Travel

Last day. Not a cloud in the sky, perfect snow, brilliant sunshine — the perfect day to end our trip. We squeezed every last minute out of it, after breakfast we checked out and after stowing our bags, we were off for our final day of skiing. The final selfie of the day says it all — four happy faces, with the whole Lapland fell behind us in bright winter sunshine. ...

Morning skiing, afternoon husky sledding. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday. We got a couple of hours on the slopes first thing — conditions were great as usual with a sprinkling of fresh powder, so we visited the Alpine Training Park and messed about on the edges of the pistes. Alex is really taking the off piste to heart, and regularly detours between the trees. A prompt lunch at our favourite Restaurant Horizont, before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the afternoon. ...

Today is Cross-Country skiing day! I have wanted to do this forever and so I booked us into a cross-country ski safari tour. They’ll teach us how to ski and take us on a tour of the area. Diana and the kids were not looking forward to today, so it was a struggle to convince some younger members of the family to get out of bed at all! After breakfast we took the gondola into town and walked across to the meeting point. We arrived 3 minutes late and there was no-one there. Whilst we’re wondering what to do, the tour company calls and tells us that the guide has left already and we’ll need to make our own way there. The lady makes it sound like it’s a long way and is worried that we’ll not find it, so wants to send the guide back to get us. She hangs up and calls back a few minutes later to say we should make our own way there. No problem, where is it? Around the back of the building! ...

Today is a powder day! We’ve had a dump of snow overnight on top of the already excellent conditions and I’m excited, this is what I look forward to all year! After breakfast we head out on the usual route up the Glacier Express and across to the Alpine Training Park. Unlike in the Alps where there would barely be any virgin snow by now, Levi is pretty quiet in comparison, and there’s fresh untracked powder all over the place! ...

Day 3, always the hump day! The usual 8:30am wake up and buffet breakfast before heading to the button lift and out for a few runs. The kids are feeling tired today. We ski for a couple of hours before heading to Restaurant Horizont for lunch. I had gnocchi with lentil ragu, washed down with beer, which was great. The atmosphere was cozy, the staff welcoming and the food good. We resolve to return another day. ...

Day 2, and we’re back up the mountain. The weather is overcast today which actually makes for some nice soft light. Temperature is around -15°C first thing, and it is COLD! We spend the morning working through more of the runs — Levi has 43 slopes in total, so there’s enough to keep us busy. By 11:00am we are absolutely freezing, and head to the bottom and to a ski shop for supplies. We each buy balaclavas, Hestra mittens and inner gloves. After donning our new gear and warming up in the shop for a bit, we’re ready to get back out there. ...

On a skiing holiday we’d usually get up early and aim to be on the slopes by 9am, the problem in Levi at this time of year is, it doesn’t get light early enough! The ski lifts open at 9:30am, so we get up at 8:30am to get sorted for the week. We collected our ski passes on the transfer from the airport last night, so we just need to pick up skis and boots for the kids. The hire shop opens at 9:30am, so we breakfast in the hotel and take the gondola down into town. ...

We’re off to Lapland! We’ll be skiing Levi, inside the artic circle. We’re expecting it to be cold, but we’re excited all the same, we have some exciting activities planned, as well as 6 days of skiing. This trip will be pretty special! The flight isn’t until midday, so it’s a civilised start to the trip. Breakfast, packed the car and off to Gatwick. The flight to Kittilä takes around three and a half hours. Kittilä is pretty much as far north as you can get on a commercial flight — proper Arctic Circle territory — and even on the approach you can see how remote the area is. Snowy forest for miles! The cold air hits you as you leave the plane and everyone searches for their gloves and hats. ...

We wake up at 5:15, finish packing and go to collect the children from their room. To Bella’s credit, they were all ready to go, and waiting for us downstairs in the lobby! They also ensured to mention that we were two minutes late! After walking the 5 mins to the metro we wait for the express train to the airport and board with our luggage. It’s busy and everyone’s headed to the airport with their luggage. ...

Our last day in Japan! The plan for today is to visit the Pokémon store, followed by playing some computer games at Odaiba island, finishing off the day with drinks in our hotel with a view of the city. We have breakfast at the hotel, I’m still sticking with Japanese food! They do have a famous soda to try for breakfast, it’s fastened using a marble instead of a cap. Alex manages to open it and we all give it a try. It’s very sweet and fizzy, but doesn’t really taste of much. It’s far too sweet for breakfast so we don’t manage to finish it. ...