What the hell?

Summary of Trip

Let's see. To sum the road trip up, we drove to the middle of the country. Slept. Drove a further north, stopping along the way to visit relatives and friends. Narrowly missed the annual Wife Carrying Race. (I kid you not.) Slept in a place called Hyrensalmi (hear-and-sol-mee) for a while. (Cooky uncle with the weird children. More on them later. Tero was only the beginning.) Checked out the swamp soccer thing. FUN!

Actually we slept in lots of places, but I only pointed out Hyrensalmi because I like how the name rolls off my tongue. Ok, so what if it's one of the few city names I can pronouce, consider yourself educated about the geography of Northern Finland and be grateful:)

Got back in the car, and drove past the Artic Circle. Took awhile seeing the sites. (Think trees. LOTS of trees. And lakes.) Stopped at some amazing cottages, hiked, and tried to stay awake until it was dark. (It never got dark. just darker up there. No stars. Dark Blue. I have some really nifty pictures.)

According to Tarja's uncle, we did not see the 'real' Lappland.
Ask the Tourism Board, the souvenir shops and any travel guide and they will disagree.

And no, I did not buy a t-shirt that read, "I love Lappland."
(Just one that reads, "Funk Me.")

Friend: So, Irene, what did you do in Finland?
Irene: Shop. Visit Stores. Spend money I don't have. You know, the norm.

Actually, the shirt was a gift from one of Pekka's clients. But there will be no t-shirt wearing on Irene's part. Or fanny packs. Ugh.

Regardless of who is correct, it was cool. And I saw plenty of Reindeer. Which tastes surprisingly yummy. A bit on the salty side when smoked, but there's almost no fat in it. No marble affect. Weird. Or I've been too poor to buy meat that has less fat. You decide.

posted by irene @ 7/24/2002 06:38:00 AM