Finland,
by the lights.

Three nights of Saariselkä in a glass-roofed cabin and we caught the aurora on the second night. The studio had also moved our husky safari from morning to afternoon when the forecast turned, without asking. Liisa just texted to say it had been done. Helsinki for two nights at the end with a private design-walk of Aalto buildings. The trip you book hoping the lights show up; the lights showed up, and so did everyone else.

Two children, six and nine, and Tibro had us at a family-run lodge thirty minutes outside Rovaniemi that does husky, reindeer, and a Santa morning that does not feel like a queue. The aurora came on night four. Liisa woke us at half past midnight after watching the forecast for our specific village. The children still talk about the sled ride home through the pines.

Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, in that order, with two Lapland nights pinned to the front. The aurora came on the Lapland night two, and the Tibro Stockholm partner knew exactly which Vasa Museum slot is the quiet one. Every connection. Every train, every airport transfer. Was already arranged before we landed. We never once stood in a queue.