It's A Finnish Adventure!

Back in December I blew my holiday budget (possibly for the next decade!) on a trip to Finland!
2 days in Helsinki, followed by 4 days in Lapland.

Helsinki - Happy Independence Day!
To help prepare me for  my arctic adventure to come I had 2 relaxing days in Finland's capital to see the sights and acclimatise to the constant cold! Helsinki wasn't bad temperature wise, only around 1°C, but even so walking around all day was best avoided unless wrapped up well.
The city itself was nice, but I don't think it will make my list a favourite cities anytime soon. But still I had my first experience of a wood fired sauna, and Elk was on the menu!
I had also timed the trip unexpectedly with the Finnish 100 years of independence celebrations, which involved much singing by the harbour, lots of flags and a pyrotechnic display that almost took out a small child!

Lapland - Levi

After 2 days in the city it was time to head north to one of Finland's major ski resorts! Unlike the alpine resorts I usually frequent this one is open from October through to May due to the extended snow season. Since my flight got me into the resort during the brief hours of sunlight it seemed rude not to hire some ski's and hit the piste's! What followed was a magical 2 hours, even if by the time I returned to my hotel and took a well deserved spa not only had I turned into a popsicle, but my phone had also decided it was too cold to function properly! (-20°C ish)

Lapland - Jeris

After 3 days by myself I met up with a group of lovely people to begin our Finnish Arctic Adventure. 3/4 days of staying in a gingerbread cabin in the national park, riding snowmobiles, playing with huskies and drinking alcoholic hot chocolate in a tee-pee. We even got to see Santa, all be it briefly as he rode past on his sledge as we headed off snow shoeing in the forest at night. 

We sadly didn't see any northern lights as it snowed the entire time we were there, with temperatures ranging from a brisk -30 to a balmy -3°C!

Whilst all of the above photos were mine, due to the somewhat extreme conditions I didn't take as many as I perhaps normally would, but below are some of the awesome photos taken by my fellow travellers!