The family of 4 disappeared through the wooden door, which resembled that of a log cabin, then it was my turn at the front of the line. The young girl dressed as an elf with painted freckles and a dot on her nose looked up at me: "Hello there! Santa will be ready for you in just a minute...are you excited?". Uh yes, that's why I am here, a grown man, by myself. You could tell that she was well-trained in treating all guests the same, even guys in their mid-30s. This made it a bit awkward for me because I was trying to have a normal grown-up conversation, but she wasn't interested. "How are you doing today?" I asked. "Oh just great, like everyday! I'm always sooooo happyyyyyyyy! Say, would you like to make a special coin?". I glanced down at the coin making machine, which was basically a mold and a hammer. "Sure, why not". She showed me how to put the small piece of metal onto the tray, covering it with the mold (which makes the pattern on the coin), and gave me the big metal mallet to pound on it. I wanted to show her I was a big boy, so I hit it hard 3 or 4 times. "Ok, ok, ok, that's enough, let's take a look at your coin". It was completely deformed and illegible, as apparently I should have only hit it once. "Wow, that's a REALLY special coin, great job!". Then she made one herself, which actually looked like a coin and said "Here, you can have mine if you want". Gee, thanks! Then I put it safely in my pocket. There's nothing like being treated like a 6 year old just before you go sit on Santa's lap. And I mean that in a good way, because I was really excited.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I had a 7am flight on the morning after Christmas (or "Boxing Day", as some weird people tend to call it) to Finland, and I couldn't get a taxi. I called 4 different numbers about 15 minutes before I needed it (as is my usual routine), but for some reason, every cab company told me there was a 45-60 minute wait. Finally, one said "we'll be there in 15 minutes". Perfect. Until they called back 17 minutes later, as I was waiting at the agreed pick-up spot to say "there are no cabs, we're not coming". WTF! Once again, thank you Polish customer service. I had no choice but to try to catch the bus, even though I didn't have much time. Carrying my luggage under my arm, I ran as fast as I could for about 500 meters to the bus stop just in time to jump on before it left. I made it to the gate just in time; luckily I didn't have to check my bag (I didn't pack much in the bag because I was wearing all 5 layers of my clothes).
After a short layover in Helsinki, I landed in Rovaniemi ready to enjoy my Lapland Winter adventure. Rovamiemi is a small town, so it was easy to get around (the airport only has a few flights/day, so they schedule shuttle service to the town at the appropriate times - and for only 7 Euros each way). It was pretty dark when I got there at 2:30 pm, and completely "night-time" by 3. Everything was covered in snow, some of the trees looked like the fake trees you see in the Nordstrom Christmas window display because they were so white, with layers of ice coating their branches. The temperature wasn't as bad as I feared it would be (minus 10-15 C on average - about 10 degrees F). Since I had 4 or 5 layers of clothes on at all times, I was actually pretty comfortable.
The food in Finland was better than I expected. A few weeks before the trip, I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations about Finland, to get an idea of what I should look for, and he also had low expectations for the food. In fact, most of what he ate looked pretty gross, and he spent a lot of time drinking vodka (as usual). Rather than eating, he spent more of the show in the sauna and getting stabbed in the back to cleanse out all the bad blood (seriously, it was nasty).
The one thing he ate that got my interest was Rudolph, I mean reindeer. For my first meal in Lapland, I tried traditional sauteed reindeer and mashed potatoes (dairy free according to the menu), with pickles and lingonberries. I wanted to try it on my first day, because I thought I wouldn't want to eat reindeer after meeting them on one of my scheduled tours. I couldn't have been more wrong. The reindeer was so good that I had it 2 more times during the trip, even after looking Dasher and Dancer straight in their sweet little pouty eyes. Since there are more reindeer than people in Lapland, I figured it was OK.
After lunch I went to the Santa Park. I planned to go to the Santa Village the next day, but since I had a free afternoon I decided to check out the Santa Park too (they are different places, of course). I asked a guy at the tour company if the Santa Park was worth going to and he said "it depends...but a lot of people go". So basically "no", but I went anyway. The place was mostly for kids, with singing and dancing shows, and a ride that reminded me a little of "It's a Small World". I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go through it in 2 hours, but I was done in about 45 minutes. It was nice to see all the kids and families running around, having a great time making gingerbread cookies and attending elf school on how to be polite. They taught us that if a mosquito lands on your hand, you shouldn't smash it...just blow on it and kindly ask it to fly away. Unless he bites you, then you should smash his face and threaten to destroy his family. Ok, I might have made up that last part.
