Travel
Let’s inspire not impress each other
Tromsø #1. All the way up.
Saturday. We woke up early, had some breakfast with Piita, scrubbed our car window, took in some groceries and gas, and headed north-west. We had a long drive ahead of us, through beautiful unspoiled land, first on the Finnish side, and then in Norway. Still on the Finnish side, we stopped over in a roadside ...
The Arktikum and the Aurea Borealis
The next morning I went up early enough to walk my way to the Arktikum Museum and enjoy some time looking at the great exhibitions there (it won a prize for the best museum in Europe in 1994). I learned about the Sami people of Lapland, their clothing and how important it is for them ...
Visiting Santa Claus on the Polar Circle
The next day I decided to revive the tourist in me that had almost died, and went to Santa's village. One of our considerations in the bar the other night had been about the answer to the question why Santa lives in Finland. Since my companions studied law, I suggested there must be something like ...
Finally: Lapland
The next day I said goodbye to Tuomo and tried to hitchhike to Rovaniemi. This turned out to be very difficult. I remember walking along a highway, and decided I had had enough, so I got back to Oulu, where I waited in a "cafe de Provence" for my train to Rovaniemi, writing, of course. ...
Oulu. With John Lennon and Che Guevara.
Monday morning I left, and my friends dropped me off at a bus stop on the road to Ylkaviesa, a town 28 kilometers away, where I waited with my cardboard sign and my thumb. After a while, I decided to walk and began to sing, inspired by the many car that passed by, ignoring my ...
In the Middle of Somewhere
So I had been quite incredibly lucky: having been picked up by two such friendly people and invited to stay with them for a while. I remember I took my first real sauna in Finland the first night, and we talked at the fireplace, sitting between elk antlers and an old guitar. Rosanna is a ...
Heading North…
The next day I felt my time had come to finally go to Lapland. So I said goodbye to Anna-Sofia and went to the train station. The personnel told me student rebate was not available for foreign students, which was a good excuse for me to go hitchhiking. It was raining outside and I should ...
Helsinki #8. Writing at the kitchen table.
The title of this post contains pretty much all there is to say about this day. It was rainy outside so I decided not to leave to Lapland yet. Anna-Sofia left me with all conveniences, which I really appreciated. Fortunately I was able to express my gratitude by going to the supermarket, where I found ...