Ticking all our boxes in Levi, Lapland – part 1

This Lapland trip was one we will never forget. One everyone deserves to experience (you only must love/enjoy the cold). This trip was one of a kind. Although, we had already visited Levi before, this time the +1’s joined us. We had so much fun and experienced crazy things. Read on to get to know all.

A powerbank delay

Since we booked the trip with Buro ScanBrit, we didn’t have any influence on the time of the flights. Our departure was at 5:30 which meant that we were picked up at 2:30 in the morning. But, as the regular readers know, we don’t do morning moods.

We only had some delay because of my little sis and two other people. It was because you aren’t allowed to have your powerbank in your suitcase anymore. They didn’t know. Before we were boarding a woman spoke through the intercom telling us that if people still had their powerbank in their suitcase they should tell them so they still had time to take the suitcase out.

All people boarded and my sister and I were waiting for her suitcase. They came with my suitcase instead and for as the two others, they got the suitcases of their parents. The staff had to return with the three suitcases to the airplane and search for the correct ones. You can probably imagine, they weren’t very happy… Another thing, my sister had the same suitcase as the girlfriend of my brother (she lent it to her), only my sister put a bow on hers. Thank god, she did. Because therefore, they could find her suitcase much quicker. After all, the powerbanks were taken out of the suitcases and we were ready to go!! Three hours in the plane, just sleeping and sleeping.

Settling down in Levi, Lapland

Levi, Lapland is located above the Arctic Circle. Therefore, there is mainly only “sun” during the winter months between 11:00 and 13:00. The rest of the day it is either dim or dark plus it has one hour of difference with the Netherlands. After we arrived and were taken by the bus from the airport of Kittilä to Levi which took 20 minutes, we settled in the apartment and relaxed for some time. My mom brought all sort of Christmas decorations and after we had done some groceries, we all helped decorating the apartment. The guys also searched for a Christmas tree, only they were so expensive (around 200 euro’s) that they obviously thought “never mind”. Never the less, the apartment was very much in a Christmas vibe.

Testing the Finnish slopes

The next day, it was the birthday of my brother. He became 28 years old. We went for skiing, with the five of us. Dianne (the girlfriend of my brother) is still learning to snowboard and since my dad cannot ski anymore because of his hip, he went with her to the easy slope.

Levi has the largest ski resort in Finland. Compared to Austria or Italy it is nothing, but I must say, these slopes were amazing! Because there was almost no one, the slopes were as new and they were either blue or red. Lots of techniques training! I told my mom before we went on vacation that it was really my dream so ski with the sunset and well, there he was. The first box on my Lapland list was ticked and this was just the beginning. 🙂

After around 3 hours, when we had gone around the mountain, we couldn’t handle the cold anymore so we met my father and Dianne for a hot chocolade and pizza at the restaurant of the Panorama Hotel. When we got warm again, we skied for another 20 minutes and decided we were done for the day. We were going out for dinner, for my brother’s birthday after all, so we all needed to change and make ourselves ready. We had dinner at our favourite restaurant, El Colorado, where I had the best vegetarian burger in my lifeeee.

My brother got the best birthday present ever

My brother’s dinner party only got a little interrupted by the Northern lights. I must give a little background information here. So, six years ago when we were in Levi, we didn’t see the Northern lights. Well, a tiny bit, but we didn’t find it enough to tell people we really saw it. Back then and now, as well, we had several apps telling us the probabilities of the Northern lights (Aurora) with the time etc. You then receive a push notification when the probability is high enough to see it in your region (IF the sky is clear). Before dinner the probability was around 10%, however, during dinner it increased to 28% and it was expected to have a probability of 45% 30 minutes later. You can imagine, I freaked out!

There was a British family next to us and it got on their nerves, too. Several times you saw them leaving the restaurant to check if they could see the Northern lights already. Eventually, they left + their plates as well, because they were still filled with food. Not by any surprise, we left before dessert… Hurried home, changed into termo pants and ski suits. We walked for around 25 minutes from the village away, just straight on and randomly went into a path, hoping it would lead us to an open place We found it! Not much later, my brother got the best birthday present everrr and one of my biggest dreams became true. I will let you enjoy the pictures first, before I talk further.

Yes, what you see is real. Can you believe it? Because I still cannot. I left quite some tears, thanking my parents for such a blessing life with highs and lows but most of all much love. After several photoshoots, some Jägermeister for the adrenaline, cuddles and laugher, we went back to apartment.

I slept so bad that night. I just couldn’t believe that we saw it. At breakfast, Dianne told me that she had the exact same moment as I had: I woke up at night, still confused and not being able to believe it really happened. So, I took my phone and looked at the pictures we took, just to make sure it really was real. Just surreal + another box ticked from my Lapland list.

Yes, what you see is real. Can you believe it? Because I still cannot.

The day after

Monday morning was relaxed. Although, we were just in Lapland for three days, it felt like we had already been there for like a week. It was a weird feeling, but a good one, since we were having so much fun and still had so much to do. During the afternoon we took a long walk around and over the lake. We thought that it would be around 45minutes, but eventually, we walked more than 2hours. Powernapping afterwards was a hit! The scenery was beautiful and so worth it though.

The last activity of the day (+ the last part of the first blog) was an evening snow scooter trip. The last time we were in Levi, I didn’t have a driver’s license yet, so I wasn’t allowed to take a ride on the snow scooter. Oh, I was so excited! + as you can see on the pictures below, I am wearing a red/black suit. This is the ski suit we got from Lapland Safari’s, the company which has a partnership with Buro ScanBrit. Lapland Safari’s has all the equipment you need, boots/gloves/socks etc. However, I wouldn’t only depend on their clothing since only wearing some layers isn’t enough (most times). So, we wore our own ski suit, termo, sweater, etc. and over that we did the suit of Lapland Safari’s. And no, I wasn’t cooking from the inside. It was -23 degrees. 🙂

During our ride we got a little disappointed. We are race monsters and wanted to go fast, however, since there were little children with the tour guide we couldn’t go faster than 40 kilometer per hour. Eventually, we thought we were being clever and left lots of space between the person in front of us to be able to make some speed. However, we all had the same problem. We couldn’t go faster than 46/48 kilometer per hour. We assumed they probably locked it. A pity!

After one hour, we arrived in the middle of nowhere. There was a very cute tiny cottage with a campfire. The two tour guides told us that the chance for the Northern lights was quite low. So, we all went inside, got some berry juice (something typical which you will get at every activity – sometimes super tasty, sometimes far too sweet) and a grilled sausage (I skipped – veggie life).

After everyone ate their sausages, we had some free time before we would go back, so I went already outside with one tour guide and some other people and again, we were all freaking out and the adrenaline rose up. The Northern lights!! The Northern lights!!

We saw the Northern lights for the second time in a row. Hell yeah!

I guess you have read enough for now, so this was it. A little teaser for the next blog of ticking all our boxes in Levi, Lapland – part 2. We hired Fat bikes which was hilarious and went for another snow scooter activity and reached 70 kilometer an hour (happy race monster). See you there!

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