Far north

White, cold, tough. Beautifully hypnotic. Finnish Lapland, all the way north to Ivalo and Saariselka.

Clearly the ideal destination of this long cold winter, looking for even short days, long shadows even at noon, and temperatures a couple dozen degrees in the minus.

Rewarded with an incredible and unforgettable mix of pale blue and light pink in the sky, enlacing endless ice forests coming straight out of fairy tales. 

When the night falls, a Lappish man in Lappish costume will be making coffee for us all, after parking the reindeer-pulled sledge in the middle of a forest during a midnight session of Aurora hunting.

It is -25, so the fire and the coffee feel really good. Aurora is moving and teasing us, but still hiding her green and violet curtains.

Cross country ski aside, better than a trek is an early morning ride on the snowmobile to pay a visit to Santa's office, to try to impress nephews and nieces with Zia's excellent connections - which can be exploited next Christmas.

And to conclude, a first class Napue gin&tonic and a sauna: what can be better?

Arctic geese

Arctic geese walk in flocks on the coast. A funny, coordinated dance, littering with gusto the dark coastal rocks, which the Baltic waters cannot wash up any more.

Above the geese, a man is bungee jumping from a 150 metre tall crane while, a few metres away, a little girl, too young to even sit straight, is initiated to pony riding.

East of the geese, the main square of Helsinki is full of orange stalls and tourists, Nordic-style street food and fur hats.

West of the geese, posh bars for dwellers in search of an expensive drink to sip throughout the long Nordic sunset or perhaps the short night.

You look nice, the bar is closing: what about some male company? 

It may still take some training, I guess, for this type of Nordic charm.