Travel to Helsinki

 

 There were lots of Northern Lights so I stayed up until midnight trying to take some photos. The lights are very active and change quickly. It has to do with solar flares sending protons and electrons (from hydrogen atoms ) which interact with the earth's magnetic field.The green comes from ionized oxygen atoms and the pink comes from nitrogen atoms that are ionized by the electrons.  So it is dependent on incoming electrons.

We needed to have our suitcases outside by 0415, and the breakfast was available then. Our bus for the Roveniemi airport left at 0510. I wanted to fill my water bottle after security and the only bottle filler was in the men's room. I needed an escort to get water (the one in women's was broken) !

I have arrived at my hotel for the night, but I need to wait until 2:00. Good chance for a blog update. 

Deb in frozen lake

 

Cross-country skiing and the third sauna

 

 After a long, wonderful night watching the Northern Lights, we slept in a bit (we were up 0200-0330). We planned some easy cross-country skiing with some other people at 1100. The woods are gorgeous (pine and birch forest), but I'm way out of practice so we were out an hour and traversed 2.2 miles. 

 

We reserved the complex's sauna for 2:00 and I resolved the use the snow instead of a cold shower, but the snow was crunchy so I laid on one side then flipped over to the other. So I have done the cold side of the sauna in the sea, a lake, and the snow.  I win.

Tonight is an active night for the Northern Lights if the clouds depart. Then we leave very early for the Helsinki airport.

 

 

The Lights have arrived!

 Before the festivities of the evening, we went to a reindeer farm, rode in a reindeer sleigh and had a simple Northern Finnish lunch.

 

In the late afternoon, the tour guide and I went to a nearby sauna on the lake near us. The photo is of her. I took two dips in the frozen lake with intermittent warm-ups in the sauna.

 

At the end of dinner, one of our guys said, "It's amazing out here!" and we all rushed outside.  It was an amazing show from 9:00 to 10:30. My alarm is set for 0200 when it's supposed to happen again.

 

Snowmobiling

 

After breakfast, a small group of us went snowmobile. I drove and Pat sat behind me. It was very icy, so we took it fairly slow. We went through some low forest and swamp areas. On the way back, I cut around some water (as did everyone else) and tipped over the snowmobile. We were ok,  but those things are heavy, and the rest of the group had to help us right it.

 

 

We progressed without further incidents to the starting point.

 

 

After a shower,  our professor talked about the science of auroras-sunspots, electrons, magnetic fields and quantum physics. Then the resident photographer told how to effectively photograph the Northern Lights. 

After supper, we're going snowshoeing in the dark. It's quite cloudy so probably no viewing tonight. 

 

Wednesday/Thursday update

 Wednesday we took the ferry to Tallin, Estonia for a tour, and ate supper on the way back on the ferry.

 Thursday morning we flew to Rovaneimi, which is the airport in Lapland. We went to the Arktikum Museum that is about Northern Finnish culture. I passed on buying a reindeer pelt. We drove to our Northern Lights Village in Pyah. Here's a view from inside (the windows face the north):

 

 

So, there were diffuse Northern Lights overnight.

That's me and Pat around midnight.
 

 

Arrival in Finland

 I finally arrived at 1530. By the time I got to hotel it was 1630, but the hotel staff assured me that i should still go to the sauna. I quickly located my swimsuit and ordered an Uber. So I indeed had the sauna experience which included a plunge in the ice-covered Baltic Sea.