JPFreek - Index

JPFreek - Spring 2008 - Index

constantly watched out for reindeer and elk crossing the roads. Each year, a number
of people die in fatal accidents with elk, crashing their car against a 500kg. roadcrossing
animal that, standing high on its feet, has the nasty reaction of crashing
through your windshield with its antlers.
The city of Rovaniemi was cozy and warm upon arrival. We booked our stay in a
hotel; not a real luxury with the kids and the cold. Every morning and evening, a vast
amount of work needed to be done in dressing and undressing them. The youngest
one, 1-½ years old, always ended up falling on the ground once he was fully dressed
and packed, just like a little Michelin-man. The comfort of the hotel and friendliness
of the staff was amazing!
Rovaniemi is a small city, consisting of only 60.000 inhabitants, and it’s the last city
of any importance before entering the northern vast open spaces of Lapland. The
city nearly lies on the Arctic Circle and is home to the Santa Center, which is the
permanent residence of Santa Claus. It is also the hometown of Lordi, the cult hard
rock band who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006. You can even dine on
monstrous dishes in the Lordi Rocktaurant.
In all, Rovaniemi is a place where you can easily stay for a long time, given its
attractive tourist facilities. It’s also a great starting point for journeys into the open
spaces of Lapland. We only stayed in Rovaniemi for a few days, visiting most of the
major points to see (such as the great Arktikum museum), either through the snow
with the Jeep, or on foot using the city sidewalks, which were covered with layers of
gravel to avoid slipping.
Rovaniemi, the “official” crossing of the Arctic Circle, was also the destination we
had set as a goal, and it was the starting point for our journey back south. We
continued our traveling, driving southeast towards the Russian border, in the direction
of Kajaani. On the long and desolate route between Kajaani and Rovaniemi, which is
about 360km. at low speed over ice covered roads, we stopped to visit the Ranua
Zoo.
The Ranua Zoo Wildlife Center is a most attractive initiative, where live animals from
the northern regions around the world are kept in big, open spaces and walking
around freely. Needless to say, with all the snow, this offered a few amazing scenes,
with polar bears in frozen waters, wolves and lynxes running around hunting through
the snow, and elk and reindeer very near.
Arctic Circle destinations.
The official Arctic Circle line in the sky, Santa’s home in the back.