This rustic winter accommodation in northern Finland caught my eye on the snowy ride from Pudasjärvi to Puolanka. That day the temperatures dropped, and as I cycled onward through the white and silver landscape with my face frosting over like a freezer-burned slab of wheat gluten, my thoughts wandered to certain scenes of Dr. Zhivago. You know, like when the White Army conscripted Omar Sharif and dragged him all over wintry mother Russia until the young Bolshevik (who looked like John Lennon in his Yellow Submarine days) nabbed him - or when with frozen mustache Omar smashes his way into an abandoned palatial estate with communist snow subsequently blowing through the shards of glass as he and his wife retreated to the ballroom. What a performance - the whole time with the skin around his eyes taped back to make him look more slavic. But that is not Finland . . . and although I was later tempted - as you will see in the next frame - I did not smash my way into any abandoned Finnish dwellings, primitive or palatial. (11-17-04)
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Northern Finland cottage |
