outa

i'm now staying a guesthouse near the centre of Rovaniemi. the interiors and furniture haven't changed since the 1960s, and i must say it's really nice to be staying in a space of my own again. and i've got wireless internet, finally.





now, finally, some photos of my time here in Rovaniemi. in the early half on next week i'll be leaving town and heading further north, more details when things are definite.

my hostesses during the week:


Eeva, textile design student at the Lapin Ylipisto (Univeristy of Lapland), crafty and classy lady...


Anna, studying tourism. professional fun-haver, david lynch movie lover...


and Pia, finishing her art teaching degree. fabulous vintage decor/textile/kitchen collector, excellent breakfast maker

some ways i'd start the day:


breakfast of porridge and cloudberries- the most popular and unique Northern fruit. so lovely...kind of sour, and very high in vitamin c. accompanied here with the requisite coffee in a Moomin mug.


this breakfast by Pia eventually included smoothies, apple slices, black tea, two different kinds of bread, eggs, cream cheese, swiss cheese, and four different types of home-made preserves

around town:




view of the new art department at the Yliopisto. great natural light on the top floor, where the art studios are, with these giant glass pyramids making up most of the roof. imagine all the work you could get done during the midnight sun


students weaving in the loom room


view of the lake behind the university, paper mill smokestack in the distance.


boat waiting for summer


lake cabins also waiting for summer


staircase


the church. 90% of Rovaniemi was burnt by German troops during WWII, so not many original structures are left.


pro patria




the graveyard, however, contains many old markers of Rovaniemi's past residents.



priest's herb garden


waiting for the sunshine


and for the ice to go away

other things i've done but have no photos of:

-visited the Arktikum museum, one of the most important museums about Arctic peoples and environments in the world. it is the site of the Arctic Center, also connected with the University of Lapland, where a lot of crucial research on subjects such as climate change, sustainable tourism and cultural preservation are being conducted. i have to say it's probably one of the most enjoyable museums i've ever visted - the exhibits were not only informative but beautifully well done. if you ever visit Rovaniemi, this is a must!

-the library, designed by Aalvar Alto, is also really great. apparently he also did the layout of the streets of Rovaniemi, based on the shape of reindeer antlers. the main library contains the Lapponica reference library, the Library of Lapland. many of my dream books live here and much of my time in Rovaniemi has been spent here, too.

-got some medium-format film for my Clack camera. i've never done this type of photo stuff, so we'll see how it turns out. as expected however, Rovaniemi is about the only place in a 200km radius (certainly the most northern place in Finland) where one can take care of serious business, like getting film developed, and it still takes a week. hmmm.

more photos of the last two days and updates to come very soon, as soon as i upload them, which for some reason takes over 30 minutes. tonight i'll check out more of the Vappu (Labor Day) celebrations. i forget if the washing of the statue ritual has already taken place, i think it's on monday...

one more thing: i'm finding Finnish quite a difficult language. it's completely unrelated to any of the languages spoken in most of the western world, being of the Finno-Ugric language group, which among others includes Sami, Estonian and Hungarian. i've actually taken to reading the Swedish on packaging labels because it's a breeze to decipher comparitively!