Sunrise in a Museum, yes. Do you think so? It occurred in the very beginning of a life-changing experience. After a long night of traveling by bus, I reached Lapland, Finland, by arriving in Rovaniemi, the Santa Claus hometown.
I'll be talking about a surreal traveling experience. I have been to a seemingly impossible world, full of exotic experiences that actually exist. The mainstream travel experiences are oriented on places when travelers feel comfortable, but not necessarily happy. What's the difference between the ideas of spending several days in December on a Mediterranean island and spending them in Lapland? In the first case you feel warm, comfortable, and probably you see interesting cultural attractions and monuments, that is fine. But in the second case, you get a life-changing experience. Museums are here, as valuable agents, to help you understanding some contexts and cultures.
The temperature outside was -16 at that moment. We entered quickly into the building, and it wasn't heated too much – the temperature inside was about 16 above zero. However, it was completely fine to us.
This is the central hall, where the visit begins. We had a quick presentation, given by a person responsible for marketing. That's the feeling – welcome to the Great Country of Arctic! In reality, in the beginning of your visit, you see a definition of the term "Arctic", and you find information you always had some idea about – the lands of Arctic Circle are divided among eight different countries; some other regions in these countries might be slightly different than Arctic regions, while these polar areas of all the eight countries are much more similar to each other.
While this museum is quite large, I made a selection of the most fun moments you can have here.
Watching the simulation of polar lights, with explanations why they occur (I don't have any picture of that, but you can imagine). There is also a long corridor (partially visible on a picture below in this article, built entirely in glass, which enables the polar lights observation, when the sky is clear, and the lights are strong.
Energy efficiency. After an interesting practice found in Helsinki, here I find another example how Finnish museums present environmental issues. There is even a game of figuring out why certain devices are more energy efficient than others.
Explaining polar days and polar nights. Although most of us understand this topic, it's so fun to watch at the interactive device that shows you the Earth's position in the summer and in the winter.
Waters, ice, snow and culture. I loved those simple wooden boats and wooden snowshoes. That's all about the history of living in Lapland and Arctic lands. Yeah, this was just a beginning, because we had a deeper discovery about this topic later during this trip.
The Sun and the Earth. Months and Seasons. This interactive installation in set to December 16, the day when we were there.
Exhibition design is based on the forms of ice, anyway. Lots of stories are dedicated to taking care of climate. Local people in Lapland showed some optimism regarding the Paris Climate Deal. We felt a lot of positivity during this trip.
The Arktikum Museum, and the entire view about the Arctic lands is one of the 6 Amazing Discoveries in Finland. Follow us and get new, upcoming stories!