मेरी मूस कहाँ हैं?

From the Finnish forests, I am heading roughly towards Haparanda on the Gulf of Bothnia.

Remarkably, the temperatures are rising with every kilometer. If this continues, we will already be above the 20°C mark this evening. Awesome :-)

To be honest, Finland is not quite what I expected, but I guess I am only seeing the northernmost province. It's pretty much the same as the days before. Forest...more forest...even more forest. Since I've been here for several weeks now and still haven't seen my moose, I'm focusing on that. One wouldn't believe that the entire moose population conspired to be somewhere else exactly today. No moose, not a single moose...nowhere. Oh yeah, the classic Finnish rest stop toilet is quite different from ours.

Finally, I cross the Finnish part of the Arctic Circle. In Norway, there was somehow more hype. Apart from a thick pillar, there is no Arctic Circle to be seen anywhere.

While shopping, after ten minutes of calculation, I realize that the euro has also made its way into Finland. That explains why the bill in Finnmark doesn't add up...Reading definitely has its advantages. After another fifteen minutes, I managed to translate the word liverwurst and find it on a package. YEAH !!! I'm such a language genius.

With my purchases, I finally make the last kilometers to the Swedish border. Unfortunately, I have to hurry with my pictures because the Swedish border guard finds my presence next to his office rather inappropriate and makes a weird face. The first thing that comes into view in Sweden is...of course, a huge IKEA.

Otherwise, the speed limits change again. You can drive at 110 km/h. Additionally, there are now other moose warning signs making fun of me. The one I knew from Norway and Finland above, and the new one from Sweden below. Well, maybe it will help.

The border town of Haparanda attracts attention mainly due to its many roundabouts, unfortunately not much else. Since, in my personal opinion, I don't need to shower yet today, I do a bit of sightseeing from the car and then find a nice spot by the water for the night. The nice place Töre offers the opportunity to stand directly by the water without other campers. Nice.