Lapland 09

Lapland 09

Our Lapland vacation where we had the extreme pleasure to go on a Husky Safari and spend hours with the owner who took great pride in showing us around his kennels and explain how he trains and keeps the dogs and also a few wolves he works with and breeds with his huskies..
You have no idea how this man is with these animals... he is a true "whisperer" himself.
He controlled his pack with mere whispers and hand signals... It puts me to shame for not doing so with my small number of dogs... It is a true 'gift' that he possesses... His kennel has won many honors in huskies sled races and has been portrayed in many venues/ movies and documentaries... WOW ! I was in Awe of Reijo and his accomplishments.

Our Hostess and guide while staying in Lapland was Anne ( I have to find her card to remember her last name ).. She is such a wonderful person and provided us with true Lappish meals and experiences during our stay at one of her "cottages" .. which happened to be a Huge log home capable of sleeping 14 people.. meeting room, a gorgeous sauna area too! I really loved the saunas :)
The meals she prepared, were to me of gourmet quality... YUMMY !! :)
and Anne was very personable and made us all feel as family ... She is BEAUTIFUL inside and out!! :)

KIITOS PALJON XOXOXO

Album by ~WudNshu~. 1 - 178 of 178 Total. 446 Visits.

1 Our Cottage	2 Melissa and Kathie atop the Mountain	3 Kathie and Teri atop the mountain.. can you tell is was beyond cold? brrrr.. My hat was about to blow off !	4 Inside the Art Gallery of the gentleman standing next to me..his artwork was in incredible! and we all bought a print from him :) that is his wife standing to the other side of me.. Did I feel extra small ? :)
5 Dinner at the underground Lapland restaurant.. I can not give just wording to describe how good this was..	6 Dining room in the Ice Hotel	7 Kathie	8 Handsome Kimmo... Ari's son
9 Kimmo	10 the blue light... soooo beautiful!	11	12 next door neighbor
13 It was so breathtakenly beautiful !	14 The cottage in the next pics is actually "a boat" - there is a sauna and 2 rooms for changing.... - and the hole in the ice. The cottage is stuck in the ice during the winter and it's floating on the lake "Immel-järvi" during summers.	15	16
17	18	19	20 Anne, Sari and Ari
21 Ari stepping down the ladder into the ice water	22 oh my! I am watching this.. and wondering if I can do it..	23 YIKES !! it is COLD !!!	24
25 This next group of photos shows Ari opening a "special" gift just for him :) from his "husky ladies" :) We love you Ari!!!	26	27	28
29	30	31	32 Here we are atop a ski slope..outside the lodge.. you can see just how cold it is when you see a few of the next photos.. The wind was blowing sooooooo hard and that wind was the coldest I had ever felt.. See my hat? Love that hat ! bought it at one of the outside vendors at the Market in Helsinki.. and boy did it come in handy too !! Thanks girls for talking me into it :)
33	34	35 Atop the mountain !Brrrrrrrrr	36
37	38 My camera died during this photo shoot... but here we are preparing for the ride of our lives! and where we were coined Ari's Husky Ladies !! You will see many more Amazing photos when Sari posts those taken by Ari... it was so exciting and I'd do it again in a heartbeat ! This time we'd go from 5 kilometers to 30 and overnight :) hehehehe...	39	40 Enjoying a little Anise liquor prior to our husky safari
41	42	43	44
45	46	47	48
49	50	51	52
53	54	55	56 Reindeer
57 we were being taught how to stand on the rungs of the sled and how to break and move our bodies around turns .. lol I was going .. OH S....!!!	58	59	60
61	62	63	64
65 In the Cottage relaxing after arrival	66 the chandelier over the dining table.. The atmosphere was superb!!!	67 Tulips! A priceless added touch to the ambience of the home...	68
69 Beautiful Anne preparing a meal for us..	70 We were in the meeting room of the "cottage" watching the pre-Inauguration festivities..	71	72
73	74	75 Awwwwwe.... how sweet !	76
77 Sari enjoying a nice back rub .. ahhhhhhhhhh	78 one of the many Santas around the cottage.. after all Lapland IS the home of Santa Claus !!	79	80
81	82	83	84
85	86	87	88 this is a delicious liquor from cloudberries, local to the region..
89	90 a wonderful desert I didn't think I would like at first, but it was very tasty.. it is fried cottage cheese with a cloudberry sauce and cloudberries atop..	91	92
93 We laughed sooooooooooo hard as we were trying out snow suits to find the right size to wear... you have no idea how much fun this was... hehehehehehehhe and utterly embarrassing.. hehe	94	95	96
97	98	99	100
101	102	103	104
105	106	107	108
109 Downtown Levi, Lapland.. I think this was around 5pm or so	110 We stopped in a local bar for a taste of the spirits..	111	112
113	114 downtown Levi	115 downtown Levi and one of the ski slopes in the background	116
117 This was a superb cream based reindeer soup with fresh parsley sprinkled on top... made for us by Anne... it was VERY good !!	118 Sari is taking our picture. This was our first evening in Levi	119	120
121 showers outside the sauna	122 sauna ante room	123 Melissa showing how to pose in the sauna :)	124 sauna coals
125	126 looking into the sauna from ante room	127	128
129 I think this was Kathie's room	130 Melissa's room	131 I can't remember what this was made from.. . but it was ever so soft	132
133 Teri and Santa	134 Sari and Santa	135	136
137 Sari and Ari's room	138	139 Sari and Ari's room	140
141	142	143	144
145	146	147	148
149	150	151	152
153	154	155	156
157	158	159	160
161	162	163	164
165	166	167	168 My room
169 Melissa peeking in my window from the front porch	170 and Here's Kathie !!!	171 walking into the "cottage" for the first time	172 arriving at the Kiitala airport
173 arriving at the Kiitala airport	174 arriving at the Kiitala airport	175	176
177 Reijo The owner of the Husky kennel we visited and had the extreme pleasure of doing our Husky Safari at :) We were completely enchanted by the accomplishments he has had in his life with the huskies and wolves.	178 The day we were leaving for Helsinki..