santa Claus and headed in to Rovaniemi for the evening. That’s when it happened…

(Ghosts on the Boardwalk – The Bouncing Souls. Again one of their lesser known songs – about summer holidays. But I do so love the Bouncing Souls)

Christmas themed activities – 3  War museums and model shops – 0

Faced with the prospect of spending all day out and about in -6 degree weather until 10pm when we were due to board the overnight train to Lapland, we decided checking out as late as possible – 11am – was the go. Besides the sun is only just coming over the horizon at 11am then. We chilled in the room, snoozed a bit longer to get over the jetlag and took our time packing our bags. Too long in the end – I left my Australian to European charger in the room. And as most Australian travelers know getting one of these is near impossible anywhere outside of Australia. When we left the hotel, we headed in the opposite direction to the well trodden streets around the central square and railway station and towards the business district. Although we were looking for the central market hall – Hakaneimi market. A cacophony of the smells and colours of Finnish produce. Of course there was salmon by the tonne. Curiously most places in Finland, whether it be a market, a supermarket or indeed a restaurant blackboard menu, salmon is much cheaper than beef – a very different prospect to home. There were also loads of smoked meats, hams and sausages, elemental cheeses, pickled herrings, baked goods including fabulous rye breads, soups and coffee. There weren’t a whole lot of vegetables I have to say. And everywhere we went; we largely found the same fruit and vege as at home. I was hoping to find punnets of ligonberries and cloud berries but alas just strawberries and blueberries (probably grown in a greenhouse in Spain and tomatoes that probably come from Turkey). I imagine the berries are probably picked in the spring or summer. Rye bread, salmon, pickles – what’s not to love about Finnish food? We wandered about the market hall (including the really expensive Finnish handicrafts upstairs, before making a breakfast selection at a little sandwich stall we had passed on our way in. We each got a sandwich – Dan’s was roast beef and pickles on a light wholemeal rye. I had ham, cheese and salad on dark rye. There was a more interesting looking sandwich with egg and pickles but I really wanted the rye bread. We also procured what is best described as a cheese Danish in a bun. The filling, which tasted like a ligonberry cheesecake, was surrounded by a sweet bun. We also grabbed two Karellian pastries, which are a rye crust filled with rice. They have a savoury flavor and were a bit ho hum on their own. They are meant to be eaten hot with butter or an egg salad and butter mix spread on top, gloriously melting on the pastry. We couldn’t find anywhere to sit inside so decided to brave the cold and eat our breakfast picnic style on the wooden benches by the river (and rugged up with scarves and jacket). (Heaven 90210 – Urge Overkill – the return of the soundtrack to my travels – not one of their better known tunes but this evokes memories of my 20s, not least of all because of the pop cultural reference to a certain TV program. It’s the postcode not the show this refers to though.) Breakfast consumed, we decided to walk along the river’s edge and take in the harbor. On my last journey to Helsinki, in February 2009, the harbor was frozen over but the sea is still liquid at the moment and there is very little snow on the ground anywhere in Helsinki. We headed through some of the less traversed cobblestoned streets between rows of coloured apartment buildings at least a couple of centuries old. I have a billion and one shots of these streets from across northern Europe but I can never help myself taking several hundred more. These towns truly are beautiful and despite the harsh winter, the colder months, especially when there is snow, only seems to make them more beautiful and other worldly. Or maybe it’s just because I live in a place where suburban project built homes or prefab apartments designed by builders are not just the norm but the preference of many, where we borrow indiscriminately from all cultures but our own when we build our homes. We stopped along the way to visit a supermarket. One of the activities I highly recommend in any country you visit. Perhaps it’s my long history of working in supermarkets but I found the different products and the emphasis on them in the shelf layout, fascinating. For example every supermarket in Australia has at least half a row of coke, a whole aisle of chips, a thousand different types of rice and pasta, a huge fruit and vegetable selection, including a large selection of Asian greens, and of course vegemite and Tim tams. In Finland there is a large fish section, heaps of yoghurt and lots of things that condiments that come with dill and mustard, as well as, curiously, curry flavoured mayo. Dan was feeling a bit puckish so he grabbed some cupcakes that he though looked a lot like Madeira cake. It turned out they were actually lemon cakes. The lottery of packaging in a language you don’t understand. Dan also picked up the electronic catalogue at the store but quickly discarded it after he was less than pleased with the prices. Finland (or anywhere in Northern Europe) – not really a bargain destination. One of the things that is most impressive about this part of the world is that there largely doesn’t appear to be the same