The Magic Of Lapland

As I’m sitting here in my kitchen, writing this blog and eating my breakfast, I just can’t stop thinking about the North. It’s been nearly a week since we went there and I miss it. But what is it i miss about it? What is/are the things that give the north, Lapland, that thing we call magic and wonders.

Of course there is a lot to see. Your mind and eyes will rest on the beautiful landscapes and sometimes the endless snowy deserts. At night you have a 90% chance to see aurora borealis (the northers lights), but if you hunt for them, you get the best pictures. There are a lot of activities to choose from, you can go snowboarding or skiing, have a snowshoe adventure or see some huskies and ride with them. This all sounds nice and exciting and I’d love to do this again, but would I want to do all of it by myself?

This the part were I tell you what the magic is to me. It’s the people around me. Of course part of the magic is feeling the serenity and fresh air around you while looking at the the aurora borealis and landscapes, but for me, most of it comes with sharing the feeling with others and seeing others have it too. Oh, how it made me smile looking at the girl on the bus sitting behind me, gazing at the sky, and when i looked at the sky, she started asking questions and wanted to know more.

This trip wasn’t just any kind of tourist trip. You have the chance to party, let it go and sleep 3h a night, there’s nothing wrong with that if you’re up to it, but most of us were so tired at the end of the day from travelling, walking, and just gazing at the sights that it didn’t even pass our thoughts to start partying. We just wanted to be ready for the next day to see something new.

To me, the best day was definitely the first day, when we left to Norway. This trip takes the whole day and for us it took 15h. You can actually see how the landscape starts to change and becomes richer with mountains and sea air. Our destination was Pykeija, in Norwegian Bugøynes. Bugøynes itself isn’t very big. There only lives about 300 residents and you can walk it through in 5 minutes, but it’s a place you must see. It’s beautiful in it’s own way.

At Bugøynes we had the pleasure of meeting Elsa, the owner of a sauna and cafe down at the villages beach. Elsa told us a lot about the history of Bugøynes and after that we tried the sauna and swimming in the arctic ocean. The ocean water, with lots of minerals and salts, was healthy for your skin and almost a few hours after swimming, even i started to feel it’s effects, making my skin more soft and healthier.

The water wasn’t even that cold, as the the gulf stream brought warm waters, so the temperature was about +6 degrees Celsius, the same as in San Francisco bay.

Visiting North is one of the best things you can do in Finland, even most of the Fins love that place, so this is something people have to do at least once in a life time. You can do it by yourself, but I can guarantee you that you’ll get more out of it by taking that BFF or that special someone, that soulmate with you.

“Why do keep calling it “The North” and not Lapland?”

I love huskies and snowboarding

I’m really bummed out that I probably can’t make it to back this winter, but i think I’ll go North in the summer, it’s just as worthwhile then.

Yours truly

Timo Varakas/International Club