Overcast Clouds, -3°C Koskikatu 16 Finally in Rovaniemi We landed into Rovaniemi airport a bit later than planned at 2.30 in the afternoon and the sun had already set. The sun is meant to rise tomorrow at 11.08am and then set again at 1.25pm. The bus took us directly to a clothing rental place so we could get proper snow overalls, boots, gloves and beanies. … Continue reading Finally in Rovaniemi

The kids woke up really excited as we are heading to Rovaniemi today, the official home of Santa Claus. We flew Finnair which is the official airline of Santa Claus. Check-in was a breeze as Finnair is part of OneWorld which meant that our Qantas status got us priority treatment. It, however, didn’t get us into the lounge as they only allow one guest per … Continue reading Hey Hey Helsinki

Final Day in Helsinki Today is our final full day in Helsinki and is also the shortest day of the year. We headed out at about 11 and the sun was only just starting to rise. After a visit to some souvenir shops we headed to the local markets for lunch. Salmon soup is a local delicacy and is specific to the area. We ordered … Continue reading Final Day in Helsinki

Light Intensity Drizzle, 3°C Mannerheimvägen 13 Finnish History Ever though the time in Finland is only an hour different to Sweden and Denmark, it is taking us a few days to adjust. The lack of daylight and dark rooms isn’t helping either. Today we didn’t get up till almost 8.30, except Matthew, whose body clock has the ability to wake him at 6 no matter … Continue reading Finnish History

Light Intensity Drizzle, 3°C Katrinegatan 3 Museum, Markets and Meals After lunch we visited the Helsinki City Museum which was located right opposite Senate Square and a mere 5 minute walk from the hotel. It looked quite unassuming from the outside, however kept is all entertained for the entire afternoon. It was spread over 3 levels and we started in a Virtual Reality Time machine. … Continue reading Museums, Markets and Meals

Overcast Clouds, 2°C Unionsgatan 36 Now I’ve seen it all In Dubai last year we saw air conditioned bus stops and a ski field in 45 degree temperature. And today we found heated sidewalks n Helsinki. I guess when you have winters with sub zero temperature that lasts almost 6 months it makes sense. We were meant to go on a walking tour that started … Continue reading Now I’ve Seen It All

Goodbye Stockholm We had got all our packing done last night and just needed to get everyone ready this morning. We had our final breakfast in Stockholm and then boarded our ride to the airport. The airport is out of town and we drove past a number of snow covered fields and it seems it snowed in parts of Stockholm during our visit, just not … Continue reading Goodbye Stockholm

Clear Sky, 1°C Skeppsbron 18 The Royal Armoury We had a bit of a quiet day in Stockholm today. The sun was out and it was a positively hot 2 degrees. We visited the Christmas markets nearest to our hotel and they were bustling with visitors… guessing it included locals as well as it was a Sunday. Some of the stalls had really interesting and … Continue reading The Royal Armoury

Clear Sky, 1°C Galärvarvsvägen 14 The Ship that almost Sailed Stockholm is a collection of a number of islands and while there are bridges across most of them, traveling by ferry is still very popular and convenient. We caught a ferry from the dock nearest to our hotel and headed to the island of Djurgarden. The island is primary a natural reserve however also includes … Continue reading The Ship that almost Sailed

Overcast Clouds, 0°C Mårten Trotzigs gränd 1 Walking through Old Town We had organised for a walking tour of Old Town in Stockholm this afternoon. The tour started at 2 in the afternoon and the temperature was already starting to drop. Old Town is the original part of Stockholm and some of the buildings are over 800 years old. We started at the Nobel Center … Continue reading Walking Through Old Town

Overcast Clouds, 1°C Västerlånggatan 68 A meal fit for a king I had booked a restaurant called Aifur for Ben’s birthday dinner. It was advertised as a Viking themed restaurant and it did not disappoint. We sat on long shared tables and Ben got to sit on the throne at the head. They even had props that the boys used for photos. The meals included … Continue reading A meal fit for a king

Overcast Clouds, 1°C Storgata 1 Goodbye Oslo, Hello Stockholm We departed Oslo this morning by train heading to Stockholm.Ben was very exited that he would be in 2 different countries on his birthday. The scenery was incredible with endless white frozen forests and lakes. Emily and Thomas had a good sleep while Matthew and Benjamin used up all the battery in Ben’s new phone. It … Continue reading Goodbye Oslo, Hello Stockholm

Scattered Clouds, -10°C Rosenkrantz’ gate 11 Birthday Boy The kids were up first thing to wish Ben a happy birthday. We had organised with the concierge to have a bunch of 12 balloons delivered to our room overnight so he could wake up with balloons over his head in the morning. For the past few months Ben has been obsessed with making frozen yogurt. Given … Continue reading Birthday Boy

Scattered Clouds, -7°C Karl Johans gate 47 Oslo Winter There is cold and then there is Oslo in winter cold. The temperature today didn’t go over -2 and it is the coldest we have ever felt. And that includes being on the ski fields. The short days makes it feel colder and it was just a very stinging cold sensation. In the midst if it … Continue reading Oslo Winter

Scattered Clouds, -7°C Evangvegen 4 Nobel Peace Center Given we were only spending one day in Oslo, we didn’t have any specific tours organised. I really wanted to see the Nobel Peace Center, which was only a short walk away. After a lazy breakfast we headed out around 11.30 and the temperature was still below 0. The museum is located near the waterfront and everything … Continue reading Nobel Peace Center

Clear Sky, -10°C Rosenkrantz’ gate 11 Ice that won’t melt Last night the boys decided to put 2 ice cubes on our balcony to see if they would melt overnight. The two photos are 15 hours apart, 8 pm last night and then 11 am today and they haven’t shrunk our melted at all. It’s almost midday and the temperature is still -6. This is … Continue reading Ice that won’t melt

Clear Sky, -7°C Karl Johans gate 33A A very grand affair We arrived into Oslo in the early afternoon and were met by our driver to get us to our hotel. We leave all the hotel recommendations to Kelly, our travel agent, and this current selection has us floored. We are staying in a huge room/suite and an adjoining room overlooking the main square at … Continue reading A very Grand affair

Karl Johans gate 31 Train to Oslo It was an early start today as our train to Oslo departed at 8 from Bergen. We needed to be down for breakfast by 6.30 as a car was coming to collect us at 7. Needless to say, of all days, today was the one day all the kids decided to sleep in, including Matthew. We are nothing … Continue reading Train to Oslo