level of poverty evident here that you see in many other economies, including our own. There also seems to be a much flatter society – you don’t see a lot of cash being flashed about in the same way as some of their neighbours. Everything is well planned, designed and structured and the less than four hours of daylight aside, Finns seem to be quite balanced, content and the society is incredibly inclusive. From the supermarket, we wandered back to the harbour to look at the boats and ferries (and to find me a coffee, which by this stage I was desperately needing. Just like every other harbourfront in the world, old dockyard buildings here have been renovated and now house designer boutiques, upscale eateries and hipster coffee joints. You always know you are in a hipster coffee joint when they tell you they have at least two or three different roasts. My local, which makes coffee far good enough for hipster status and actually sells a range of different beans, avoids that tag because when I ask for a coffee, I get one without the 15 questions I can’t handle when I really need a coffee. The coffee was OK but not exceptional but was what I really needed to warm me up and kickstart my brain. As we wandered further along the waterfront, we came across hot dog stands and stalls selling all manner of fur hats, largely worn in movies featuring stereotypical Russians. Although I imagine they would be exceptionally warm. Where there is a bit of cash is on the Esplanade, the boulevard peppered with local designers (including at least a couple of outlets for Finland’s most famous export (apart from Atlantic salmon), marimekko. There are also plenty of stores selling Alvar Aalto vases and bowls. But amongst the overexposed, there are some gems from local designers – including an exceptionally well proportioned laminated hexagonal stool/table at Helsinki’s top design outlet Artek. Helsinki also has its very own, revered, department store – Stockman’s where you can find everything from talking Heads records to designer lights with three, or in some cases four, zeroes. We wandered through a few floors – most notably the toys where we found Architecture Lego at affordable prices (even in Euros in Finland) and the boots section where I didn’t find anything I liked that fit me. In fact over the course of the next few hours, a very patient Dan followed me into perhaps every ladies shoe store in Helsinki (and there are lots of them) to no avail. I suspect it was largely because he got to sit down in a warm store. While my Aldi bought snow boots ($39.95) are holding up beautifully, I was hoping to buy a new pair of stylish fleece lined winter boots for Berlin and Paris (and to take home of course). (Burnin’ streets – Joe Strummer – I was reminded a couple of weeks ago of the passing of this great legend of punk, ska and political commentary – the Julien Temple biography of Strummer The Future is Unwritten was on the telly . 22 December marks 11 years since he died.) We took a bit of a break from the boot shopping to sit down in a coffee shop. Like most of northern Europe, coffee shops are a bit of a feature throughout Finland, offering traditional filter coffee, nontraditional lattes and cappuccinos and all manner of sweet treats. We ordered – coffee for me and hot Chocolate for Dan – waited for our drinks and grabbed a table. The great thing about Finland is that pretty much everywhere you go there is a water siphon and glasses. You’ve got to imagine that Finland has some pretty well designed and maintained plumbing, and with all that fresh pure snow melting each spring, half the bottled water in Europe probably originates from here anyway. From here we headed toward the train station to validate the Eurail pass ahead of our 21:52 departure on the overnight train to Santa land, It was starting to get really cold and had been dark for some hours already (sunrise is about 10am and the sun is setting by 2:30pm and it’s completely dark by 4pm) so we decided to spend a bit of time wandering around the various levels of Stockmans – there are about 8 floors or something – so we could keep warm., We wandered to a few dinner destinations suggested by Lonely Planet but they all looked fairly expensive. And busy. We decided to head back to the pasta Express restaurant we had spotted across the road from the Iguana (Mexican) place last night. Wandering about town it became clear that Iguana was actually a chain. Pasta express was a good choice. It’s about 9.90 euros (depending on the pasta you choose) but the best part is that the chef cooks it in front of you. You get a card when you enter and take that to the counter. You tell the chef what sort of pasta you want and he cooks the sauce in a wok in front of you and cooks a freshly open serve of whichever pasta you choose. We both had penne – I went for Bolognese (just because it isn’t something you usually cook this way, and Dan went for Carbonara. Our chef was a burly Finn who chatted to us about how he loved the cold and went camping with friends in winter. He was fun to talk to and the meal was great. It came with bread and you could order drinks and side salads if you wanted. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to grab our backpacks and headed for the train station. (The Golden Age of Nicotine – Custard – that glorious age in the mid nineties when the novelty song was everywhere (especially in Australia) but it was at least a bit clever. Custard reminds me of Livid. Now that was a festival!)

