Meeting Santa in the Land of the Midnight Sun

Christmas is well on its way, a sure sign being that I walked into my local supermarket to see glittery decorations and a life size model of Santa, as well as hearing jingly music. Some love it, and some hate it. But if you are one of the people that just can’t get enough of Christmas, then you may consider a trip to see Santa.

It’s quite funny that the original Saint Nicholas was from Myra in Turkey, but in the nineteenth century he suddenly morphed into the fat red-coated gentleman who lives in the north, and it seems that now Lapland is thought to be his traditional home. It could have something to do with the wonderfully snowy environment of the north that people so associate with Christmas.

If you want to see Santa Claus Village, this is just outside the town of Rovaniemi which has its own airport. Santa Claus Village at Rovaniemi is actually open all year round, and here you can meet Santa and his elves. Rovaniemi Post Office receives letters to Santa from children all across the globe, and they even send out replies on colourful, Christmassy notepaper!

Rovaniemi is not just about Santa though, it is also good for shopping with designer stores stocking various top Finnish brands such as Marimekko and Arabia. There are also Santa outlets of course.

But if you feel like a more rural and slightly less commercialised environment, then other airports to head for are Ivalo, Kittila and Kuusamo.

And, in case you are wondering, what or where exactly is Lapland? It is home to the Sami people who were originally a nomadic group roaming the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. They lived in tents that were similar to native American tepees, and by the 16th century their economy was largely based on agriculture and reindeer. Obviously today the Sami live in modern houses.

They refer to their land as Sapmi, and this northern area has beautiful fjords, lakes and wilderness. The winters are dark with little sunlight but what little light there is gets reflected from the bright, white snow, and there is also a chance of seeing the aurora borealis. In the summer the place becomes the Land of the Midnight Sun with wonderfully light nights.

The area offers some great opportunities for enjoying winter sports and the great outdoors, and makes a great place to visit summer and winter, Santa or no Santa.

The story of the season: flight cancelled for safety reasons - shock, horror

So that’s the Festive Season over with, snow is on its way, and it’s time to think of holidays. Happy New Year!

The big aviation story over the Christmas period was all about a group of children on their way to see Santa at Rovaniemi in northern Finland just before Christmas. Rovaniemi is in that part of northern Finland that forms part of Lapland, though any self-respecting Sami will tell you that the word Lapp is pejorative and that the area, that spans northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and part of Russia, is in fact Sameland. But I digress.

The big story of the day was that these children, their families, parents, grandparents, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all, had gone to Manchester Airport at the crack of dawn in a state of excitement to see Father Christmas, who purportedly resides in Sameland, despite the fact of his origins being those of St Nicholas of Myra in Turkey. Well anyway, after some waiting around it turned out that the flight was cancelled, as the pilot was concerned that the weather conditions at Rovaniemi would not be conducive to a safe landing.

When the story the was taken up by the media you could not turn on the TV, go to a newspaper’s website, or turn on the radio without being regaled with a tale of woe about how cruelly disappointed these dear children were, with the newsreel being repeatedly re-played, with airport scenes of distraught parents - so distraught in fact that the police had to be called in before they attacked staff members. Oddly, it was the parents that appeared to be terribly upset, while the children appeared stoic.

In all the drama, it didn’t seem to occur to any of the journos, parents and the like, that it is better to be disappointed and alive, than on your way to see Santa and risking a tricky landing.

Pilots have to make loads of decisions about safety, and it is important that airlines put safety above all else, something that the grown-ups who were weeping and wailing at the airport, and the media frenzy that followed them, might remember.