When it was finally my turn to sit on Santa's lap, I entered the large room with many "north pole" decorations. Santa sat at one end of the room, and at the other was a camera built into the wall. There was nobody else in the room. I made the long walk across to where Santa sat, waiting for me. I said hello when I approached, shook his hand, and stood there, hesitating because I didn't know where to sit. There was a bench on either side of him, presumably for bigger groups, but since it was just me, I didn't know if I should sit on the bench, or go straight for his lap. I decided to go for it, and plopped myself down on his left knee. I told him what I wanted for Christmas (I'm not allowed to tell you what), then asked him if it was OK for me to take a self-picture of the two of us. He didn't seem to care (I wasn't listening anyway), so I did it. Only then did I start to think about how awkward this was. I was alone in a room with another man, sitting on his lap with my arm around him, telling him my secrets wishes as if I was 5 years old.
I stayed at the Hostel Rudolf, about the only place in town that was less than $150 euros per night (and not sold out, as Christmas is a very busy time of year). It was about a 10 minute walk from the center, so very easy to get to, and I shared the room with a guy from China. They didn't have space for me on my last night, but I wasn't going to worry about that just yet. My plan was to go to the airport the night before and just sleep in the terminal before my 6am flight. I went to hotel reception to find out about the airport shuttle service and the only sign said "shuttles leave 1 hour before your flight". Since I wanted to go in the evening before my flight, this wasn't helping me. Turns out that since there are only a few flights per day, telling people "an hour before your flight" is easier than having scheduled shuttle times listed. The airport is so close and quick, that 1 hour is all you need to get there, check in and go through security and still have time before departure. It doesn't really cater to those who want to sleep in the airport overnight to save a few bucks.
Rovaniemi itself is a nice little town, reminding me of a ski resort with all the restaurants and bars, rental shops, and tourists dressed in ski pants and jackets. On my first morning I had breakfast at the northern-most McDonald's in the world, at 9 am, in pitch black. Since it was one of the darkest days of the year, the sunrise was at 11am and sunset around 12:15. So that was a bit hard to get used to.
Besides wandering around the town, I did a couple tours with Safartica: I saw the official Santa village, visited a reindeer farm (video of me driving the reindeer sleigh), snowmobiled for 40 km, and drove a husky sled for a couple hours (video). I wanted to do a tour to see the Northern Lights as well, but it was so cloudy and snowing in the evenings that I wouldn't have been able to see it.
Visiting Santa is free in the Santa Village (as opposed to paying an entry fee to get into Santa Park). I learned that Santa has a machine that stops time, which allows him to do all his work during Christmas eve and to welcome all of the people who come to see him (mystery solved!). Every Santa visit is broadcast live on the internet and I tried to get people to watch me there, but I warned them too late. On this second visit of mine to Santa, I wondered if he'd remember me from the previous day (since it's obviously the one and only Santa). Something was strange, because his beard was a little different and his accent wasn't as strong. It must be the effects of the time stopping machine. He asked that I didn't sit on his lap (maybe because I did it the day before, or maybe because if he let 1000 people sit on his lap every day for centuries, he'd get tired).
Although I enjoyed meeting Santa, the reindeer and the snowmobile, the Husky ride was the best. I had 4 dogs to my own sled (the benefit of being a solo traveler), but since I didn't have a passenger, I was lighter than others' and the dogs were going so fast I had to keep pressing the brake so I didn't run into the team in front of me. The dogs are nice, but they aren't interested in playing with you or sniffing your butt; they just want to run. They bark non-stop when they think they're about to go (I couldn't stop laughing at this)...we went 15+ km and they showed no signs of fatigue. There are no bathroom breaks either. They keep running and do their business on the move. Their hind legs start waddling, the tail goes up, and the business is done within a couple seconds, all while still running. Every once in a while I'd get a strong sniff of poop. I assume it was from the dogs.
It was a bit of a challenge to try to take pictures and videos while driving...if you drop something or fall off, the dogs aren't going to stop for you. I found out that they aren't really good listeners...at least they don't understand English. It seems like there would be more accidents or people falling off, as there is no safety net or straps. You stand on the rail and hold the handle bar, and pray they run straight and don't go down any sideways slopes or over any big bumps or holes. When they start going fast, it's a big rush. You feel connected with the dogs and nature, the strong sound of silence rushing past your ears. We stopped to roast sausages and have some hot tea on a camp fire in the woods. It was a pretty awesome day and my favorite part of the trip...but maybe I'm just biased because I love huskies (Woof!)
