230: Finnish Lappland from the 1000 places to see before you die book

Ho Ho Ho. For those that never realised, Lappland in Finland is home to Santa Claus....but like Christmas Ill leave him a little bit longer waiting for his curtain call on this blog.

First of all was a flight to Rovaniemi which is the start of the arctic circle (in fact you cross it in Santa's village). While sadly it was way too early in the season for all those winter things like reindeer sled rides, snowmobiles and floating in the Arctic ocean in survival suits, nonetheless I had a wee glimpse of cold...like zero degrees most days and light snow, which actually was enough to give it that festive look, as one would expect from the permanent home of Santa.

Next up was a trip to a reindeer farm (sorry something wrong with the camera taking photos so no shots of these beasts) but a few facts....both sexes lose their horns every year and grow them back. Picking up a pair of male antlers I was surprised at the weight- a good 5 kilos Id guess...each! 4000 die on the roads each year and about 4000 are killed by predators. Reindeers still travel in herds in the forest but they all belong to someone and are tagged.
After the reindeer farm I kitted up in cold gear and headed out to the clearing to eat Finnish sausages and watch the Northern lights.

It was not a bad display...but you need a very long opening on your shutter to film them and my little hand held job just didn't cut it.

Now....what you are all waiting for...Santa Claus's home. Yes its true...he exists and Ive been inside his living room and seen the elves hard at work.

The first entrance to cross into the arctic circle

The front of Santa's home

The touristy angle wasn't as overly pushed as I was expecting. A rather cool entrance to his grotto full of crackling ice, dripping water, mystical birds flying overleaf, big timber structures, bouncing 6 foot elves in hats, a quick sell afterwards to purchase anything from a video of your meeting with santa, to 5 photos in cards to a big printout and then you were off to visit the other parts of the complex.


It is all rather cute- Christmas carols playing, snow gently falling, the large pine trees all decked out with twinkling lights, cinnamon scents wafting through the building from the elves gingerbread factory...and thankfully rather free of children!! It seems adults have just as much of love for Santa Claus, even if I did fess up to not believing in him as I made my way to bounce on his knee.

The post office was perhaps the cutest- they certainly seemed to take the most money off me- as I bought decorations, organised letters to my nieces from Santa Claus, sent postcards to get the rather cool "Santa Claus's Home, Arctic Circle" post stamp, got my passport stamped saying I had been there, paid extra for nicer stamps mentioning they were from his home. You name it....they got you!! 49 euros later I left the post office with a considerably lighter wallet- but a far happier heart.

Even better about this place- you can visit Santa 365 days of the year.....they receive in peak time something like 10,000 letters a day- so those elves are busy writing all the replies. hopefully they won't forget the 7 euros I paid to have Santa write a letter to my nieces.

After that a quick coffee and as I couldn't borrow Rudolph to get back to the bus stop.... I took a toboggan instead...

A worthwhile inclusion in the book 1000 places to see before you die.  Everyone loves Santa Claus so of course...yes!

229: The Design District, Helsinki, Finland

It was a perfect time to see this in light of Helsinki being designated World Design Capital 2012. Not to mention it was the quarter containing Christmas (seems the shops get ready earlier and earlier these days) and so the shops were already full of very cute, artistic jolly Santa Clauses, reindeer, red baubles and shimmering glass.

Framed by cobbled streets and trams, shops with the most inviting window displays and a 4 degree temperature just driving you into warmer places, the Design District was a perfect way to lose a day while I waited for my flight to see Santa Claus in Lappland the following day.

Some of the most creative designers retail in these roughly 10 by 15 street block downtown. With a knowledge of design that is based on wandering around Ikea saying “oooh that’s rather clever”, I was clearly going to be an ignoramus as to which stores I should go in…so I based it largely on window displays.

I spent a lovely hour trying on hats in one store, had reindeer tartare with champagne at a French styled bistro, I decided on tablecloths in another, I picked up Christmas hatted rats in another, I bought a table Finnish xmas doll in another and weighed chandeliers in my hand to see if they could fit in my luggage.

Now…is it deserving in the 1000 places to see before you die  book? Hmmm. Hard one. I think what the problem is here that they might have tried to find one or two things in Helsinki to put it in the book. Ive already given a rip out page view on Alvar Aalto…so I guess on that basis and the fact that I have to find 1000 things to visit that are great…then Id probably on balance keep this one in as Finnish design is pretty cool.