A glorious blue-sky day begged for us to go outside and explore, so we did. We caught the local bus and rode out to the outskirts of Lulea to the small village of Karlsvik. We hopped off the bus when we spotted a train museum!

The grassy yard full of old engines and rail cars seemed like a museum, but we couldn’t find any visitor center or entrance, so we just wandered around amongst the old cars.

Most of the engines have snowplows on the front!

Next to the railyard is this bright, imposing building. Later I learned it is the old Karlsvik school, converted into condominiums. It looks like a hotel!

Across the road from the old school in a quiet, well maintained forest is this monument and a reader board describing this spot at the end of WWII. The translation reads “In memory of 24,339 Soviet soldiers and civilians who died in 1945 after being freed from German captivity in Norway…”. At the end of  WWII this site is where freed Soviets, who had been imprisoned by the Nazis in Norway during the war, were brought on their journey back to the Soviet Union. The 24,339 Soviet citizens referred to in the monument had died in the Nazi prison camps and forced labor camps in Norway.

Sweden was one of 14 countries that remained officially neutral during WWII, and was not invaded by Germany. “How Neutral Countries in WWII Weren’t So Neutral” delves into this history.

Karlsvik in its heyday before WWII was an industrial village and closely linked with the iron and steel industry . It is now a quiet, quaint suburb of Lulea. We caught the next bus returning to Lulea and hopped off near a hiking and bird watching area.

We found the trailhead and entered the woods on an overgrown path. The path crossed an open area thick with tall grasses growing over and obscuring the boardwalk we were on before we entered the woods again. That’s when the mosquitoes found us and drove us right back out of the woods and off the trail!

We made it to the bus stop and continued our adventure back in downtown Lulea!

At the waterfront we saw this old crane, all shined up and pretty. In the background across the water is the peninsula where the steel mill and industrial area was moved to.

We have an early morning bus to catch today on our convoluted bus and train journey across the border from Finland into Sweden at the top of the Gulf of Bothnia. The bus left from the Rovaniemi train station and traveled south to the town of Kemi, Finland where we waited for another bus that took us across the border.

At the Kemi bus station we found a small pizza parlor and ordered a pizza during our hour-long layover. It was delicious! A special ‘northern’ pizza with reindeer meat and mushrooms!

A quick half hour ride and we reached the bus station in Haparanda, Sweden! Right next to the northernmost IKEA store! A Swedish icon, and no we didn’t go inside to browse, or even to get some Swedish meatballs (my Mom loved them!).

Looking across the river, back towards Tornio, Finland. The bus station is next to the Torne river, the border between Finland and Sweden.

We waited at the station for a city bus that would take us across the small town of Haparanda to the train station.

And quite an impressive train station it is! Finished in 1917, and visited by Vladimir Lenin on his way back to Russia to spearhead the Russian revolution, it is the largest train station in all of Sweden. However, it was rarely used for passenger service! In fact passenger service between Finland and Sweden was completely closed from 1992 to 2021! Renovation is ongoing on this beautiful building.

Only 3 trains a week leave from this station, we were early for our train and had the whole station to ourselves, but were eventually joined by about a dozen more passengers for our trip to Lulea, Sweden.

The Swedish landscape seems rather flat here, traveling west along the broken coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Wooded with many lakes and marshes, we kept a lookout for moose but never saw any.

Reflections of sightseeing through the train window!

We reached Lulea at about 4:30pm and found the local bus line for the 10 minute ride towards our Airbnb, with a short walk to the door!

The front looks like it could be an ice cream shop! The interior is very roomy and comfortable.

The weather report promised a beautiful day today so we went out and rented ‘city’ bikes for a tour around town.

Crossing the Kemijoki river on the Jätkänkynttilä silta, or the “Lumberjack’s Candle Bridge”.

For 100 years from about 1860 to 1960 a major economic staple of the area was the logging industry. Trees were cut out in the wilderness then floated down the river to Rovaniemi where they were milled. This bridge pays homage to the lumberjacks of the era, and their ‘candles’, logs that were partially split, stood on end and lit to provide a warming or cooking fire, and this is reflected in the bridge’s twin columns topped with fluorescent lights that resemble a lumberjack’s candle.

We finally found a bike path along the river, past the Arktikum Museum, which was closed today.

And the views along the river were gorgeous!

We also found some free public hygiene washing sites along the river! Not for personal hygiene, but household hygiene, these are Rug Washing Units! The Finnish take household cleanliness very seriously!