I also went to the Arktikum museum in Rovaniemi, which showed the interesting history of the Arctic region, with Laura, whom I met at the Santa park (she was the Ice Princess in the park - but don't tell anyone...she isn't supposed to socialize with the guests). She's from a small place in the middle of nowhere in Finland, where they heat their own hot water and hunt for elk to eat in the winter. She described a lot of the Finnish culture and how it is to live in the Arctic wilderness. There are so many cool cultural differences all over the world, and the more I travel the more I want to be exposed to them.
I finally found a hotel for my last night, just next to my hostel. I was only there for about 6 hours, but it was still worth it to have a decent sleep, because I was headed to Helsinki for the weekend. In Helsinki I stayed with Jenni (Finnish friend who used to live in Warsaw) and her boyfriend Wille in the city (and their big dog). There aren't too many tourist spots in Helsinki so it didn't take for Jenni to show me around. After some sightseeing, we went to a bar to watch some hockey (I had no idea what was happening but apparently it was a big game), then we went to meet up with Pekka, another Finnish friend who lives in Warsaw. We went to his friend's place for a truly Finnish evening. A big part of Finnish culture is to go to the sauna. And if you have a friend with a sauna in their apartment, that sauna gets a lot of use. We went to his friend's place and 4 of us guys immediately went into the sauna, butt naked. I didn't know the other guys, and we were crammed in pretty tight, bare hips touching bare hips, everything hanging out. It wasn't what I'd normally do on a Saturday night, but it was interesting to (ahem), see how they do it, and the sauna felt pretty good (once you get past the part that everyone's naked and rubbing up against each other). After we got out, more of their friends arrived, all taking turns in the sauna (guys and girls separately). Everyone was really nice and friendly with me...we even played a game involving American movie and TV theme songs. I was embarrassed that I didn't win.
The one food that I really liked in Helsinki (besides the reindeer that Jenni cooked) was a small pastry with crumbled eggs on top. I believe it's called Karjalanpiirakka with Munavoi, but I have no idea how to pronounce that. The salty licorice they tried to trick me into eating was pretty nasty, so don't fall for that one.
Everyone was so exhausted on the Sunday that we slept til the sun went down (which isn't saying a lot), woke up just to eat and watch some movies, then went back to bed. It was a nice relaxing day to end a very exciting trip.
Me and Santa, broadcast live on the internet
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I had a 7am flight on the morning after Christmas (or "Boxing Day", as some weird people tend to call it) to Finland, and I couldn't get a taxi. I called 4 different numbers about 15 minutes before I needed it (as is my usual routine), but for some reason, every cab company told me there was a 45-60 minute wait. Finally, one said "we'll be there in 15 minutes". Perfect. Until they called back 17 minutes later, as I was waiting at the agreed pick-up spot to say "there are no cabs, we're not coming". WTF! Once again, thank you Polish customer service. I had no choice but to try to catch the bus, even though I didn't have much time. Carrying my luggage under my arm, I ran as fast as I could for about 500 meters to the bus stop just in time to jump on before it left. I made it to the gate just in time; luckily I didn't have to check my bag (I didn't pack much in the bag because I was wearing all 5 layers of my clothes).
After a short layover in Helsinki, I landed in Rovaniemi ready to enjoy my Lapland Winter adventure. Rovamiemi is a small town, so it was easy to get around (the airport only has a few flights/day, so they schedule shuttle service to the town at the appropriate times - and for only 7 Euros each way). It was pretty dark when I got there at 2:30 pm, and completely "night-time" by 3. Everything was covered in snow, some of the trees looked like the fake trees you see in the Nordstrom Christmas window display because they were so white, with layers of ice coating their branches. The temperature wasn't as bad as I feared it would be (minus 10-15 C on average - about 10 degrees F). Since I had 4 or 5 layers of clothes on at all times, I was actually pretty comfortable.
Fake window display trees (you'll notice it's dark in every picture)
The food in Finland was better than I expected. A few weeks before the trip, I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations about Finland, to get an idea of what I should look for, and he also had low expectations for the food. In fact, most of what he ate looked pretty gross, and he spent a lot of time drinking vodka (as usual). Rather than eating, he spent more of the show in the sauna and getting stabbed in the back to cleanse out all the bad blood (seriously, it was nasty).
