Hurtling Towards Santa Claus

House of Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, Lapland

In a sense, once we ring in the New Year, wherever we are in the world, we are inevitably heading towards the following Christmas and nearer to Santa Claus.

However, in a very real physical sense last Wednesday night, on the night train from Helsinki to Rovaniemi in Lapland, I found myself in a tin box (albeit a clean, modern contraption), hurtling towards Santa Claus (Village). We left Helsinki at 11.13 pm, on what is affectionately known as the Santa Express, and arrived in Rovaniemi at 11.03 am on Thursday morning, right on the dot of the times outlined on our tickets. We could do a self-check-in on the VR app and, once we entered our 'upstairs' sleeping cabin (small but perfectly-formed), we did not need to see another human being until arrival in Rovaniemi. The option of the dining carriage was there for most of the journey and breakfast could be pre-ordered for delivery to the cabin. On some trains, you can even bring your car along for the ride.

Cars on the Santa Express in Rovaniemi Railway Station

By a total mistake, and judged solely by guest reviews, I had booked us into a hotel that was about 200 metres from Central Square in Santa Claus Village, about a 25-minute taxi ride from the Rovaniemi Railway Station. In my innocence, I thought we might visit the village at some stage if I could persuade Seán to come along. Instead, we were Mr and Mrs Claus' near neighbours for a few days.

I've had some surreal experiences in my six decades on the planet, (or sixty decades, as my friend Ilsa claimed on a Zoom call last week!). However, meandering through an almost child-free Santa's Village in Lapland on a Thursday morning in late March, with Silent Night playing over the loudspeakers of the Central Square, is right up there.

Entrance to the village, and indeed to Santa's office, is 'free' as it is a proper village with cafés, restaurants, gift shops and a globally-important post office. It is also, obviously, home to many renowned reindeers, huskies and elves. But don't be fooled by 'free!'

Over the few days, we sent some postcards from the Main Post Office (so they would bear the all-important postmark). We photographed ourselves as we walked over the line into the Arctic Circle. We even waved at the man himself, but were too cheap (or maybe too embarrassed) to justify the €30 for a small photo of two adults nearly as old as himself with him. (I think I'm regretting that already!) We spent a king's ransom buying a few Christmas tree decorations from Lapland, a wine bottle-stopper and coasters with pictures of reindeer and then we blew another princely sum on eating, drinking and participating in some unforgettable Lapland adventures. (I will write about them in another blog post).

Seán and Kathryn crossing the Arctic Circle in Santa Claus Village, Lapland

We walked a gorgeous, serene 45-minute Santa loop trail through the forest at the back of the hotel one day and were passed occasionally by a cross-country skier.

On the day we left, we spent a few hours in Rovaniemi, visiting the Arktikum Museum. The Arkitkum's architecture is an attraction in itself. Rovaniemi was destroyed by 19 bombings during World War 11 so much of the architecture is functional and modern, this building being an exception. The exhibitions by the Regional Museum of Lapland and the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland were very well-done and so informative about the challenges of living and working in Lapland and the global-warming threats the world faces.

However, one of the most fascinating insights I got during our foray to Lapland was the fact that Mrs Claus has her own separate Christmas cottage and living quarters from the man himself. Perhaps this is the secret to their centuries-long happy marriage?

Christmas Cottage, home of Mrs Santa Claus