Arctic circle

   My second day in Lapland and I haven't turned into an icicle yet, so off to a good start! After traveling on a bus for a total of 24 hours, we visited the Kemi snow castle, Santa in the arctic circle with the official post office and tree and all, seen the northern lights, and got to mush a husky sleigh on a safari adventure. It has been an incredible experience despite the cold! At the Kemi snow castle they had a chapel, cafe area, an ice slide through tunnels (yes I went down), sculptures, rooms with beds (just for show I think), and more. My second picture is the "beauty and the beast" sculpture and all you see in the first three pictures is made from either snow or ice. It was surprisingly warm for being in a cave of snow. 

  In Santa's village there was a massive tree with flags from all around the world, a sign pointing to all main cities, a post office where his elves were working, and of course, his own building where he was talking with people from all around the world. Santa and I had a nice chat and took a photo, he's quite a jolly fellow :) I tried a reindeer burger also!! It was surprisingly really good... I felt kind of guilty being in Santa's circle in all though. It was snowing heavily but beautifully, which made it all the more magical.

  Then, arriving at midnight, we finally were at our resort! There is a group of 8 of us in a mountain villa at the top of Saariselkä, the name of the town we're in. We have an awesome view and at about 1 am we could go outside and see the northern lights. I then brushed up on my quantum physics so I could understand what exactly was happening. Extraordinary how the universe works. 

  We got up this morning and ventured out for our Husky safari, becoming experts on the sleigh. We partnered up and got to take turns mushing the huskies. I had a great time and would do it again in a heart beat. I got to pet all the puppies too so I was in heaven. I want one now... ahem.. mom, dad... :D       

  We warmed up in a log cabin with some warm cider and a cookie and then headed back home. I walked to the center for some wifi so I could update my blog and do some homework.. we'll see how much I can get done. Tonight we're heading out to walk to the top of the mountain to get a better view of the Northern lights. I hope I'll be able to get a picture but it may be too dark/too hard for my camera. 

Off for now, but there will be more to come!