From an email from my Mom on her trip to Scandanavia with Janet Coffin:
Finally, I have got my notes together and I can write about my trip.
On September 9, Janet Coffin and I flew to JFK and then overnight to Helsinki, Finland. THere were a group of Orthodox Jews on the plane flying to Rumania to celebrate the Holidays at a special religious site.
Helsinki is a smallish city, easy to walk around. There was a daily market along the waterfront where we ate fairly inexpensively. We also went to a concert at the Sibelius Academy and visited the Museum of Contemporary Art to see an exhibit of Post Soviet Russian Art - very interesting, lots of moving images across large walls.
Two days later, we flew above the Arctic Circle to Ivalo, Finland. We had dinner at a typical Sami restaurant - log building, circular going up to a pointed roof with a large raised center fireplace (10' x 6') where the food is cooked. We had reindeer stew. The Sami people are who we know as Lapplanders. They prefer the name Sami and they are the owners of the reindeer. We were to drive on to Saariselka after dinner but our bus was very late - a Russian truck had hit a reindeer and slid off into a lake. A rescue truck with a crane was pulling the Russian out, blocking traffic. In Finland, if your car hits a reindeer, the government will reimburse the owner. In Norway and Sweden, if you hit a reindeer you are responsible and must pay the owner. In those countries, drivers take out "Reindeer Insurance" with their car insurance.
About reindeer. There are no wild reindeer. Every reindeer is owned by a Sami. They roam in large areas, fenced now and then. The Finns don't want their reindeer roaming into Russia or Norway. The reindeer are marked with identifying cuts in their ears so everyone knows who owns what animal. No one can own more than 500 reindeer. In the spring the herds are rounded up and put in pens where the calves are identified and marked, and some animals are designated for slaughter. Reindeer meat is very expensive. More costly are the horns. About 5% of reindeer are lost over the winter, mostly to cars.. The Sami take their herds up into the high areas in the summer to escape the mosquitos, and bring them down in the winter. Herding is done using ATVs and Snowmobiles. Often helicopters are used to locate animals.
Finland is a beautiful country, full of lakes and evergreens. We were there when the birches were changing color. THe weather was chilly but mild. The Sami look like everybody else - jeans, Nikes, cellphones. One evening we had dinner at a special family restaurant where the owners dressed in their traditional costumes and played and sang local songs. They used a drum that had to be heated now and then over the large center fireplace. The family kept quite a few reindeer in a large pen. In the winter they have a business where their animals pull tourists (mostly other Scandanavians) through the snowy landscape using special sleds.
Our local guide was a Sami woman - blond, blue eyed, with very high cheekbones. She ran a dog sledding business in the winter. At kirkines, Norway, we toured a local iron mine that is not presently used. During World War II, the Nazis were camped all over northern Scandanavia and ruined most towns when they retreated. There is a long tunnel at the mine where 3000 Norwegians hid for months.10 children were born in the tunnel. We boarded the Costal Steamer at Kirkines and started on our 5 day trip along the fjords. The ship,and others like it, are the way the small Norwegian towns along the water get their mail etc. They are working ships that take passengers, cars and even dogs. (there are special cabins for dogs and their owners). The coast was lovely, the little towns had brightly painted houses to cheer things up when it snows. As we got farther south, the towns got larger and less colorful. We got off and roamed several places.
We got off the boat at Bergen, the old capital of Norway. A few days later, we took a small train over the mountains, then a small boat along a fjord, before bussing into Oslo. Oslo is a city that is tearing down a lot in order to put up modern buildings. Some of the old areas are untouched but we had a hard time feeling c omfortable. It is just another city.
Our last place to visit was Copenhagen, a charming city with canals, boats and copper roofed buildings.
We enjoyed walking around. Scandanavia is a very expensive area to visit. A beer costs $10. and a rather ordinary meal $35 to $40. The dollar does not go very far. We ate sandwiches when possible. It was a wonderful trip. I really enjoyed the Sami area and the reindeer. If you look at a map, you can see how far north we were.
Love Sally-mom
