I didn't get a chance to run a blog in the week, about somewhere I went to last weekend, although I meant to.
Last Friday night, I went to Pyhä. The last time I was there was in the summer, when we were on our language course. We had spent our final group activity day there..and also in Luosto..roaming over the fells. It is so different in these places summer and winter, like different worlds even.
It was just the two of us going, which was really nice..it made a change. My husband had heard from someone called Jarkko, whom he used to work with at the Husky Farm. He was coming to the area to work with the huskies again, collecting some of the dogs and then moving off to Suomo to work with them there. So, he said that he would only be in Pyhä for the one night. Hence why we made the unexpected trip out.
The Pyhä-Luosto Husky Farm is about 60kms away from where we live now.. and just outside Pyhä village itself. It was where my husband had his first Finnish job. He loved it.. he loves dogs, works really well with them..and loved the husky sled running too. I am sure that he can speak 'Dog'. We lived closer to the area then, in Luosto itself.
It was a beautiful night, the trees burgeoning with snow... and snow 'diamonds' glistening everywhere. It was also lovely and cold. Everywhere was crystallised!
As we went through and then past Luosto, the sister village to Pyhä, a HUGE white rabbit/hare (called a Jänis in Finnish) ran across the car's path.. it zoomed across the white road, down and then up the embankments of snow to the right side of the car and up, up into the trees! It was lovely! Like several creatures here, they change their colour with the seasons, so you don't see so many during the winter.
I posed a question.. 'Do you think that there is anything symbolic about a white rabbit running across your path?' - (As in the UK it is meant to be good luck when a black cat does it!) 'Do you think it MEANS anything'.. 'Yes' said my husband dryly.... 'It means you are in Lapland!' LOL...
Outside the Pyhä Hotel, Pyhätunturi.
(Pyhä by the way..means Holy in Finnish)
Both Pyhä and Luosto are the ski resorts of the area.. I could be wrong, but I think Pyhä is a little higher than Luosto.. but neither are huge.. ideal for starting to learn skiing. In the photo below you can see the start of the ski lights.
We met up with Jarkko at the Pyhä Hotelli..and caught up with news. Seppo, who still works at the farm was also there for a short while but had to disappear. We also met a couple of girls too. Asta and Anniina, who were both working in the area. Anniina was going off to Suomu with Jarkko the following day. It was an interesting evening, where were shared our story with them.. as they were obviously very surprised to find an english couple speaking Finnish.. and wanted to know more. As you can tell, both the girls are avid snow lovers! Asta ski'd home!
The place was nicely decorated.. old ski's and basket up high on the walls, reindeer fur skins etc..
Plus, I noticed that the hotel's seating was decorated with noitarumpu symbols! You can just see the blue seating pattern...
He enjoyed seeing his friend - it's a shame that Jarkko lives so far away, down south in Helsinki!
It was a really nice evening.. and I just thought that I would share some local views with you. I had wanted to take more photos on the way home..but we ended giving a lift home to a few people.. so I didn't like to ask to stop the car several times for me to just click away! However, we did stop off in Luosto.. there were a few people milling around, as a new round of tourists had arrived that night. So here are the pics.
The Amethyst Spa Hotel, Luosto.
The Hovi, Luosto. Although this is a tourists restaurant (of sorts), this is mainly where some of the tourists get their clothing/skidoo equipment..
A log cabin in Luosto
Whilst I know that in the UK, blue tree lights are all the rage.. it seems that in this area at least...the multi colour with blue style are the favourites.. We saw quite a lot of them!
You can learn more about Luosto and Pyhä from this web address. You can choose Pyhä or Luosto sites. Click the British flag for English language. You can even enter log cabins virtually.. and have a look around! www.luosto.fi
