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We were up early today and had an orientation tour of Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. For hundreds of years, it was famous for exporting furs and salmon to the world's rich and powerful. Unfortunately the town was totally destroyed during WW2. The new town, was designed by Alvar Aalto in the shape of reindeer antlers. Sights included Lappia Hall, the Town Hall, the new modern church and its intriguing frescoes.
The church was designed by architect Bertel Liljeqvist, and the artist Antti Salmenlinna conceived the striking interior. The 14 meters high fresco Elämän lähde (The fount of Life) on the altar wall was painted by professor Lennart Segerstråle in 1951 .The church is 43 meters in length, and 18.5 meters across. The steeple with its cross is 54 meters high. 1000 people can be accomodated in the church.
The new organ was consecrated in February 1987. The organ contains 4000 pipes, and possesses 45 registers, three manuals and a pedal. It was designed and constructed by the Bruno Christiansen factory in Denmark. The churchs' exterior was being renovated and the area was a worksite mess as well as it has been raining all night so area was very muddy. We drove around Rovaniemi and noticed numerous wooden houses painted red with white picket fences. After lunch we were escorted from our hotel to the river bank to Lapland Safari's for an optional tour - the Sami Experience.
It was pouring rain so we put on green ponchos and bright orange life jackets before boarding a traditional wooden riverboat for a short cruise (about an hour) on the rivers Kemijoki and Ounasjoki. Along the banks we could see the Winter Ski Jump area and local villages. On arrival at the riverbank of the farm we were met by a "ceremony man" with his hat of the four winds dressed in Lapp costume, who accompanied us through the marshes to the reindeer farm. We saw a number of reindeer and souvenir photos taken with them. Later we were able to feed them and pat them. The ceremony man told many funny stories, a long long time ago................ He drew reindeer antlers on everyones heads from the ash in the fireplace. We received a personalised Artic Circle certificate and then had a go at lasso throwing. For afternoon tea we were taken inside a big log house for tea and coffee with a traditional Lapp Pastry - the comb biscuit.
As it was raining heavy, we did not have to go back by boat, we were picked up by our coach driver and taken back to our hotel where we all had long hot showers.
We met up with Gary and Betty for pre dinner drinks and had tea at our hotel.
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