Old friends

We arrived back in Helsinki this afternoon. The temperature in Ivalo had risen to 0C when we left, but it was -8C in Helsinki when we arrived - a fleet of snow ploughs hovered at the side of the runway as we headed for the arrival gate, eager to perform their job of keeping the airport open at all time. 

After negotiating the bus ticket dispensing machines and the rather icy streets - much icier in Helsinki than in the Arctic - we made it to the hotel. We checked in very quickly and then it was a quick dash to get a cup of coffee before heading to a very nice restaurant to meet some old friends. When we arrived, I had a lovely surprise - some friends I wasn't expecting to see were waiting to say hello before going on to meet family. We'll see some of them again tomorrow, but it was really good - and very touching - that they'd gone out of their way to be there.

Dinner was excellent - traditional Swedish meatballs followed by cardamom ice cream. Then a quick walk and back to the hotel again to prepare for an early morning visit to Espoo tomorrow.

No Northern Lights tonight, of course, but the lights in the trees on Pohjois Esplanadi are fabulous.

Pohjois Esplanadi trees