Share
Saunas, Northern Lights, and Plenty of Winter Adventure in Finnish Lapland
Sleighs. Reindeer. Crystallized pines and an endless blanket of powdery snow. In Finland's far north, you’ll find the classic cues of winter at every turn. But there’s more beneath the frozen surface.
By
Peter Jon Lindberg
PAYTYRRR, WAKE UP!!! No time for pants—let’s go!!!
Janne’s mittened fist came thumping on my door like John Bonham on a floor tom,
boomp boomp boomp boomp boomp. How long had I been asleep? What time was it? Where
were my pants, anyway?
Oh right: I’d left them in the mudroom before bed, along with my boots and five layers of Lycra and wet wool. After a rowdy welcome dinner of fish soup and grilled reindeer steak, Janne Honkanen, my host, had coaxed me out for a midnight hike across fields of moonlit snow, followed by a soak in the hot tub, where he regaled me with tales of hunting trophies and youthful indiscretions. There had been many of both. Eventually I begged off to bed, overcome by hot bubbles and jet lag — but Janne, tireless, pressed on. Last I saw him he was headed for the forest sauna, bottle of beer tucked into his sealskin parka. Now he was at my bedroom door, giddily shouting me awake.