FLASHBACK #49: A Date With Santa (The Real One!)

This week before Christmas, Bree had organised a wonderful surprise: to see the REAL Santa Claus who lives in Rovaniemi. You might have heard of Rovaniemi, you might not have heard of Rovaniemi. Rovaniemi is Finland's most Northern city, 695kms from Helsinki; the city rests on the Arctic circle, a region of extreme darkness during the Winter months and never-ending daylight during the Summer.

Rovaniemi's most famous resident is Santa Claus and, in case you didn't already know, Father Christmas is Finnish and he doesn't live in the North Pole. He actually lives in a place called Ear Hill, east of Rovaniemi, but to make it easier for his fans, he has an office in Rovaniemi. After a stressful period at work recently, a weekend away was just what I needed. Okay, okay, we're not children, but we both live in Finland and, if you're visiting Rovaniemi in December, you can't not visit the grand old man himself, can you?

We landed in Rovaniemi just after 13:30, and it was already getting dark! Welcome to Rovaniemi, reputed land of extreme cold, never-ending darkness, husky safaris, Santa Claus and his little helpers. By the time of this visit, I had lived in Finland more than two years. During that time, I had heard much about Rovaniemi; it was nice finally be here to see it and experience it with my own eyes. We walked around the town centre whilst we waited for Bree's friend who lived nearby. I had met several times before when she visited Helsinki.

When we all got together, she kindly took us on a tour in her car and invited us to her home and offered us Glöögi, the traditional Finnish Christmas drink. A good time was had by all and we got back to our hotel about midnight, agreeing to meet up at 10am the next morning; Bree's friend would join us as we visited the famous Santa Park.

When I woke up the next morning, having felt like I'd had a good sleep, I was amazed how dark it still was at 9.30am. By the time we got to Santa's Office around 11am, it was now light; even after just one overnight stay here, I noticed how much the darkness affected me. Inside the park, the first thing Bree noticed was the 'cities by distance' monument, indicating that London, the city where I was born, was 2,260kms away!

I have to admit that a wave of childish excitment went right through me. At last, I had proof that Santa DID exist; we are bought up, as children, to believe in Father Christmas then our parents painfully destroy the myth in their evilness. We proceeded to queue to have our photo taken with the grand old man. To our disbelief, we waited an astonishing 2½ hours to see father Christmas, but the results were worth it.

The evidence was overwhelmingly in my favour; father christmas was alive and well and, when he asked how I was, I replied: "I'm tired! I have waited 2½ hours to see you, you're a popular guy!" He smiled and asked me where I was from. I explained that I had travelled all the way from London especially to see him. He smiled and asked what I would like for Christmas. I explained I had everything I wanted in life; a loving family, a good job, friends etc. He asked me if anything was missing from my life. I said: "Yes, I have never won the lottery. Could you send me a winning lottery ticket?!" He promised to do what he could.

By the time we had seen Santa, we had lost all the daylight time. When we left Santa's Office, Bree's friend had an errand to attend to so we agreed that she would drop us off at the Santa Park, situated deep inside a cave two kilometres from the centre of Rovaniemi. We descended to the bottom of the hill inside the cave and were shocked by the €20 fee. We thought there must be something good to look forward to we could not have been more wrong! Bree even agreed that the place was a bit naff! Basically, when you walk to the deepest part of the cave, there's a number of attractions, but nothing so good as to justify the entry fee. Within an hour, we had done everything on offer.

One good thing about Santa Land, however, was that you get a free Santa hat which, i suppose, is the least they could do! Another good feature of the cave was a small exhibition which contained some of the letters/requests that Santa had received from children all over the world. Some of the messages were cute, some absolutely hilarious. One letter was addressed to: "Santa Claus, somewhere up North!" Does that mean Santa lives in Liverpool, or was it Manchester?!

Bree's friend was a bit delayed so we agreed to grab a cab back to the hotel and prepare for dinner that evening. We had made reservations to dine at one of Rovaniemi's prolific restaurants to sample the reindeer, which tasted surprisingly nice compared to previous experiences with the delicate meat. After the dinner, we went for a walk in the empty, cold city. It was -16ºC by this time so we hurried into a local bar and enjoyed an Irish Coffee.

Just after 1am, we headed back to the hotel and, I don't know about Bree, but I slept soundly. The night came and went quickly and, after another breakfast at 10am with darkness still looming outside, I suggested that the three of us visit the Arktikum, a museum which aims to educate visitors on the life and norms of artic life.

Covered by the various exhibitions are the Sami people (the indegnious people of Lapland who are spread across the northern-most expanses of Norway, Sweden and Finland), Arctic nature and the forces of nature that affect this part of the world, especially the weather

It was soon time to head back to the airport for our return flight to Helsinki. Bree's friend took us to there. If it wasn't for Santa Claus, I can't fathom any other reason why tourists would visit Rovaniemi although, having said that, in the Summer, it's probably really nice! Thank you to Bree's friends for your lovely company; it's always nice for the three of us to have our chats. And thanks to Bree who organised the trip!