Exploring the beauty of Scandinavia

As i mentioned before our first stop was in Reykjavik. We drove about 45 minutes to our hotel. The name of our Hotel is R13 - A Townhouse hotel. Where we were positively surprised. We paid 83€ for one night. But the hotel room was very nice and modern. The huge bed was incredibly comfortable. We even had a kitchenette with everything you need for cooking pots, pans and flatware. And even a small dishwasher. But in the hotel, you have to check yourself in and out, as there is no staff. But this was done without any problems and is a simple procedure. The location of the Hotel was alright not too far from the city center but not in the middle of the center as well. A car is required for this hotel.

A big dream of my friend and me has always been to travel to Iceland and make a road trip. Our trip started on February 23rd. We went from Turku to Helsinki by bus. From there we got a ticket for the train (4,20€)  and then we took the train to the airport in Helsinki.  We flew with Icelandair and it took about 3.5 hours. Even the view from the plane was fascinating. Our flight cost us about 200€ but we already booked the tickets last year. We also rented a car from the company Payless for about 150€. After we landed we got into a shuttle and in less than 5 minutes we were at the pick-up point of the car. It was nothing special only a small kia picanto with just 70 hp. But the car was completely sufficient because you are not allowed to drive faster than 90 km/h. Especially in winter when the roads are covered with snow or even frozen you cannot drive faster anyway. Our first stop was Reykjavik, the 8th most expensive city in the world. For comparison: a normal pack of eggs co...

My first time on a Ice hockey game On 14.02 I was at an Ice Hockey game. I have never been to an Ice Hockey game before, neither have I seen anything like this on TV.  Surprisingly, I liked it very much. It was something completely new and totally different from football or other sports. The game took place at the Gatorade center in Turku at 18.30. The Turku team: TPS played and against Porin Ässät. It was a very exciting game, because both teams are very strong. But in the end it went out 5 to 3 for Porin Ässät. During an Ice Hockey game the audience gets a lot of entertainment, be it Kisscam, Emojicam or handing out of concert/musical tickets. In addition, there was a mascot who shot T-shirts into the audience from time to time. I can only recommend it to everyone to watch an Ice Hockey game, especially to people from Germany, because Ice Hockey is not known in Germany. And the price of 14€ for students (normal price: 18€) is also quite ok.

Husky sledding

Husky farm

After the snowmobile tour we drove to the Husky farm in Levi. There are many different activities you can do on the farm like sledding, hiking with huskies, Husky hugging or just visiting the farm. We choose the sledding which was kinda expensive in my opinion the drive took us approximately 4 minutes and costs 55€, but still was a nice experience and I would recommend everyone to try it out. At the moment about 100 Huskies live on the farm. Unfortunately, we haven't had the Luck to see some babies but we saw some youngsters. On the farm there are not only siberian huskies but also husky - wolf mixtures. One husky was even 88% wolf and 12% husky. Besides Huskies there are also mooses and arctic foxes. A woman gave us cookies to feed the moose with our mouth to receive a moose kiss. Afterwards we hiked into the forest and freed the fireplace from the snow. We lit two bonfires. One in a cottage and the other outside. We had marshmallows and sausages. That was our last night. The nex...

our third day also started quite early and the first stop was snowmobile tour. I had high expectations and thought it would be a bit more action-packed, but we still had a lot of fun. Nevertheless I don't have to do it again. The providers trained us in the safety precautions and equipped us afterwards with shoes, gloves, face mask and helmet. To participate in a snowmobile tour you have to have a valid driver's license and pay 90€ or like most of the people in the tour did: share a snowmobile and only pay half of it. The tour with the snowmobile lasts about one hour and if there are two people the drivers are changed after half an hour. In Finland the snowmobile is classified at the bottom of the traffic rules. Cyclists, passengers and cars always have right of way in relation to the snowmobile. The landscape we drove through was very beautiful. It was partly a little bit in the city and also in the forest. We were divided into 3 groups. Each group had a guide who looked after...

In the night from 6 to 7 February I saw polar lights for the first time. We were very lucky because it was our first night and the only night that was clear enough to see polar lights. It was indescribably beautiful and extraordinary. In the morning at half past nine we went to the ski resort to do some skiing or snowboarding. For me personally it was the first time that I tried snowboarding, I had only ever skied before. I must admit that skiing is much easier than snowboarding. Maybe it is because me and my friend tried to teach us ourselves... The weather was not so great for skiing. It was very windy, cold and foggy. Nevertheless we made the best out of it. In between when it got really bad we fled into the warmth and drank hot chocolate and ate something. The place where we went skiing is called Ylläs and was about half an hour away from our cottage. To rent ski equipment costs about 30€ and the ski pass to use the lifts also costs about 30€. However, we got a 20% discount from st...

Our second stop on the sixth of February was at Santa Claus Village, unfortunately it is not Christmas anymore but it is still nice to see. The special thing about this place is the Artic Circle cutting right through Santa Claus Village. A white line denoting the Arctic Circle (at its position in 1865) is painted across the park. Visitors officially enter the Arctic area when they cross the line. The line is a very popular photo spot for visitors. You can visit big souvenir shops and restaurants, Santa's factory and office, or send letters directly through the Christmas mail. Of course you can also meet Santa personally and take a picture with him. If you like you can also stay overnight at Santa Claus Village. The Holiday Village is located eight kilometres from the centre of Rovaniemi, so getting there is easy. Rovaniemi airport is only a few minutes' drive away, and transport to and from the airport is free for customers. A sleigh ride with reindeer is also possible. ...

Me and my roommate went from Turku to Lapland on the fifth of February. We booked the trip with student trips (for 260€), but the trip did not start until Tampere. So we went to Tampere by bus for two hours and then by the other bus for sixteen hours to Lapland, but we had some breaks and stops on the way. Our first stop was in a big zoo in Ranua, which is the most northern zoo in Finland. There are about 50 arctic / polar region species. A special attraction are the only polar bears in Finland that live there. Other animals you can see there are wolves, lynxes, otters, martens, beavers, moose, deer, reindeer, wild boar and various bird species such as ducks, owls and eagles. There are also brown bears, but they are currently hibernating. To warm up after the tour we sit down in the café. There are also small plastic sledges with which we also had fun. The entrance fee for students to the zoo is 13€. There is also a restaurant and apartments for overnight stays.   ...