Exploring the Laplands of Finland
Kim scraping ice off the windshield with a coffee cup this morning. It was only -1°C (30.2°F) vs -2°C (28.4°F) yesterday, but there was still plenty of frost. We crossed another time zone yesterday when we entered Finland so we are now 8 hours ahead of Texas. Lapland is Finland’s northernmost region, a sparsely populated area bordering Sweden, Norway, Russia and the Baltic Sea. It’s known for its vast subarctic wilderness, ski resorts and natural phenomena including the midnight sun and the Northern Lights. Capital Rovaniemi is the gateway to the region. The homeland of the indigenous Sami people, which extends into neighboring countries, centers on the far north. Lapland, the conventional name for the region, is derived from Lapp, the name Scandinavians ascribed to the Sami people, who have sparsely inhabited the region for several thousand years. Today the Sami consider Lapp to be a derogatory term. They call the region Sápmi. Much of the color is gone as we get farthe...