The land of snow and reindeers...

An absolute highlight of our semester abroad: Lapland! The expectations were at least as high as our anticipation of the trip to the far north. But could Lapland really enchant us?

Let's start with a dark chapter. The journey there! When we booked the six-day trip, we were aware that we were embarking on a twelve-hour bus ride. However, with about 170 students registered and a total of eight 60-person buses, we hoped for a little more space to spread out. The bitter truth looked different. The 170 registered students were divided into three buses, as the other buses arrived from Copenhagen, Riga, and other cities. Two people on a width of at most 1.1 m including hand luggage, probably the most uncomfortable seats ever (we're not exaggerating) and an unpleasant heat dampened our mood immensely. When we made excessively many and unnecessary stops, our mood was completely ruined. The total of perhaps 1.5 hours of sleep was just the cherry on top.

Thank God this hellish ride was over at 8:15 am. We reached the Ranua Zoo near Rovaniemi (the largest city in Lapland). There was a decent breakfast buffet to prepare us for the upcoming snow chaos. Unfortunately, the restaurant was completely overcrowded. Not enough space for the number of buses, endlessly long toilet queues, and partially unseasoned food. But we were simply thankful that we didn't have to sit on the bus anymore. Marco completely overdid it and struggled after half of his plate. Now we had a total of 90 minutes left to see the multitude of animals. Snowflakes as thick as ping pong balls fell from the sky as we entered the tour. Beavers, reindeer, wild boars, buffaloes, and foxes were waiting for us in their enclosures. The absolute highlights were the polar bears, who were fighting over a piece of fur and even caught a fish in the end. These white giants were closely followed by wolves, moose, and wolverines (omnivores). A younger wolverine played in the snow, did somersaults, and jumped over obstacles. The snow was getting worse in some places, so we even considered building an igloo and waiting out the storm. In Germany, it is difficult to imagine such masses of snow. The whole thing, in combination with animals that didn't seem to mind the snow, was just fantastic.

We barely had enough time. We could definitely have stayed longer, but the tight schedule didn't allow it. The next stop immediately annoyed us again. We made a one-and-a-half-hour stop at a shopping center so that everyone could do some shopping. Way too much time, which could have been better spent at the zoo. We went shopping, wasted our money on slot machines (why do you get free spins if you don't win anything?), watched Nicolo eat, and still had 50 minutes left...

Finally, the day came to an end and we drove towards the Levi ski resort, our home for the next few days. On the way, we passed some display boards that shone -17 degrees into the dark night sky. So we knew we could expect bitter cold. Luckily, our evening was sweetened by a kind of "jackpot". We didn't have high expectations for our accommodation. But when the guide led us to our own log cabin, we could hardly believe it. Our own sauna, a huge couch, an incredibly large fireplace, and a fully equipped kitchen (yes, even with a dishwasher) poured out all the happiness that had been lost at certain points during the day. Our Italian chef Nicolo spoiled us with spaghetti carbonara before we had one of the deepest sleeps of our lives.

Next Day. The highlight of the whole trip, as we later decided: The Husky Safari. Our guide already warned us that the dogs are very tense as soon as they realize they can "work". But what awaited us was probably underestimated by every participant.
Fun fact: These short-distance huskies run 30 km a day and consume 1-1.5 kg of meat. Long-distance huskies can cover up to 90 km a day.
The winner of the day was called Nicolo. He managed to slip two meters after getting off the bus and, seriously, to lie horizontally in the air before crashing onto his elbow and back. As if that wasn't enough, his provisions consisted of two bananas. After this mishap, they were naturally burst and spread throughout his backpack. We'll come back to that later.

Spontaneously, we decided to join the first group, in which the dogs were bursting with tension and excitement. Two-sleds with five huskies each. In total, there were about 80 dogs (greetings to the butcher who has to supply the amount of meat to satisfy this pack). We went to our sled. The respect for the sometimes already aggressive-looking dogs was enormous. Despite the brake and chain on the tree, it was hard to hold the huskies.
It was an unforgettable experience. Pure dynamics. During our ride, nothing worse happened except for a slightly uncomfortable meeting of the huskies from the next sled and Flo's calves. ...That couldn't necessarily be said of Nicolo and Darius. When our winner of the day had a turn at driving, the two of them had a decent crash. Darius ended up in the snow, but was quickly back in the sled. Nicolo had to hurry and ran several meters behind the dogs and sled. Fortunately, he caught up with the team and was able to jump back on.

After our 8 km round, we returned frozen but full of adrenaline. In the camp, we could warm up and have a snack. To pass the time, you could look at two husky puppies and the "laziest sled dog in the world" while the second group made their round. When they also reached the finish, the dogs calmed down suddenly. Now they could be touched and countless pictures could be taken. Marco's dog withdrawal could thus be alleviated a little. Greetings to Ody and Fynn. A spectacle that is difficult to top.

To avoid cooking much for lunch, we decided to go to a recommended all-you-can-eat restaurant. For €14, there was the best meat, fried potatoes, a huge salad selection, and as a highlight reindeer vegetable stew. Florian felt like he ate dessert for the whole restaurant. To complete the feel-good experience, we started our OWN sauna. A bit too hot, but you could cool off right outside the door in the snow. In the evening, we went hunting for the Northern Lights, unfortunately without success. Too many clouds and fog made the view too difficult. Apart from short excursions in waist-high snow, the hike was quite relaxed.

Knowing that the big Arctic Ocean Tour to Norway awaited us the next day, the evening ended early. We wanted to be fit, after all. Because this tour was not only meant to freeze the blood in our veins...

To be continued.