The one thing he ate that got my interest was Rudolph, I mean reindeer. For my first meal in Lapland, I tried traditional sauteed reindeer and mashed potatoes (dairy free according to the menu), with pickles and lingonberries. I wanted to try it on my first day, because I thought I wouldn't want to eat reindeer after meeting them on one of my scheduled tours. I couldn't have been more wrong. The reindeer was so good that I had it 2 more times during the trip, even after looking Dasher and Dancer straight in their sweet little pouty eyes. Since there are more reindeer than people in Lapland, I figured it was OK.
Delicious Rudolph
After lunch I went to the Santa Park. I planned to go to the Santa Village the next day, but since I had a free afternoon I decided to check out the Santa Park too (they are different places, of course). I asked a guy at the tour company if the Santa Park was worth going to and he said "it depends...but a lot of people go". So basically "no", but I went anyway. The place was mostly for kids, with singing and dancing shows, and a ride that reminded me a little of "It's a Small World". I was worried that I wouldn't be able to go through it in 2 hours, but I was done in about 45 minutes. It was nice to see all the kids and families running around, having a great time making gingerbread cookies and attending elf school on how to be polite. They taught us that if a mosquito lands on your hand, you shouldn't smash it...just blow on it and kindly ask it to fly away. Unless he bites you, then you should smash his face and threaten to destroy his family. Ok, I might have made up that last part.
When it was finally my turn to sit on Santa's lap, I entered the large room with many "north pole" decorations. Santa sat at one end of the room, and at the other was a camera built into the wall. There was nobody else in the room. I made the long walk across to where Santa sat, waiting for me. I said hello when I approached, shook his hand, and stood there, hesitating because I didn't know where to sit. There was a bench on either side of him, presumably for bigger groups, but since it was just me, I didn't know if I should sit on the bench, or go straight for his lap. I decided to go for it, and plopped myself down on his left knee. I told him what I wanted for Christmas (I'm not allowed to tell you what), then asked him if it was OK for me to take a self-picture of the two of us. He didn't seem to care (I wasn't listening anyway), so I did it. Only then did I start to think about how awkward this was. I was alone in a room with another man, sitting on his lap with my arm around him, telling him my secrets wishes as if I was 5 years old.
Self-shot with Santa
I stayed at the Hostel Rudolf, about the only place in town that was less than $150 euros per night (and not sold out, as Christmas is a very busy time of year). It was about a 10 minute walk from the center, so very easy to get to, and I shared the room with a guy from China. They didn't have space for me on my last night, but I wasn't going to worry about that just yet. My plan was to go to the airport the night before and just sleep in the terminal before my 6am flight. I went to hotel reception to find out about the airport shuttle service and the only sign said "shuttles leave 1 hour before your flight". Since I wanted to go in the evening before my flight, this wasn't helping me. Turns out that since there are only a few flights per day, telling people "an hour before your flight" is easier than having scheduled shuttle times listed. The airport is so close and quick, that 1 hour is all you need to get there, check in and go through security and still have time before departure. It doesn't really cater to those who want to sleep in the airport overnight to save a few bucks.
Rovaniemi itself is a nice little town, reminding me of a ski resort with all the restaurants and bars, rental shops, and tourists dressed in ski pants and jackets. On my first morning I had breakfast at the northern-most McDonald's in the world, at 9 am, in pitch black. Since it was one of the darkest days of the year, the sunrise was at 11am and sunset around 12:15. So that was a bit hard to get used to.
Besides wandering around the town, I did a couple tours with Safartica: I saw the official Santa village, visited a reindeer farm (video of me driving the reindeer sleigh), snowmobiled for 40 km, and drove a husky sled for a couple hours (video). I wanted to do a tour to see the Northern Lights as well, but it was so cloudy and snowing in the evenings that I wouldn't have been able to see it.
Snowmobiling through the Arctic
Reindeer are real animals!
