Véro from Uprooted Wanderers talks about Urbex, with adventurous photos, and calls for memories of travel moments that brought joy. I have no experience exploring abandoned urban places, but the day I hiked to a completely frozen cafe came to mind.
It was on a holiday trip to Lapland, the very northernmost part of Finland. I live in south Finland and Lapland is very exotic to us “southerners”! (I doubt they call us that, but it’s fun to look at it from that perspective!) It would be even more exotic for people visiting from abroad, I’d imagine!
The photo is five years old (how did that happen?!) but since it’s very snowy and cold here in Helsinki right now, it seems apt.
In response to Véro’s Around the World Challenge – and if you don’t know her blog yet, I suggest you click over right now: you’re missing out!
The Snow Melts Somewhere 
62 replies on “Seeing Adventure”
Bonne Année Lumi. 🙂
(January is still permitted for best wishes.)
I hope you had a pleasant end of of year and start of a new one. I’ve been a bit away from the blogosphere tending urgent matters. I hope february will be better in that respect. Au revoir. B.
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I hope all is well? I was wondering where you were, glad you seem to be alright 🙂 Bonne Année!
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Merci! Kiitos!
(I’ve been a bit busy with time-consuming stuff. Hopefully I should be able to resume blogging soon) 🙂
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Merci pour la publicité! 😉
I love your Lapland series so much. Especially the frozen cafeteria. That would definitely be a place for me!
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One day, one day..!
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Oh that is a cool image – pun intended
And quite a chilly hike – brrrr
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Yeah it was -38C during our one week stay! This hike was extremely cold – but then I got a bit sweaty in my Canada Goose coat – I don’t really enjoy the sensation of freezing and sweating at the same time!
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That is some amazing coat – -I love the feather jackets
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What a wonderful picture this is! How cold can something look and be. This café was in working order? It looks un-earthy, like something from a never before visited planet in a yet undiscovered novel by Jules Verne.
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Oh that’s a nice thought – Jules Verne! Thanks 😊 The cafe was working – I posted more pics of it years ago at
(I should’ve edited the exposure a bit to give more light, but didn’t…) My favorite photo is of this Coke machine which just looks surreal in the surroundings…
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Its is beautiful and obscure. I love it! What a place.
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Thanks Gavin! Yeah Lapland was so unique – it wasn’t peak season either so it was very peaceful!!
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I think I would very much like to visit. Add it to the list!
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An amazing photo. Cold, cold, cold!
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Yes, I’m glad looking at a photo doesn’t transport you there! 🤣
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That looks so cold, but also makes me think of cross country skiing, which I used to enjoy a lot. In the photo, I like the light behind the cafe. Gives it an ethereal feel, I think.
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There was a blizzard in the distance and the air was kind of cloudy (not fog really), so visibility was quite bad. Then a tiny slice of 2pm sunset started showing…
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Does someone really live / work there!?
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Yes, it was open! I had a nice hot drink there! If I remember right, it was a cappuccino ☕️
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Incredible – it looks so inhospitable from the outside!
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Very Narnia, isn’t it?!
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Excellent description!
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What a snowy scene! I’ve had two winter holidays in Lapland but both in
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Saariselka which I enjoyed. It was so peaceful and the light unforgettable.
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We might visit the very northern parts of Norway one day, apparently the Northern Lights are better visible there!
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That would be an amazing trip. Sadly we didn’t get to see the northern lights either time in Saariselka, Both visits were at Easter so it was just a little too late for the splendid light show. Hope you are getting into a routine now being back at work and the twins have settled into day care and you are not missing them too much and not rushed off your feet when you return home catching up on the chores.
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Thanks Marion 😊 The boys have a bit of a cold now so we’ve stayed home for a couple of days. Daycare is going ok, they still haven’t completely adjusted but we’re getting there!
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Wow!! I’ve never seen a scene quite that frozen. It makes me cold just looking at it! Quite spectacular looking!
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It was kind of eerie, like the end of the world or something… and all you coukd hear was the squeaky crunching of dry snow under your boots!
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I’ve always been intrigued by that soft pink and blue light in Lapland. It almost distracts me from what I am sure is a profound coldness! I’d love to see it someday.
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It was interesting to visit, knowing you get to leave after a week 😁 For once, Helsinki seemed like a “warm” place!
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Oh my, oh my!!!! That frozen cafe… !!! I’m so looking forward to traveling to Lapland! Your photo made me dream with white and blue landscapes… !!
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And of -38C!! ❄️🥶 Ah don’t worry, it’ll be closer to zero in March! 😊
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I really hope so!!! A friend told me that right now it’s being that cold in Helsinki. Is that right? With -5º and I already wear all the thermal clothes I have… I can’t imagine living more than a week like this! And not because of the cold, but because of the difference between temperatures outside and inside shops, houses, etc!
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Yes it’s been -10C ”feels like -17C” with the wind factor. It’s also dark, slippery and snow falling from a building’s roof could kill you if you were unlucky – seriously!
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Wow! That looks cold. Lapland has always fascinated me. The polar opposite! Did you try out the snowmobile?
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No, we didn’t. It was super cold, not the weather to stay still when you’re outdoors. Even stopping to pose for a photo was excruciating. Keep moving or go inside! 😊
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Oh gosh! Apparently it is a but like that in some parts of America now!
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Yeah, schools don’t close over here for -38C 🤣 life goes on. But I remember my massage wss canceled because the employee’s car didn’t start!
I gather it’s even colder in some parts America right now, inhumanely so
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That is an insane temperature. But schools get don’t close here when it 44 C either…
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Looking at that photo I’m intrigued. It is the kind of architecture (wide verandas) I would expect in outback Australia rather than Lapland. Id like to see the interior.
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The interior was quite simple, wooden structures (I didn’t take photos). Come to think of it, the verandas and all would fit well in Australia. I think it was built like a cabin, but bigger.
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I also noticed a likeness, Robyn.
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Wow, this photo is fantastic. I hope the heating was working in the cafeteria. I would imagine you’d be glad of a hot drink after your freezing hike.
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Yep, fingers and toes frozen numb, just what I needed!
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Wow that’s what I call frozen! Very cool 🙂 I hope there was a hot cuppa inside
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Oh yes, I made sure there was!! 😀
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That’s incredible! Do you remember how cold it was when you were there? There’s something about structures completely covered in ice that’s really incredible.
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It was -38C that week, this was somewhere around -30C. Have a look at my old post I linked to to read about it! Thanks for your comment!
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question. do they serve ice with drinks? 😛
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Hahahah. I bet they do!
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Incredible,what an adventure. Can’t get my head around such extreme temperatures…
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Yes it was surreal!!!!
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Beautiful capture
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Why thank you 🌼
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That place looks incredible! I love urbex, but this shot is quite another category in its own right. It’s beautiful and almost eerie…
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Thanks! 😊 There are more pics from closeup if you click on the post linked in the text. It really was an eerie experience, silent and incredibly cold
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Wow! Thanks for pointing it out! I love snow, put it on anything and I love the pic 😀
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I’m not a big fan of snow or winter. You should spend a winter in the north, hahah 🤪😆
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🙂 I live in the UK. It’s cold enough for snow some years, but not so much as to be an inconvenience.
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Holy Fck! Is all I can say after seeing this pic.
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Hah! Well said
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