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More Winter?

If you follow my blog, you’ll know that I’m not a huge fan of winter, snow and feeling cold.

But I know you are!! At least in picture mode, since you guys seem to enjoy viewing my arctic, wintry photos!

So, let me just put my cold feelings towards winter aside long enough to post a few more photos…

Early sunset
Naturally black-and-white scenery
Ready to go!
Through a frosty window

The photos are from Levi, Kittilä in Finnish Lapland. Hubby and I spent a week there in January 2014.

Helsinki, where we live, is in the southern part of Finland, while Lapland is in the north. We rarely get much snow in Helsinki during winter – it snows a few times and we might get a couple of blizzards each winter, but it usually melts quickly away. Without snow, the winters are very dark: it’s dark when you go to work in the morning, and dark when you leave work in the evening. So in an office job without a window room, you never see the sun.

Winters last from approximately October to April, meaning that we can still get snow in April, just when you think spring is arriving. The darkness starts to fade away sometime around March, though, each day slowly getting a tiny bit longer and longer. (Officially, winter solstice is of course in December, but you can’t really tell the difference until much later.) I’ve come to realize that most Finns actually enjoy winter and cool weather.

Tip: If you want to see some really pretty winter photos, Christina over at JustBlueDutch has been beautifully documenting her expat life in Bavaria, Germany. She also does great posts about other places, cold and warm.

65 replies on “More Winter?”

Aaah, a terrible thought not to see daylight without an office window for such a long time. And this doesn’t sound so silly, if you think about it: “I’ve come to realize that most Finns actually enjoy winter and cool weather.” 😉

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I do like winter, but a ‘proper’ winter, with snow and crisp, cold sunshine days. Unfortunately, in good old Blighty, it’s all a bit grey and dismal at the moment. But I don’t think I could cope with darkness for so long – I enjoyed experiencing it for a while but even a sunrise at around 9.15am when we were in Iceland was bizarre and I’d had my fill after a week! Gorgeous photos though, as usual 🙂

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Thanks, Haylee! I can understand what you mean. I liked our trip to Lapland, as short as it was, because it showed me that winter can also be beautiful. Iceland must be similar in some ways. Here in Helsinki, I just get the downsides… I guess there are sunny days, too, but I wouldn’t know since I’m always confined at work, hahah! (The office makes me miss the days I worked as a flight attendant and got to see the sun all the time!)

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thanks for sharing even though winter is not your scene – i love it so much! must pop over to Christina’s later. No sun for months! that’s so grand! seems i need to find a Scandinavian chap then! Love your winter photos!

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In New Zealand where I lived for sometime there was no central heating and every house was like cabin in the woods, the windows would rattle and cols wind come in under the doors and little cracks in the window, no insulation at all. It was an island in the South Pacific after all and people wore jumpers and drank lots of hot tea and wine! It was mad I tell you. the newer homes had central heating though especially those re-built by immigrants like those from China and India – they could not take the cold HAHA! But if you were local, it was shorts and a tank top in winter sitting on the deck having a beer – I loved it!

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😉 Over here, we’d all freeze to death without proper insulation in our homes! But I know what you mean, I’m often very cold when I travel abroad, even to warm countries, because most hotels don’t have proper blankets and the showers can be chilly. I always bring warm clothes for sleeping in a hotel! Honestly, Finnish showers are the best I’ve ever come across in my travels anywhere in the world (maybe I can extend that to other Scandinavian countries’ showers, too). After being so negative about winter, I need to give us a few compliments, too! 😉

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as i was saying to someone just a while ago, we take a lot for granted where we live permanently and wish for what we can’t have, it’s just human folly and restlessness to me, just need to get it out of our system and then we won’t whine about things anymore. Korea is lovely in that aspect and Japan too, lots of creature comforts to make winter and cold enjoyable. I think the Scandinavians are one up in that aspect as they respect the elements and have learnt to make life good in spite of.

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Yes, winter wouldn’t be so bad if we had proper summers every now and then, too. The last 2-3 years our summers have failed me miserably, though, just rainy and cold. Crossing my fingers for summer 2017! Would love to see some sunlight and blue sky for a change!

