The Erasmus Experience 122 unforgettable days in Finland

Ice and Fire at the top of Europe

Matze and I on a Reindeer Sled

The last few days have been absolutely fantastic! Lapland really is incredible, we´ve done so much in such a short time. The main highlights so far have been the Reindeer Farm, the Ice Lake swimming, and the trip to the Arctic Ocean, all of which were absolutely brilliant and i´d reccomend to anyone to try! Every evening here at Vasatokka we have the Sauna, and theres a little hole in the icy lake where you can take a dip in between sauna sessions. The feeling you get when you plunge into the water is indescribable, it´s so energising and refreshing, when you come back out into the air it´s like being born again. We have this every night of the week, lucky us!

The world´s most northerly Alko shop

Next thing is the Reindeer Farm at Salojarvi, where a Sami family have a sort of open farm, where you get to feed the reindeer, take a trip on a sledge, hear some Sami "Yoik" which is their traditional troat-singing, and try some of the local food etc. The people running the farm were friendly, entertaining and well informed, and the mother of the family really knows how to get a crowd singing!

I´m not in this picture but they were at the beach today as well, I assume they were as cold as I was!

Today we were on a bus for a couple of hours up to the Arctic Ocean, at Bugøynes, a little over the border in Norway. On the way we stopped in Nuorgam, site of the northernmost Finnish village, and the most northerly Alko shop in the World Swimming in the Arctic ocean was surprisingly not as cold as in the ice lake here in Inari, but everyone´s feet froze after spending a few minutes on the icy beach - the vodka shots given to us after our dive were much appreciated but did little to warm us up! It´s kind of a once in a lifetime experience, but i´m very glad i´ve had the chance. We didnt see much of Norway but I liked what I saw!

Tomorrow... Survival course!