Lapland & the Arctic
The land of deep winter and never-ending nights that truly captivated me on my first visit -- even though it ended in me breaking my leg! I keep going back, and every time I discover something entire unique and equally astounding.
Dashing Through the Snow…On a Saddled Finnish Horse
What comes to mind when you think of animals in Lapland? Reindeer? Huskies? Polar bears (and no, they don’t actually live there)? One animal I certainly wouldn’t have thought of before I went to Finnish Lapland was the horse. Like the cows that didn’t last very long in Honningsvåg, I thought horses
Learning How to Cook Lappish Delicacies
By no stretch of the imagination am I a cook. I have gotten a bit better about branching out from the basics and trying to add a bit of creativity into my cooking, but I always have that nagging feeling of “what if I try to feed something awful to the person I’m cooking for?” […]
Riverfront Saunas and Northern Lights at Hotel Kultahovi
When I arrived at the Tradition Hotel Kultahovi in Inari, I had just crossed the border from Norway, where I had spent ten days traveling up the northern coast. The differences between the countries were noticeable as soon as I arrived in Inari. Of course, there was the obvious — the language, the l
The Inari Sami and Their Reindeer
The Sami and their reindeer are inseparable. For thousands of years, the northernmost indigenous group of Europe have relied on these animals not just for their livelihoods, but for transport, food, and clothing as well. The fact that the Sami and their reindeer are so intertwined is obvious from th
Tales of Growing Up on Magerøya
As I mentioned in my post about Nordkapp yesterday, I was lucky enough to have one of the happiest and most entertaining tour guides of my entire trip on the bus trip there and back. Renald, who introduced himself to me as “Renald, like Ronald Reagan…how in the world did my parents come up with [&he
North Cape: On Top of Europe…Sort Of
Much is made of the legendary capes that so many explorers had to navigate in the southern hemisphere in their search for new, unexplored lands. Many people would be able to tell you where Cape Horn is, but I’m guessing that less would be able to tell you where Nordkapp (North Cape) — the northernmo
Cruising the Norwegian Coast with Hurtigruten
It may not come as a surprise to many of you that I’d never been on a cruise ship before my trip to Norway. As someone who gets seasick easily, the thought of being on a boat for days on end has never appealed to me; plus, I like active vacations where I see more […]
Snowshoeing in Search of the Northern Lights
The night didn’t look promising. In fact, it looked about as unpromising as two nights before, when I’d called to reschedule my evening snowshoeing trip after arriving in Tromsø in blizzard conditions. Tromsø Villmarkssenter had been very understanding, agreeing that snowshoeing in gale force winds
Snowmobiling into a Whiteout in the Lyngen Alps
A perfect morning dawned over Camp Tamok as I slowly wrestled out of my sleeping bag in the Sami lavvu I’d spent the night in. As we ate breakfast in a warm cabin, huskies from the nearby kennel barked at each other and got themselves excited for another day of sprinting through the Lyngen Alps. [&h
What’s It Like Sleeping in a Tent When It’s -20C?
“Are you sure you want to sleep in the Sami tent tonight? You’re the only one in there and there’s plenty of space in the cabins if you want one,” said Reetta, the Lyngsfjord guide that was taking care of us overnight. Having already been told by some of the people staying in cabins that […]