Busy busy...

Day 47. Hello my neglected photostream...

It's been too long, but I'm back (in one form or another). We'll have to see how well I can keep up with the one photo a day pace, but I'll do my best.

So what's happened recently? My last update was from Helsinki, Finland. During my (wonderful) stay in Finland, I also had a chance to visit Rovaniemi at the heart of Lapland. Quite a change from the fast beat of the city that Helsinki is, but charming in its own way, Rovaniemi is situated right below the arctic circle, and I can only imagine how different a place it is in the winter seasons. At the outskirts of Rovaniemi is Ounasvaara, a ski resort. Now, the Finland landscape is not exactly known for its mountains...in fact, it's far more likely known for its lack thereof. So when we say Ounasvaara is a ski resort, you have to understand that it's really more of a hill - which was fantastic for a traveler like me to explore in a single afternoon. The slope itself also features two ski jumps - monolithic structures that are rather intimidating in close proximity (pictures to come?).

But the real highlight of my afternoon on Ounasvaara was (besides the sighting of Finnish reindeer!) the friendly swarm of bumblebees harvesting nectar (and of course, aiding in the reproduction of) of these bright yellow flowers. The bees blended into the landscape so well that I didn't notice them at first, but once sighted, it was difficult to leave. Captivating and honestly a bit magical in the way that only nature of capable of...

One a day.