posted by ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mylescorcoran at 03:15pm on 03/04/2005 under travel
mylescorcoran at 03:15pm on 03/04/2005 under travelLater on Sunday we were taken to visit a reindeer farm. We were driven out to the farm in two mini-buses, Eoin, Noora, Sally and us in one, Dave, Antja, Krista and Sorcha in the other. Once there we got kitted out in even bigger snow suits/coveralls than we already possessed and briefly engaged in a Michelin Man look-alike competition. Then everyone piled into their own one-person, reindeer-pulled sleigh (except Rowan, who rode with Sam) and off we went in a long procession, each sleigh tied to the next and slaved to the one in front. In fact we were led in two separate reindeer trains, but we did stick to single file as we slid through the snow-drowned forest. The route we followed took about 35 minutes to complete, I'd guess, and I saw just how empty and desolate the woods and snowed-in meadows are, covered by acres of snow.
My particular reindeer was a chancer, I reckon, and made to wander from the track a few times only to sink up to its knees in the soft snow. When we got back to the farm it caught me with the oldest trick in the draft animals' book. I stood up to get out of the sleigh and it pulled forward, just enough so I fell on my arse in the sleigh. Its honour satisfied I was able to get up and out of the sleigh without further indignities. We got a closer look at the reindeer and Rowan got to pat Tuupu, one of the reindeer from the trip. (Finnish trip pictures here.)
We all went into the nearby hut to remove our snow gear. We sat then and listened to a Saami reindeer farmer describe something of the reindeer's lifestyle and habits as we drank coffee from little wooden cups. He also sang a couple of traditional songs as Rowan dashed about pretending to have her own antlers by holding her fingers up to the sides of her head. She later watched her father perform remarkably poorly with the lasso. Others did better, including Sam, so the family honour was upheld.
We returned to Saariselkä around 4.30pm and went for a lovely meal in a restaurant called Siberia. Luckily their central heating was far from Siberian. I had a very nice reindeer steak (without qualms for the lovely brown eyed fellows I'd seen earlier; I'm not a natural vegetarian) and a delicious local liqueur for desert made from a forest berry called 'mesimarja'. I had no idea what that is in English, but Google tells me it's the berry of the Arctic Bramble, or Rubus Arcticus. It's Åkerbär in Swedish. Whatever the name, the drink was amazing, with an incredible tear that clung to the side of the glass for the longest time. Sweet and strong, we immediately made plans to procure a bottle to take home with us. Rowan's adventurous eating extended to sausages and chips, which was not a local delicacy but seemed to meet with her approval. The ends of the sausages were cut to resemble reindeer horns (I assume; they were certainly cut into odd shapes) and that provoked a reprise of the reindeer horns from the Saami farm-hut.
An excellent day.
My particular reindeer was a chancer, I reckon, and made to wander from the track a few times only to sink up to its knees in the soft snow. When we got back to the farm it caught me with the oldest trick in the draft animals' book. I stood up to get out of the sleigh and it pulled forward, just enough so I fell on my arse in the sleigh. Its honour satisfied I was able to get up and out of the sleigh without further indignities. We got a closer look at the reindeer and Rowan got to pat Tuupu, one of the reindeer from the trip. (Finnish trip pictures here.)
We all went into the nearby hut to remove our snow gear. We sat then and listened to a Saami reindeer farmer describe something of the reindeer's lifestyle and habits as we drank coffee from little wooden cups. He also sang a couple of traditional songs as Rowan dashed about pretending to have her own antlers by holding her fingers up to the sides of her head. She later watched her father perform remarkably poorly with the lasso. Others did better, including Sam, so the family honour was upheld.
We returned to Saariselkä around 4.30pm and went for a lovely meal in a restaurant called Siberia. Luckily their central heating was far from Siberian. I had a very nice reindeer steak (without qualms for the lovely brown eyed fellows I'd seen earlier; I'm not a natural vegetarian) and a delicious local liqueur for desert made from a forest berry called 'mesimarja'. I had no idea what that is in English, but Google tells me it's the berry of the Arctic Bramble, or Rubus Arcticus. It's Åkerbär in Swedish. Whatever the name, the drink was amazing, with an incredible tear that clung to the side of the glass for the longest time. Sweet and strong, we immediately made plans to procure a bottle to take home with us. Rowan's adventurous eating extended to sausages and chips, which was not a local delicacy but seemed to meet with her approval. The ends of the sausages were cut to resemble reindeer horns (I assume; they were certainly cut into odd shapes) and that provoked a reprise of the reindeer horns from the Saami farm-hut.
An excellent day.
(no subject)
(no subject)