Reykjavík Grapevine - 12.01.2007, Blaðsíða 40

8_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE 01_007_TRAVEL/TALLINN
Finland has a lot to offer adventurous tour-
ists willing to ride some of the country’s
trains, ferries, and busses in search of at-
tractions outside Helsinki. As Europe’s third
most sparsely populated country, getting
off the beaten path in Finland isn’t difficult
and options abound.
Between the Suomenlinna Islands off
Helsinki’s shores, a lengthier trip to Santa’s
Post Office, or to Finland’s other major cit-
ies and cultural centres – Oulu, Turku and
Tampere: planning a trip to this northeast-
ern corner of Europe will not leave visitors
short on options. For those seeking a va-
cation with an international escape hatch,
Sweden, Estonia and Russia are all a short
sea voyage away from Helsinki as well.
My personal quest for excitement out-
side the country’s largest city first led me
north, far into the Finnish Lapland and well
above the Arctic Circle, to the ski village
of Levi. My second search took me south,
across the Gulf of Finland, to the medieval
Estonian capital of Tallinn. Cheap, beauti-
ful old town Tallinn offers an aesthetic step
back in time without sacrificing any of the
services one would expect from a small
modern city.
The endless train ride that began my
journey took 13 hours and transported me
from Helsinki to Kolari, the end of the line.
Passengers’ options on the overnight train
were sleeping compartments, seated trans-
port, and the bar car. This being a special
train bound towards the Alpine Skiing World
Cup, there was also a disco complete with
DJ. Having befriended some Finns on the
platform who were carrying skis, I spent the
evening in the bar of the disco car partaking
in a Finnish favourite, hard apple cider, be-
fore sleeping my way into some tremendous
neck pain in my small assigned seat.
Skis in hand, I transferred to the second
leg of my journey in the morning. The bath-
roomless bus that bore me from Kolari the
rest of the way to Levi wove its way down
snow-covered roads at a blistering pace. Be-
ing as the Lapland hosts a World Cup race, I
have to say that the scenery getting there is
shockingly flat. This is not to say that those
who can won’t enjoy the passing view.
Adorable wooden houses, reindeer, the oc-
casional folks snowshoeing and Nordic ski-
ing, and snow-covered evergreens compose
more or less the entirety of the landscape.

Pristine Lapland
According to the locals, competition for
travel to destinations elsewhere in Scandi-
navia and mainland Europe, while none ex-
ists for domestic transport, has kept tickets
to the Lapland comparatively high. Because
of this, and somewhat to the chagrin of
Finns – some of whom have explored rela-
tively little of their native country’s wilder-
ness – the Lapland has remained pristine
through its relative costliness to reach. The
region is also home to Finland’s indigenous
people, the Sami or Lappish (though the
latter term is not always considered favour-
able). The Sami people are spread to the
west across Norway and Sweden and to the
east all the way into Russia. In Finland there
are spoken in small numbers three different
native Sami languages, none of which are
considered nationally official.
Levi was host to this year’s Alpine Ski-
ing World Cup opener. The entire town was
booked out for the event this November.
Snow sport enthusiasts from all over the
world make the trek to Levi for, well, snow.
Its reliability is a perk, particularly early in
the season when cold enough weather can
be unreliable in the Alps. Levi’s reputation
as the “best après ski in Finland” certainly
can’t hurt its prospects as a winter get-
away.
I found that booking lodging in advance
can make it absurdly affordable for a ski
town. Besides the hostel run by the Hulu
Poro (a major hotel in Levi whose name
translates from the Finnish as Crazy Rein-
deer), apartment-style accommodations
that sleep four can be found next door and
come with washer and kitchen, run around
80 Euros. I can only assume that my sans-
heat experience in such accommodations is
not the norm, and hope that the same goes
for the hotel giving a copy of my room key
to a confused young man who arrived in the
middle of the night claiming he lived there.
Both these rooms and many in the hotels
come with the added bonus of (what else?)
an in-room sauna.
As it turns out, and perhaps not all that
surprisingly, there isn’t much to do in Levi,
except for skiing, both alpine and Nordic,
and engagin in the après ski life that goes
into the wee hours. For the posh, the Spa
Hotel offers a variety of ways to pamper
oneself in the harsh climate if sauna alone
fails to satisfy. Though I realise my bias as a
ski fanatic may be a handicap in reviewing, I
can’t see what else anyone could want from
such a village.
I spent my two days there attempting to
accomplish the two things there are to do.
My first day on the slopes I explored those
closest to my hotel. Ticket prices are under
20 Euros per day, a rock-bottom price when
compared to those charged by major resorts
in the Alps.
Of course, I lost one of my poles on my
first ride up, though luckily, it was the only
time. Something about the weather condi-
tions in Levi had made the recently fallen
snow harden in picturesque clumps on all of
the trees. The extension of white from the
ground up into the surreal shapes of foli-
age lining the ski hills and lifts was nothing
short of incredible. Now, if only it weren’t
for those damn billboards lining the sides of
the first lift (admittedly, many of which had
also been whited-out), the view would have
been spectacular.
My second day I made my way to the
steeper side of Levi’s ski slopes. A gondola
services the top of the mountain here and
the run used for the World Cup, the Levi
Black. On an icy day, like the one I had, the
steep terrain warrants some finely tuned
edges. For anyone toting a pair of sharp
race skis Levi might offer near-perfect train-
ing conditions. For the rest of the ski com-
munity, there is certainly terrain in one place
or another suitable for most levels of skiers,
though those with a penchant for dropping
off anything that could be qualified as a cliff
might find it wanting.

Après Ski Extravaganza
Dedicated to the idea of finding the infa-
mous nightlife, I started my last evening in
Levi late and rested, after a long nap.. I had
seen a dozen or so revellers stumbling up
the the Hulu Poro Arena driveway on my
way to the Cantina. To say that it was much
larger inside than it appeared from the park-
ing lot would be a major understatement.
Two levels, multiple bars, and dance floor
the size of a roller skating rink, were filled
by a live DJ and a couple hundred enthusi-
astic dancers and debauchees, in the aptly
An Eclectic Visit to the Lapland & Tallinn
Text by Virginia Zech Photos by Sari Peltonen
www.bluelagoon.com
Energy for life through forces of nature