Finland: Lapland, Rovaniemi: Meeting Santa at the Arctic Circle

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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USA, Indianapolis, Indiana: Christmas Cheer at Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art

If you ever think of visiting Indianapolis for family fun, you could choose the time when the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art is at its best. That would be in November and December, every year.

For the past three years, during the Christmas season, the museum has exhibited an ever expanding Model Trains and the American West section where the whole family can enjoy the joy of seeing many of the famous landmarks of the American West in 1:32 and 1:28 scale. What a fun thing to do!


The attendant, I interviewed about it said that the aim of the exhibition is to get families to the museum and also at the same time introduce them to the magnificent collection of Western Art exhibited at the Museum otherwise.

I can surely appreciate that it truly is magnificent. The best I have ever seen. It draws you and gives you insights to the way the American West was occupied by the white people. The art is absolutely fabulous.

I saw a painting which made me comment to the friend that I recognise the style. It is the Russian St Petersburg School of Art style which I have seen in my own country.

It tuned out that the painter was Russian. How marvelous was that. In fact there were two Russian style painters depicting the Western life. It soon became clear that it were the painters who were the true anthropologists of the West, preserving the lost Indian culture to the future generation.


The Christmas exhibition brings people from all over to the museum. Is makes around 50% of the total visitor numbers to the museum during the whole year.

For the compassionate world traveler, the museum is a gem. It reminds us of the times gone by and the commitment of some truly talented people who saw the future of the West and wanted to gift the pictures of the life in the past to the future generations.

Visiting the Museum makes you sad but also makes your heart sing to see the quality of care that has gone into presenting the artifacts and the art to the modern audience.

I warmly recommend the experience to everyone.

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Globally, December Month: Finding Christmas Lights Around the Corner

My father was a first person I knew who set out a Christmas tree in the snow, in Lapland, Finland. He had to make sure that the lights would stand the outside freezing cold weather of -45 Celsius and not blow up. This was during the 1970's and there were no specially made lights for outside use, particularly for the cold climate.

There were snow lanterns, though and the favorite of them was the drive from Kemi to Rovaniemi on the Christmas Eve, where most of the 125 kms of the highway would be lit with ice-lanterns 10 meters apart to celebrate Peace in the World. In my mind experiencing that represents the compassion of Christmas Spirit around the world.

The first experience I encountered of a neighborhood where someone would decorate their house with lights for the joy of celebrating the Christmas Season with anyone coming around is from 1995 in Wollongong, Australia. There was one particularly famous house that we all went to see. It was fully lit with thousands of lights and had a particular attraction of Disney movies shown to the kids against the garage door. My kids still remember that well.

In 2000, I experiences the American Christmas Season lit with thousands of inventive lighting designs on every street of Ojai, California. After that, one of the joys of the Christmas season has been spotting lit houses in the neighborhood.

They can be anywhere, just around the corner or they can be taking part of the special Christmas Lights competitions around the cities, in Australia or anywhere. Some houses have taken part for years and years.





There are many themes available for the decorators. Many of the houses that can be spotted celebrate the traditional Christian Christmas theme, including the Star of Bethlehem and the Manger. Everything imaginable is lit. My particular favorite are these presents.






It is important to pay attention to details as many lit objects are very small or high up the trees.




This house in Ipswich, Australia for example has been decorated for the last eight years. The owners sit outside every night and talk to the people who come to look at their house. It is fun. They take part in the Christmas Light competition every year. So far, they haven't won, but who knows when that happens. And if they do, they will get more lights to hang around the house. Many people spend weeks decorating their houses to be ready on the first of December in different cities globally.

Compassion can be expressed in many ways. I find that lighting up your house to show your Christmas Spirit is one of the nicest ways to display compassion to the world. Donating your time and effort for good cheer is a show of 'Joy to the World' in a non-expensive (the solar powered lights can be used) and fun way of contributing to the world around us.

Lets all enjoy our December to the best of our ability and pay special attention to the lights of Christmas! it is a very enjoyable experience.




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