Reindeer butt
Visiting Santa is free in the Santa Village (as opposed to paying an entry fee to get into Santa Park). I learned that Santa has a machine that stops time, which allows him to do all his work during Christmas eve and to welcome all of the people who come to see him (mystery solved!). Every Santa visit is broadcast live on the internet and I tried to get people to watch me there, but I warned them too late. On this second visit of mine to Santa, I wondered if he'd remember me from the previous day (since it's obviously the one and only Santa). Something was strange, because his beard was a little different and his accent wasn't as strong. It must be the effects of the time stopping machine. He asked that I didn't sit on his lap (maybe because I did it the day before, or maybe because if he let 1000 people sit on his lap every day for centuries, he'd get tired).
Santa village is located on the Arctic Circle
Although I enjoyed meeting Santa, the reindeer and the snowmobile, the Husky ride was the best. I had 4 dogs to my own sled (the benefit of being a solo traveler), but since I didn't have a passenger, I was lighter than others' and the dogs were going so fast I had to keep pressing the brake so I didn't run into the team in front of me. The dogs are nice, but they aren't interested in playing with you or sniffing your butt; they just want to run. They bark non-stop when they think they're about to go (I couldn't stop laughing at this)...we went 15+ km and they showed no signs of fatigue. There are no bathroom breaks either. They keep running and do their business on the move. Their hind legs start waddling, the tail goes up, and the business is done within a couple seconds, all while still running. Every once in a while I'd get a strong sniff of poop. I assume it was from the dogs.
It was a bit of a challenge to try to take pictures and videos while driving...if you drop something or fall off, the dogs aren't going to stop for you. I found out that they aren't really good listeners...at least they don't understand English. It seems like there would be more accidents or people falling off, as there is no safety net or straps. You stand on the rail and hold the handle bar, and pray they run straight and don't go down any sideways slopes or over any big bumps or holes. When they start going fast, it's a big rush. You feel connected with the dogs and nature, the strong sound of silence rushing past your ears. We stopped to roast sausages and have some hot tea on a camp fire in the woods. It was a pretty awesome day and my favorite part of the trip...but maybe I'm just biased because I love huskies (Woof!)
Me and my dawgs
Trying to stay on the sled while taking the picture was tough!
Getting attacked by the Huskies from the sled behind me
I really, really want this
I also went to the Arktikum museum in Rovaniemi, which showed the interesting history of the Arctic region, with Laura, whom I met at the Santa park (she was the Ice Princess in the park - but don't tell anyone...she isn't supposed to socialize with the guests). She's from a small place in the middle of nowhere in Finland, where they heat their own hot water and hunt for elk to eat in the winter. She described a lot of the Finnish culture and how it is to live in the Arctic wilderness. There are so many cool cultural differences all over the world, and the more I travel the more I want to be exposed to them.
I finally found a hotel for my last night, just next to my hostel. I was only there for about 6 hours, but it was still worth it to have a decent sleep, because I was headed to Helsinki for the weekend. In Helsinki I stayed with Jenni (Finnish friend who used to live in Warsaw) and her boyfriend Wille in the city (and their big dog). There aren't too many tourist spots in Helsinki so it didn't take for Jenni to show me around. After some sightseeing, we went to a bar to watch some hockey (I had no idea what was happening but apparently it was a big game), then we went to meet up with Pekka, another Finnish friend who lives in Warsaw. We went to his friend's place for a truly Finnish evening. A big part of Finnish culture is to go to the sauna. And if you have a friend with a sauna in their apartment, that sauna gets a lot of use. We went to his friend's place and 4 of us guys immediately went into the sauna, butt naked. I didn't know the other guys, and we were crammed in pretty tight, bare hips touching bare hips, everything hanging out. It wasn't what I'd normally do on a Saturday night, but it was interesting to (ahem), see how they do it, and the sauna felt pretty good (once you get past the part that everyone's naked and rubbing up against each other). After we got out, more of their friends arrived, all taking turns in the sauna (guys and girls separately). Everyone was really nice and friendly with me...we even played a game involving American movie and TV theme songs. I was embarrassed that I didn't win.
Me and naked Finns
The one food that I really liked in Helsinki (besides the reindeer that Jenni cooked) was a small pastry with crumbled eggs on top. I believe it's called Karjalanpiirakka with Munavoi, but I have no idea how to pronounce that. The salty licorice they tried to trick me into eating was pretty nasty, so don't fall for that one.
Karjalanpiirakka (supposedly that's a real word)
Everyone was so exhausted on the Sunday that we slept til the sun went down (which isn't saying a lot), woke up just to eat and watch some movies, then went back to bed. It was a nice relaxing day to end a very exciting trip.
