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SODANKYLA |
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A two-hour bus ride north of Rovaniemi, SODANKYLÄ has enough of
interest to warrant a stop-off on the road to the far north. The bus
station is in the centre of the town where you'll find the helpful
tourist office at Jäämerentie 7 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, July also Sat & Sun
9am-3pm; tel 016/618168). Next door is the Andreas Alariesto Art Gallery
(Mon-Fri 10am-5pm; June-Aug Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-6pm; rest of year Sat
10am-4pm, Sun noon-6pm; ¬2.50), which has an engaging collection of
Alariesto's early-twentieth century bold, colourful paintings, depicting
the life, struggles and myths of the Sami. Just behind towards the
Kitinen River is Lapland's oldest surviving church , dating from 1689,
its plain roof of rough-hewn timbers crowding in on the narrowest of
naves.
A good time to come to Sodankylä is in mid-June for Lapland's biggest
annual cultural event, the Midnight Sun Film Festival (tel 016/614 52,
www.msfilmfestival.fi ). During the festival, the town swarms with film
buffs from Scandinavia and beyond who descend on this modest place to
catch works by invited directors such as John Sayles, Jim Jarmusch,
Terry Gilliam and Finnish regular s the Kaurismäki brothers, all of whom
tend to mingle in with the festival crowd creating a unique atmosphere.
If you want accommodation during the festival, you'll need to book as
far ahead as possible, but at other times there should be no problem in
finding somewhere to stay. For comfort try Hotel Sodankylä (tel
016/612181; £25-30/$40-48/¬45-54) just opposite the bus station. There's
a campsite (tel 016/612181; June to mid-Aug) just across the river which
also has cabins from 160mk. Places to eat can be found along Jäämerentie
with good pizzas at number 52, Poronsarvi .
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