And here I am in Rovaniemi

Last report was at the beginning of my visit to Oulu. And now I'm in Rovaniemi, a few minutes below the Arctic Circle. And the length of the days show it. Long Fellows. Seems I heard a joke with that punch line before. Oh Well. While I'm in a joking mood, I'll get it over with. Visiting Oulu is similar to visiting Toledo. I spent a week there one day. It has a population of about 125,000, and I counted 17 people. Traffic was so lite I couldn't have been hit by a car if I'd tried. Fortunate you, I'm done with the jokes(?), and none too soon, right?

I forgot one really nice thing I found in Kuopio, Clas Ohlson. It's a store that combines nearly all the good features of K-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, Sears and Wal-Mart. Although I didn't find any lumber, I found everything else.

Oulu isn't quite as quiet as I made it out to be. There really wasn't much traffic. I took photos of some of the streets to prove it to myself later on. It seems everyone was congregating at the harbor/marketplace, and everything else was closed. Just a lot of milling around, and sitting in cafes drinking beer and people watching. I did saunter (thanks, PB, MvbF) around the park for a good hour or more. A very nice park it was, too. Lots of paths, streams, white bridges, a fish ladder that looks like a real stream for most of its course, fountains spouting out of the lake. Seems croquet is a popular pastime here. They were playing it in both Oulu and here in Rovaniemi in the parks. Had a really nice outdoor dinner in a restaurant in the marketplace. Really something to be sitting in bright sunlite, sun well above the horizon, and realize its after 9:00 PM.

Went back to the hotel, thinking I'd try the sauna. I did in Savonlinna, but wasn't particularly impressed. Figured it was worth another try. But the sauna was only open from 8:00 to 9:00 PM for men. My room, however, had it's own steam bath, so I soaked in that for a while. I don't think I'll rush to install either when I get home.

On Saturday, I thought it might be a good idea to go out to the botanical gardens, since everything else, literally, was closed. I asked the hotel clerk how to catch a bus, and she said they weren't running because of the holiday (Midsummer Festival, remember?). She said it would be a nice bike ride, 6KM, but that all the bike rental places were closed as well. So I decided that another hike was in order. The map laid out the way on walking trails pretty well, and I didn't get too lost. The gardens were nice, but the most interesting and exotic plants were in the huge hothouses which were..... You guessed it, closed for the holiday. Nice walk anyway.

After arriving here and checking it, I strolled the 500 or so metres to downtown to look around. Decided on some home cooking for meals today, so I had an ice cream cone, then a Subway sandwich for lunch, and then McD's for supper. McD's even has a drive thru here. But still no Starbucks.

I did go to the Arktikum, the local museum. And a very good one it was. I can usually cover a museum in 2 hours, so I figured I'd rush and do this in the 1.5 hours before it closed. Wrong! An excellent museum, and I'm going to have to go back tomorrow, because there's a lot I missed. You may have guessed from the name that its a museum about the Arctic. Roveniemi being where it is is probably the inspiration for having it here.

Travel pointer, if you're a senior traveling here, make sure they know it. I bought my ticket to Oulu on the train, and the conductor charged me much more than I was told it would be when I asked the day before at the station. He wouldn't budge when I told him, so I paid. When I bought the ticket today for Rovaniemi, she asked if I was a pensioner (the key word for seniors) and I said yes. got me a 50% discount. So I asked her about the other ticket. She took it to a supervisor, came back and gave me 50% back. No forms to fill out or anything. She said the conductor should have asked me If I was a a pensioner. I guess I should feel flattered that he didn't.

I think that's about enough of my ramblings for one nite. So here it goes.

Just as a reminder, all these are posted on the blog, if you ever want to go back to one, and didn't save the e-mail. The blog address is

dick-scandinavia.blogspot.com