Heading South into Finland

After reaching the most northern point of mainland Europe, there was nowhere to go but south.  So that’s what we did (much to the relief of our wallets).  We headed for Rovaniemi, Finland – the capital of Lapland.  For those non-British out there, Lapland is the traditional home of Santa Claus.

The Finish landscape is very different from Norway.  Our driving has been mostly on long, straight, hilly roads lined with 50 ft. tall trees on each side.  While the breathtaking mountains have disappeared, the animals have come out and we were treated to dozens of reindeer and a handful of moose over the course of the drive.

Rovaniemi was also the location of the rally’s fancy dress party (“costume party” in American) which was held in a karaoke pub next to our hostel.  I say “pub”, but after a little while mingling with the regulars, we were all pretty sure that it was really a brothel (or just a place where hookers hung out and drank).

Tomorrow is going to be our last full day of driving, and its going to be a big one.  We will be driving south through all of Finland to the capital, Helsinki.