We arrived in Helsinki at about 6am local time but it was still pitch black, In fact the sun wouldn’t rise for at least another three hours. After winding our way through the transfer lounge, we arrived at the immigration counter (there were only about four aisles by the way. The border officer was asking everyone where they were going so Dan was asking me how to pronounce Rovaniemi. He didn’t really need to – the border officer asked me and after I rattled off all of the places, I told him Dan wouldn’t remember them all. He laughed and made sure we knew that Rovaniemi was bloody cold. That was the first time I had made a Finni8sh person or a border guard laugh. And I have been here before. After collecting our bags, we found the Finnair Bus into town. I had thought the driver was agreeing to drop us art our hotel but it turns out he was just circling it on the map he gave us. When we got into town, there we were in railway square in the icy cold, in the dark, trying to work out which direction our hotel was in. Eventually we found it – a lot more tired looking than in the brochure. Obviously built in the 80s with a huge open atrium with hotel room doors facing inward and gold trim everywhere, it also had all the hallmarks of Russian influence, even just in the reddish colour of the wood. The room was comfortable enough, with a heated bathroom floor and bidet. The well stocked bar even had a couple of bottles of Australian Pinot Grigio.

We had booked a two night stay in the hotel so we could sleep but decided to go out for a walk instead. While a bit of a waste, it was still good to dump our things and have a shower and know that if we needed to crash, the option was there.  We wandered into town in search of food. We came across a donut shop in a shopping mall that made (George Clooney) Coffee and toasties – we chose a chicken and bacon toasties and a breakfast toastie (Ham cheese and egg).  That devoured, we wandered through the town a little more and went in search of the rock church, which I had missed seeing on my last visit to Finland. We knew we were almost there when we saw the tacky souvenir shop on the left and the group of (moistly Asian) tourists up ahead.

The Lutheran church, carved into solid rock on a hillside (one of the few in central Helsinki) by two brothers in the 1960s is spectacular. A round church, which in my humble opinion, like a theatre, is how a house of worship should be designed, not least of all because it evokes the equality and inclusiveness that religion is supposed to embody. The most magnificent part is when you look up. The wooden ceiling of spiral pieces of wood, so thin they look like matchsticks from the pews, is a beautiful contrast to the rough stone. Light is provided by windows that circle the building just underneath the dome. A simple construction that enhances the materials in the design is made all the more spectacular by the carved organ in the corner. The only disappointment was the cushion covered pews that were no doubt designed to be bare wood.

From here we headed down the hill and then along the esplanade, a pretty tree lined street flanked by Helsinki’s designer stores – from fashion to homewares and not a major runway name in sight. We were starting to fade now so left investigating the stores for a return trip. We headed toward Finland’s other famous Lutheran church – the whitewashed, green domed one built at the turn of the century and flanked by a statue of Alexander IV. They were also setting up little huts which you imagine will be Christmas market stalls when they open. From there, feeling a bit weary, we headed back to the hotel to chill for a while before heading back out.

That is when we made the classic rookie traveler mistake. When I laid my head on the pillow to just relax for an hour or so, it was 11:30am. When Dan woke me it was 8pm. Although I felt like I could still sleep for another 12 hours, we thought better of that idea and headed out to find some dinner. We found a little Mexican come pizza place on our stroll and thought that looked like a suitable (reasonably cheap) place for a meal. We ordered an entrée platter and two pizzas which was more than enough food. The entrée platter came with chicken wings, cheese stuffed jalapenos, cheese sticks, olives feta, carrot and cucumber sticks and chips with sour cream and sweet chili. The pizzas were the most interesting part – we had pepperoni and ham and pineapple pizzas but they come with blue cheese rather than mozzarella which gave them a unique but quite delectable taste. We washed it down with the local beer Lapin Kulta (a yeasty lager) for Dan and a strongbow for me. After that we headed back to the hotel about 1o:30 or so and tried to make ourselves tired enough to go back to sleep. It worked for five hours or so but given we have to check out by 11am and be out an about until 9:45pm when we get on the train for Rovaniemi, we will be forced to adjust.