6. June 14, 2024: Oulu to Rovaniem via Kemi and Oranki/Pello — Art in the Forest

Friday, June 14 (midnight—sun has not set yet)

Greetings from Rovaniemi (near the Arctic Circle)

We left Oulu which was bright and sunny at about noon and began our journey further north to Rovaniemi which is really just a stopping off point before we head further north (about 200 miles above the Arctic Circle) to Inari. We’ve been to Rovaniemi twice before (once in the fall and once in late winter, never in the summer). But of course we could not make this easy since we decided to make a pit stop in Kemi and actually drive northwest of Rovaniemi to Oranki. Thus it was a lot of driving (about 6 hours total with several stops—short and long).. finally getting to Rovaniemi at about 9:00 pm. Of course, all this needs to be punctuated with the fact that it was totally light when we arrived at 9 pm, and now at midnight it is sort of like dusk. The sun will rise at 2 am, or maybe even a bit sooner. Basically, it is never dark. Indeed, the only thing that is making it dusk-like is the fact that it’s very overcast and has rained on and off. By the way, the clouds up here and the sky are amazing—bright blue and huge cumulus clouds that look like giant cotton balls. The only other place I’ve ever seen such a big blue sky was in Colorado.

Anyway, we headed first to Kemi, a small city of about 20,000 and close to the Swedish border. Kemi is home to the world’s largest snow castle which gets rebuilt every year. And it is home to “Stone Age” or as the locals call it “Clonehenge.” Sitting in a park very close to the Finland Sweden border is a modern-day replica of Stonehenge. It’s made of very smooth granite and is about 50% the size of the real Stonehenge, and is oriented toward the same directions as the original. It marks the sunrise of the summer and winter solstices. The artist claims that the stones will remain upright for at least 2,000 years. It was paid for by the owner of a granite mine who saw this as a monument to the granite industry in Finland. After strolling through the park, we found a little lunch place near the Kemi train station and had some kind of reindeer quiche-like thing. And then we were off, supposedly for Rovaniemi, but we wanted to get to Pello and Oranki (which are totally out of the way and north of Rovaniemi). Our plan had been to go there tomorrow but the weather prediction for tomorrow was rain. So, we decided to keep going and get to Pello and Oranki before Rovaniemi.

The drive all day was actually amazing. Again, not a single pothole to be found and only one billboard in about 300 miles of driving. And very few cars on the road. It is incredible that the roads are in such good repair given the harsh winters. I’m sure the billboard was placed illegally. We drove through forests and about a million lakes and rivers and streams—all with clean, clear bright blue water. The roads are lined with wildflowers and there are fences (which are totally transparent… sort of wire grids) to keep animals safe from passing cars. I think there may be tunnels under the road to allow animals to cross safely. Lots of signs about moose (meese?). We did see a baby reindeer on the road who seemed to have lost his way. All traffic slowed to let him go wherever it was that he was headed.

Eventually, we made it to Oranki—sort of. According to the GPS, we were there.. right on the dot. It was drizzling and cold, but we knew we really weren’t there because Oranki has a lot of anonymous sculptures and environmental art scattered about in the forest and there wasn’t any trace of such structures. At one point, after driving on a dirt road back and forth in search of the “art,” we literally walked up the driveway of one of the three houses on that solitary “road” and knocked on the door. It is Finland and we feel very safe. But alas, no one was home, so we were on our own. We almost left to head straight to Rovaniemi, but we were determined. So we drove a few kilometers more on the more “major” road and turned up another dirt road and began to see evidence of the sculptures in the forest. We parked and walked in to see what we could find. By then it was raining, and we were also surrounded by mosquitoes. Either the mosquitoes really like the Oranki art or they love being in this area in the summer months. We walked (pretty covered up with rain jackets and hoods) for a while to see several of the pieces and then bolted for cover in the car to escape from those tiny flying things. But not totally successful as we both got bitten and there were a few pesky mosquitoes who dared to linger in the car—only to be slain by Fern and Mike.

About the “art:” Not too sophisticated, although a few pieces were interesting. Several (perhaps done by the same person) were very morbid with body parts emerging from the ground or maybe the other way around. From photos we have seen, there are some quite wonderful pieces, but we did not stumble on them. Perhaps had it not rained and had the mosquitoes rejected us, we would have been able to find these other pieces. From what I know, there is an annual exhibit where new pieces are installed annually. Around 150 artists from more than 40 countries have produced works over the past 20 years, that are in this forest. Some of the art pieces have already morphed back to nature, which is part of the concept. And this provides space for new art.

We arrived at our hotel in Rovaniemi close to 9 pm and headed to dinner at Gustav Kitchen. Turns out that Gustav is the brother of Alfred who owns Alfred Kitchen in Oulu where we had eaten last night. We did not know this at the outset, but a quick glance at the menu describing the bread that Gustav’s mother made we realized that Gustav and Alfred must have the same mother. Well Alfred is a better cook and the menu and dishes are a lot better than Gustav’s. I think Gustav just tries too hard. Each dish has at least 10 ingredients with lots of pickled vegetables mixed in that seem to overwhelm everything else. But it was all fine and now I am headed to bed. By the way, since Rovaniemi (at the Arctic Circle) is home to Santa Claus and where he takes off on his sled to do his job—-there are a lot of Santa Claus things here year-round… Including inside the elevator in our hotel.

Tomorrow is another day with a long drive—we head to Inari, about 200 miles north of here. We will stay there for two nights and then return to Rovaniemi (need to find a restaurant here!) for one night before flying to Helsinki for three days where we will end our Finland journey. We do truly love Suomi.

Happy Saturday. Hyvää lauantaita!

Fern