Sleep until 9 or so, when the sun comes up. Eat breakfast.
Dress in about 5 layers of clothing, hats, boots and mittens. Go out skiing or hiking.
Eat lunch. Repeat skiing or hiking. Maybe go to the grocery store.
Sit in the sauna, take a shower at about sundown, which is at 3pm.
Make a fire and sit in the cabin - Brian watching bowl games and me reading. Make dinner at some point. Read. Go to bed.
That was about it. Our trip was almost honeymoon-like. Plus we got to eat reindeer hot dogs, which very few couples I know can do on their honeymoons.
The skiiers I saw on the course amazed me. Five years ago, I would have called myself an intermediate-level skiier. But once I got on the trails in Vuokatti, Nordic grandmas whooshed by me, followed by their three-year-old Nordic grandkids in snowsuits. I had to work to stay out of their way. After a couple of days, I lost some of my fear of going downhill and my legs were steadier. Then only the five-year-olds passed me by.
This Finland trip was our first real taste of winter since we moved to Germany, except for a week in Chicagoland 2 years ago. We had to remember how to dress, how it feels to have your hair freeze, how to walk down a hill in the snow, how to cross country ski. It was like a re-certification exam to make sure we are still qualified to call ourselves Minnesotans. Challenge accepted. We didn't get a perfect score, but I think we passed.
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