An amazing week of activities for everyone in Finnish Lapland.

New for 2009 is a wonderful activity week in one of Finnish Laplands most spectacular and unspoilt locations, Hotel Jeris. The hotel and cabins are set deep in the forest in western Lapland, 45 minutes from Kittila airport and 20 minutes from the small village of Muonio.

For those wanting to truly get away from it all and relax doing, fun, new activities as a couple or family this is the ideal place.

Accommodation is in cosy cabins set in the forest. All have a private sauna and fireplace.

At the heart of the location is the main hotel building, where meals are taken in a restaurant offering panoramic view across the frozen lake. You can also relax after a busy day with drinks by the fire in the bar.

During the week your guides will show you how to cross country ski so you can set off in your free time to explore the miles of silent trails through the national park. They will take you out on a snowshoe walk through the spectacular surrounding forests pointing out the local nature.

You will visit a local reindeer museum to learn more about reindeer husbandry and feed the reindeers.  On another day, following tuition from your guide, you will set off on an adventure on snowmobiles (children travel in sleighs) across the frozen lake and through the forest stopping to take in the beautiful views across the fells and for a picnic lunch. For many the highlight of the week will be the visit to the small friendly husky farm where you can meet the dogs and will be whisked off on a 2 hour husky safari.

While all the activity is great fun what many will remember from their visit to Jeris will be the smaller things. Such as the silence, taking a crazy dip in the lake ice pool, the fun evenings tobogganing through the forest or standing on the huge frozen lake mesmerised by the Aurora Borealis.

Jeris allows you to combine some much needed quality private family time with once in a life time experiences.

For the full itinerary and prices click here.

A busy start to the season at Wild Brown Bear.

As the popularity of Baltic and Scandinavian cruise continues to grow.

The Port of Helsinki is already predicting a record number of cruise visitors this summer. They have seen a steady increase over recent years and already have 275 cruise ships booked in to visit between May and September 2008. They will bring an estimated 300,000 visitors to this beautiful city.

The ships will vary from the 3000 passenger plus super cruise ships and at the other end of the scale a 95 passenger sailing vessel. Itinenraries will vary but the vast majority of the visitors will spend just one day in the city.

Modern Finnish food at its best.

The Michelin Guide for 2008 saw the awarding of stars to four restaurants in Helsinki. This includes two newcomers.

The new comers;

Restaurant Carma  - One Michelin Star

This small restaurant with just 24 seats is located in the centre of Helsinki. Its décor is themed around international design objects. It’s modern food has an emphasis on using local produce. Expect relaxed, professional, friendly service.

Ludviginkatu 3-5
00130 Helsinki
phone: +358(0)9 67 32 36

www.carma.fi

Restaurant Postres - One Michelin Star

This young team offer innovative and exciting modern food at the centrally located Helsinki restaurant.  They have a real passion for desserts, which will become clear when you see their exciting menu.

Eteläesplanadi 8
FI-00130 Helsinki

Tel: + 358-(09)-663 300

www.postres.fi

Retaining their Michelin stars:

Restaurant Demo – One Michelin Star

Demo’s chefs and owners Tommi Tuominen & Teemu Aura have retained their Michelin star that they were awarded for the first time in 2006. The restaurants emphasis is on high standard home cooked food served in a relaxed and cosy environment.

Uudenmaankatu 9-11
00120 Helsinki

Tel.: +358-(0)9 2289 0840
www.restaurantdemo.fi

Chez Dominique – Two Michelin stars

Chez Dominique opened its doors in Helsinki in 1998 and first gained two Michelin stars in 2003 with its cuisine influenced by Nordic and French flavours. Its chef and owner Hans Välimäki who believes -Our job is to surprise, offer experiences not to be found at home nor at any other restaurant. First element in our cuisine has always been the taste. I love to experiment but not on the expense of our customers.

Rikhardinkatu 4,

00130 Helsinki,

Tel. + 358 9 612 73 93

www.chezdominique.fi

The Elk are winning!

There are estimated to be 100,000 elk in Finland and during winter young pine trees are their main source of food. The elk love to eat the new growth at the crown of the sapling. The good news is this doesn’t kill the tree but does cause it to grow crooked therefore making it considerably less valuable as sawn timber.

Some of the foresters spray their saplings with an array of natural and chemical deterrents but few seem to be effective. The alternative is culling. The government grant hunting licences each year but only for a fraction of the 50,000 winter population that the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA) estimate would have to be culled to give the forests a better chance of being productive.

For the full story in Helsinki Sanomat click here.

according to the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index.

Finland, Denmark and New Zealand share the top score of 9.4 in the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index. The index looks at perceptions of public sector corruption in 180 countries and territories. It scores countries on a scale from zero to ten, with zero indicating high levels of perceived corruption and ten indicating low levels of perceived corruption.

Below are the top 20 countries, for the full list go to http://www.transparency.org/

country	country	2007 CPI	surveys	confidence range
rank		score	used
1	Denmark	9.4	6	9.2 - 9.6
1	Finland	9.4	6	9.2 - 9.6
1	New Zealand	9.4	6	9.2 - 9.6
4	Singapore	9.3	9	9.0 - 9.5
4	Sweden	9.3	6	9.1 - 9.4
6	Iceland	9.2	6	8.3 - 9.6
7	Netherlands	9	6	8.8 - 9.2
7	Switzerland	9	6	8.8 - 9.2
9	Canada	8.7	6	8.3 - 9.1
9	Norway	8.7	6	8.0 - 9.2
11	Australia	8.6	8	8.1 - 9.0
12	Luxembourg	8.4	5	7.7 - 8.7
12	United Kingdom	8.4	6	7.9 - 8.9
14	Hong Kong	8.3	8	7.6 - 8.8
15	Austria	8.1	6	7.5 - 8.7
16	Germany	7.8	6	7.3 - 8.4
17	Ireland	7.5	6	7.3 - 7.7
17	Japan	7.5	8	7.1 - 8.0
19	France	7.3	6	6.9 - 7.8
20	USA	7.2	8	6.5 - 7.6

* CPI Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

** Confidence range provides a range of possible values of the CPI score. This reflects how a country's score may vary, depending on measurement precision. Nominally, with 5 percent probability the score is above this range and with another 5 percent it is below. However, particularly when only few sources are available, an unbiased estimate of the mean coverage probability is lower than the nominal value of 90%.

*** Surveys used refers to the number of surveys that assessed a country's performance. 14 surveys and expert assessments were used and at least 3 were required for a country to be included in the CPI.

The anniversary season will start with Sibelius symphonies.

The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO), a superb ensemble of 98 players begins its 125th anniversary season with a series of Sibelius concerts at Finlandia Hall on September 20 and 22. These ‘Jean Sibelius in memoriam’ concerts are a tribute to the maestro who died 50 years ago. All seven symphonies will be performed in the three-concert series under the Orchestra’s Chief Conductor, Leif Segerstam.

The celebrations will continue in October with concerts and a broad presentation of its work. An 125^th anniversary disc called Picures from Finland will be released to mark the occasion.

Leif Segerstam was appointed Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in the autumn of 1995.

The Helsinki Philharmonic is based in magnificent Finlandia Hall (seating capacity 1,700), designed by Finland most famous architect, Alvar Aalto.