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Sending warm thoughts along your way and thanks for the mention!So kind of you.
Your photos are waaay better than mine. The fiery sun rising just warmed up that freezing scenery.
Here in Bavaria we had are having a great day sunny, people are sledding but way too cold for me.
I think the longest time I could stand in that cold is an hour 🙂
Have a great day!

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Oh those photos and your post reminded me of my student days in Kokkola few years ago! I didn’t enjoy the dark at all – it was dark when I went to college and dark when I left. After months of darkness, I considered spring and summer true blessings! Such a big contrast between the seasons in Finland. It’s quite similar here in Poland actually, one day I will live near the beach with plenty of sun.. 🙂

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I’m dreaming of my future beach house days, too…. One day… 😉 I’ve never been to Kokkola but I can imagine it must be pretty similar there. The days seem so short when it’s dark and you’re always tired, waiting for the next season…! 🙂 Thanks for commenting! 🙂

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Yes, it is a pity! Everything does look prettier and brighter with snow (though I’d prefer to see green grass and flowers, if you ask me!!)… What about Norway, do you always have snow all winter long, even in the south and by the coast?

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I went to Vaasa to meet my dear friend then we travelled by train and bus to Kittyla to see midnight sun! I wasn’t back anymore…i still have my friend. She went to my marriage in Italy!

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Yes i think the same! I was at her home in Vaasa and I lived her life with finnish habits. I had a flirt too with a finnish boy but i was young…

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You’re right: I enjoy your pictures only! I can’t imagine the feeling one gets when venturing outside when all is frozen. It sure makes for beautiful scenery (but how come your camera doesn’t freeze???)
Good to know you’re not ALWAYS under such amount of snow and that Helsinki provides for a little respite!

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I can imagine you wouldn’t like to get too close to this scenery! 😉
I don’t know if it’s good that there isn’t much snow in Helsinki, in a way it is because snow can make daily life a bit annoying, but on the other hand, without it, it’s just very, very dark all the time. (Snow reflects light.)
My camera did actually freeze several times, but not as fast as my California-designed iPhone did!!! 😉

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I ever experienced that much of a all-day darkness. On the contrary, actually, I was in Oslo for 3 days in May 2006 and had to get used waking up at 4am because of so much light in the room!
I’d have to bundle up pretty bad if I had to enjoy this beautiful kind of weather.

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You’re right, May is very different from winter, it’s our spring month and the days are already quite long. Both winter (tiring darkness) and summer (too bright, insomnia) lead to you being very tired all the time, haha! That’s probably why Finns are one of the nations that consume the most coffee in the world! But still, I prefer the bright nights to the dark days – you can always buy a curtain that blocks sunlight for your bedroom, problem solved! 😉

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Lovely photos to enjoy in the warmth of indoors. 🙂 I have always wondered whether it is difficult to adjust to the Scandinavian winter season due to the extended darkness. Summer, though short, makes up for it I suppose with “white nights”?

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Hmm, well, for me the summer doesn’t quite make up for it – like you said, it’s short. And not warm enough. But most people here love this type of summer – they’re in the right place I guess. 🙂 I must admit though that the white nights are very beautiful, there’s a certain atmosphere to them! Thanks for your comment! 🙂

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That first picture you offer here is simply magical!

I love snow. My skiing days are, sadly, over, but I have such marvellous memories.

You talk of ‘feeling cold’, and I can sympathise, but when you’re wearing the right kit, the cold can’t get to you. And, somehow, the snowy places I’ve visited don’t seem so bitterly cold as some days (like yesterday, in fact) here in the UK.

… and there’s nothing quite like being in a warm room, having a warming drink (maybe even an alcoholic one) sitting beside a blazing log fire with a mountainous snowscape just beyond the window.

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Mostly our weather here in Helsinki is just rainy, windy, dark and cold (no snow). In the winter it gets deadly slippery, too. So no, I’m not a fan and never will be. No mountains here either, or fireplaces… 😆
But right now it’s autumn and this is a pretty season.

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