Finland is the northernmost region… month of february. We fly from Istanbul to Helsinki with Turkish Airlines.. After a short wait in Helsinki, we fly with Finnair from Helsinki to Ivalo.
Ivalo airport is quite small.. On the descent, the thing that caught our attention the most was the colored ice floes and the sign with the inscription IVALO AIRPORT.. There are many wooden decorations and stuffed animals at the entrance of Ivalo airport.
This region, called Lapland, consists of 187,000 lakes and 97,000 islets connected to Finland.. All lakes and rivers are frozen, white snow everywhere. It is not clear which is the land and which is the river.. Here the snow is like dust, it’s like everything is covered with white powder. It is quite difficult to compress the solid and make a snowball.. Even the sound of snow while walking is another beautiful one.
We are going from Ivalo airport to a town called SAARISELKA. Although the ground was covered with ice and snow, our vehicle did not go slow at all.. It is forbidden to wear chains here, they use snow tires.
Saariselka has a population of only 300 people. However, it is 17,000 square kilometers in area and is managed by a single municipality.. It is the largest municipality in Europe.. Half the size of Brussels and only 300 people. First night we stayed at Holiday Club in Saariselka. A charming single-storey mountain hotel. If you are planning a Saariselka trip, you can choose hotels such as the Holiday Club Saariselkä and the Saariselkä Inn Log Cabins.
After eating our meal (Reindeer) then we went for a walk around. It was 20:00 in the evening and the air temperature was -12 degrees.
It is a wonderful sight especially when the sun goes down.. The whiteness first turns yellow, then turns pink and red. And then it gets darker.
The same evening, we toured the interior of a very famous design store chain in Finland called Marimecco.. Various objects and household items made of wood, especially wood (tubers), items made from reindeer antlers and reindeer skin, various accessories knitted from bushes such as wicker, rag dolls are quite interesting.. Handicraft is very valuable here, prices are quite high.
A blue aura appeared around the moon on the way back to the hotel and it was quite interesting.. We waited for the northern lights (Aurora Borrealis) but didn’t see it. Candle holders made of ice molds lined the road.. They also cut down tree stumps along the way and made Santa’s head on the ground, it was so cute. They use wood and wood very well here.