The sites have tubs with large flat shelves where rugs can be laundered and scrubbed. Also provided are the biggest hand cranked wringers I’ve ever seen, to wring the rugs out! Lots of wooden racks are provided to air dry the rugs.

Remember the rack I pointed out behind our Airbnb, that we’ve seen behind almost every apartment building. It turns out that they are part of this rug cleaning phenomenon. They are “Rug Beating Racks”. Rugs are regularly hung up on them and beaten to shake out the dust and dirt. This is especially useful in winter when the rugs can’t be washed, and dust mites will die when the rugs are hung out in the sub-zero temperatures! Most Finnish homes have tile or wood floors, there is virtually no wall to wall carpeting anywhere!

We ventured to the Arctic Circle today! We have been to the Arctic Circle in Canada, and above it, twice, both times on the Dempster Highway in the Yukon that crosses into the Northwest Territory. It is a 450 mile trip on a gravel road into the wilderness, across the tundra, with several ferry crossings over wild glacial rivers! Only a few indigenous villages are along the road with limited services. Comparing that to our trip today is comparing a wilderness safari to a walk in the park! Santa Claus Village (the official site where you can ‘cross’ the Arctic Circle) is practically a suburb of Rovaniemi. This part of the Arctic Circle is definitely NOT the tundra! We caught a comfortable tour bus at the train station and rode for about 20 minutes on a paved road through wooded suburban neighborhoods to the complex of buildings and large paved courtyard that constitutes Santa Claus’ Hometown!

The red towers across the pavilion mark the ‘official Arctic Circle crossing’!

Across!

At the edge of the plaza is the Roosevelt Cottage, built in 1950 for a visit by Eleanor Roosevelt, Chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights. Rovaniemi had been virtually destroyed by German occupation during WWII and Roosevelt was instrumental in getting aid distributed to devastated communities such as Rovaniemi. At the time it was the only structure at the Arctic Circle crossing and it became a tourist destination over the years.

At the Village Post Office you can mail postcards from the Arctic Circle, and even letters from Santa Claus, to be delivered at Christmas!

The northern latitudes of Finland, Sweden and Norway, as well as Arctic areas of Russia are also known as Lapland, the home of the Sami people. Walking around the ‘Village’, we came upon some cultural architecture, buildings synonymous with the Sami culture, the indigenous people of the Scandinavian/Russian Arctic. A short Youtube video about the Sami is Here. The Sami were nomadic hunter-gatherers who herded wild reindeer who now live more modern lives. Their connection with the land, reindeer herding and arctic lifestyle are still very important parts of their lives and they have organized to fight for their rights as indigenous people, having experienced the same discrimination, forced assimilation and loss of territory as other indigenous peoples around the world.

Mosquito shelters were built mainly for the semi-wild reindeer that the Sami herd.

This shelter had a smokey fire burning, there were several others around the Village, perhaps to ward off the mosquitos!

The reindeer herders cabins would be built along the routes which the Sami used.

The tipi (which the Sami name ‘tapi’) is a temporary shelter used while they were on the move. Most Sami have always lived in more permanent housing. Food cache buildings were built on stilts or tree trunks to protect and store food.

We caught the bus back into town and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and then an evening stroll around the lake.

On the Road Again, actually On the Rails Again! This time further north in Finland to the town of Rovaniemi, the official Hometown of Santa Claus! And his Reindeer! We caught a morning train for the 5 hour ride to just below the Arctic Circle.

We left from the quaint train station in Kokkola, restored and still used.

We arrived in Rovaniemi at about 3pm and walked the 20 minutes to our Airbnb. This apartment is very near a lake with a backdoor opening onto the path around the lake.

You might notice the metal rack (with the blue arrow pointing to it). We’ve seen these behind almost every apartment building and are stumped as to their use! A weird clothes line? A ski rack? A weird bike rack? More on this later!

After we unpacked we walked to the grocery store and the liquor store. In Finland all beer, wine and spirits are sold in state run liquor stores that have limited open hours! Luckily the stores were in the same shopping center!

Walking along the lakeshore, past these fragrant flowers was a wonderful start and finish to our shopping foray.

A bonus in this apartment, and a staple in many Finnish households (even one bedroom apartments!) is a sauna! Accurately pronounced “Sow-naa”!A wonderful way to relax in the steamy heat, then a cold shower, and the best night’s sleep in a long time!