Side Trips: The Arctic Circle

Sunset, about 3:30 PM, Sinettä, Lapland, Finland, latitude N 66° 38' 53", longitude E 25 27' 47".

Is the Arctic Circle cold in late-January/early February? Surprisingly, the answer for us was "it depends." The lowest low temperature for the three days we were in Rovaniemi was -10°c (about 12° F) but usually around 0°c (32° F) during the 7 or so hours of daylight. Basically, in the ranges that are normal for a winter in Tahoe, and warmer at times than Paris in the month prior to our trip.

Not at all as depicted in the 1913 silent film Les Drames du Pôle.

Which meant it was warm enough to walk around comfortably outside, but also warm enough to cloud up and snow--which meant we had no chance to see the Aurora Borealis, which is what motivated the trip in the first place. If you've ever got skunked on a fishing trip or surf vacation ("you should have been here yesterday!") you know the feeling.

The good news was that rural Lapland is beautiful in winter, and the place where we stayed was warm and comfortable, and served better than decent meals. The balmy snow days gave us an opportunity to try snowshoeing for the first time, and to play around with walking sleds and inner tubes on the frozen lake. Essentially though, winter tourism in Lapland is all about the northern lights. Most of the daytime activities are designed to keep your mind innocuously occupied by something other than the cold. In other words, it's pretty cheesy, but fun. We sent postcards from Santa's Village, fed some reindeer and toured the rooms at the ice hotel. We drank cold liqueur from shot glasses made of ice, which we then smashed against the wall (also made of ice).

 

 

Santa's Village and ice art helps pass the time until the Aurora does or does not appear.

We also tried sauna for the first time, which was like an instant trip to Florida--"a supposedly fun thing I'll never do again," as the book title goes (reading David Foster Wallace is another). Since sauna is the Finnish national pastime, I probably over-thought the etiquette in advance, but since there was only one sauna for 39 igloos, it was unisex with bathing suits. Basically the rules are "sit down, shut up, and sweat." After a few minutes of sweating in silence with about four other nearly nude strangers, I was through. Before I showered and got dressed, though, I couldn't resist the chance to walk out of the locker room and into the night with nothing but swim trunks on. I stood near the front door for a few minutes waiting for the cold to drive me back inside. But the sauna had heated my skin so thoroughly that, ultimately, it was a mad thirst for a Finnish cider that got me back inside. By the time I stepped out again, clothed but hatless and feeling really cavalier with my parka draped over my arms, it had begun snowing again. If only I had stayed in the the sauna a few more minutes, I could have had true arctic extremes. Maybe I'll try sauna again the next time I make another attempt to see the Aurora--this time later in spring and further north.