If you wanted to meet the Santa in person at any time of the year, I suggest you travel to Finland, to Rovaniemi, Lapland.
There is a special place, right at the Arctic Circle where Joulupukki, as the locals call him, the Santa Claus or St Nicolaus, whichever you prefer has built his base. It's been there all the time I remember. I was born in that city so I know and have visited Napapiiri many, many times since my childhood.
It is a magical place, where you can meet the Santa, talk to him, get to know his elves and the reindeer. You can relax in the festive atmosphere, shop to your heart's content or just browse around.
Most of all you can visit the Santa's main post office, write to your friends and order them a letter from the Santa. And what is really cool, the letters and cards you ordered will come to them right at Christmas, if you want.
Bellow is the line of the Arctic Circle. You can stand on it and also get a certificate that you have crossed it. Pretty impressive. To the North of this line, it is guarantied that the sun will stay up for at least 24 hours for one period in the summer and it won't rise at all for a least one 24 hour period in winter.
In practice, if you happen to be in Lapland for the summer, you think the sun never goes down, because it is no possible to stay up and check when you sleep, although you might not want to sleep at all. In winter, however (which the local call Kaamos-time) you think that it is always dark and the lights have to be on at all hours. And it will be cold, too. But very exotic. That I can attest to.
Take a trip to Rovaniemi at Christmas and you are able to experience all of the magic of the winter wonderland with Santa and his helpers.
The last time I visited Napapiiri or the Arctic Circle was in early October. It was a long time since my last visit and I had totally forgotten the vividness of the autumn colouring in Lapland. It is every brightest colour imaginable. It was so exciting to experience once again. Any time of the year is a good time for the Santa Claus.
What we did was to visit all the shops at the Santa's Village. You can get good bargains there as all the major retailers have their factory outlets right at the village.
We also spent at least two hours at the Santa's main post office, writing cards and looking into all sorts of displays trying to see from which countries all the letters came from. They are saying that Santa gets letters from all over the world and you better believe that is true from all the evidence around the place.
There is also a little exhibition on the history of Christmas and the Santa himself seems to be in a few places at one time or the other, so you can be sure to meet him. You can get a video and pictures as proof, too to share around with friends and family.
My granddaughter was very excited. She happily ran around the village, never getting tired and had such great fun spotting elves, and other things and choosing her own souvenirs. Mostly pink, of course. She was not afraid of the Santa, either.
Now, if you cannot get to Lapland at this present time, all is not lost. You will still have the Internet. It is so cool!
At this time of the year visit www.santaclauslive.com and you are able to find two cameras, one inside the Santa's sanctuary where you can witness him greeting visitors from all over the world and one outside, where you can check the snow situation in Lapland while listening to whatever Christmas song is playing at the village at any one time.
There is also the Santatelevision.com where you can watch lots of small videos about the life at the Santa's Village at the Arctic Circle. I especially recommend those about Santa and the magic of Aurora Borealis. You are sure to want to start planning a trip there after that.
I ensure you will have lots of fun and maybe if you are good the Santa will ensure that at Christmas you will get the present you wished for.
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