Day 12—Finland to Estonia

We visited a local reindeer farm this morning. All reindeer in Finland are owned leaving no reindeer in the wild. Each reindeer farmer/owner has their own “brand” which is a notch on the ear. Our group was greeted by a Sami family that guided us into a smoke filled tee-pee like structure for a special ‘crossing the arctic circle ceremony . Each of us were notched on the back of the neck (in pantomime) and given dust of reindeer antler—known to locals as an aphrodisiac. Some fed the reindeer as they swatted flies and mosquitoes from their hoofs with the new large antlers, still covered with velvet. The albino reindeer was quite unusual. Reindeer are actually cousins to caribou, with a sleeker body and longer legs adapted to bounding through much deeper snow. We took a taxi from the reindeer farm to chill out at the Ice Bar—an icy experience in the middle of summer. Located at Santa Park—Santa Claus’ Cavern, we descended about 40 meters into the rock cave. Temperatures in the cavern were more comfortable than the unusual 80°F weather outside with no pesky insects (mosquitoes, flies, etc) and no crowds. The bar at Santa Park is made entirely from ice and reindeer pelts and is a steady -15 degrees Celsius. We met Santa Claus, got his autograph and saw the Elf School. Unfortunately, we were not allowed in the workshop. However, we could hear the Elves, busily working away for next Christmas. Shortly we left Santa Park and met our group at the airport where we once again boarded our private jet and flew to Tallinn, Estonia.
We cleared customs and immigration in Tallinn where buses waited to take us to the Old City. The city of Tallinn spreads south from the edge of Tallinn Bay on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. We took the walking tour through Upper Town where we saw many structures which were characteristic of medieval Tallinn, then descended stairs to the Lower Town winding through small lanes and courtyards, and visited the St. Nicholas Church with its magnificent icons.