Celebrate this Christmas with Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, Lapland

Christmas over these many years has always been about joy and celebration with friends, family, cakes, wine and presents… This time we were wondering about celebrating it with Santa at his home in Rovaniemi… We had always wanted to visit Rovaniemi and the Santa Claus Village to participate in a traditional Lapland Christmas.

We all know who our friend Santa is, don’t we? We call him various names – Kris Kringle, Old St. Nick, Jolly Old St. Nick, Santa, Christmas Papa… Whatever the name, he comes with gifts on 25th December in a reindeer-pulled sleigh… And hey, gifts only for the kids who have been good through the year… He is a fine old gent with a white beard, red coat with white trim, black belt, matching boots and bit more of girth than is healthy…

He’s also a bit of a Google – he knows all about you, when you sleep, wake up, good deeds, bad deeds – everything. He has also had a bit of a bizarre, checkered past. St. Nicholas, Sinterklaas, Odin – Santa Claus has used all of these pseudonyms in the past.

Oh, and he’s doesn’t have the milk and cookies everywhere – apparently, in UK and Australia, he gets sherry or beer, and mince pies at times. In Sweden and Norway, its rice porridge. And in Ireland it is Guinness at times, with pudding or mince pies! I’d be a tad partial to the Irish if I were Santa…

Santa Claus has been a legend of sorts. And is quite a likeable chap I would say. Every kid grows up hearing about the legend and receiving presents from him… Mine were no exception.

However, given the nature of kids currently, I have had quite a few searching questions from them that I have had to field… Logical questions, but somehow, I hadn’t thought of them before – how I miss the days of yore when we just accepted legends and stories without questioning…

Anyway, here some of the questions I have faced and the answers to them – some of them are true and the others a tad laced with fantasy for the sake of kiddie-interest. Some have led to other uncomfortable questions which have to be taken in the stride. I have listed some here, just in case you want to have a look and maybe borrow some tips to handle questions at home…

1. How old is Santa?

Apparently, the original Santa Claus was a monk named Nicholas who travelled around helping the poor and unhealthy folk. He used to leave coins in the shoes that kids left outside at night. He was born around 280 AD in present-day Turkey. So, how old does that make Santa Claus? At this prospect of having to do Math, typically the questioning stops… ?

2. What are the names of his Reindeer?

Santa has 9 of them – They are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph. And no, we cannot change our dog’s name.

3. Are the reindeer all boys?

Nope. They are all female. Even Rudolph. Logic – The reindeer who pull Santa’s sleigh all have their antlers still intact around Christmas. Among reindeer, the antlers of the males fall off in early December and for the females, summer time is new-antler-time… Yes, Rudolph is a girl… Happens… And no, the Rudolph in your school bus is not a girl.

4. What do the Reindeer eat?

Grass, shrubbery, birches, mushrooms, a kind of lichen called reindeer moss, etc… No, you won’t fly or grow antlers if you eat these… Not sure what flying reindeer eat though…

5. How Does Santa Decide Who’s Naughty and Nice?

Santa gets info from parents and a secret group called the guardians of the world – they send him secret lists of all kids’ behavior. So be very careful with your behavior… Well, umm… yes, Google may be a part of the Guardians of the World group…

6. What’s Santa’s favorite Holiday Drink?

Typically, Santa likes anything that’s rich and sweet. His favorite is classic Christmas eggnog — when he isn’t driving… In fact, Christmas Eve is also National Eggnog Day. The origin of egg-nog, some people say, is from an ancient drink called Posset – that was a blend of sweetened and spiced milk curdled with ale or wine. No, you are too young to drink like Santa…

7. Does Santa like milk?

Yes, he does… But his preference changes depending on the cookies and country – for example, in America it is cold whole milk and warm chocolate chip cookie, in Italy it is Struffoli with a cappuccino or espresso. He loves all traditions and respects them – and the milk gives him the energy…

8. Are there any bad Santas?

Yes. For instance, in Iceland they have the Yuletide lads instead of Santa. They are a bunch of pranksters who either pull a fast one of sometimes give gifts. One among them, Grýla, is an old lady who kidnaps naughty kids. No, Gryla doesn’t need a passport to come here…

9. Has Santa never shifted home in so long?

As of now, Santa Claus operates out of his factory in the North Pole. Belgian and Dutch legends have it that earlier he was in Spain where he was called Sinterklaas.

10. How did Santa get flying reindeer?

Actually his reindeer were born of a terrifying, immortal warhorse. These reindeer come from a combination of the Norse God Odin with St. Nicholas. Germanic folks called the winter solstice Yule – a magical time in which Odin led the “Wild Hunt”. Odin had a flying eight-legged horse called Sleipnir. Kids would leave out food for Sleipnir and Odin would put candy for the kids in place of the food.
At some point, Santa’s eight reindeer were inspired by the eight legs of Sleipnir. By the way, they were first mentioned in Clement Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” (also called “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”)

11. Doesn’t Santa get bored of wearing the same red suits all the time?

Actually before 1931, Santa dressed in any color he linked — blue, green, brown, mauve, whatever. In 1931, Coca-Cola launched a massive ad campaign that had Santa dressed in Coke’s red & white – the popularity of this locked the look down. The artist who drew this look first for Coke was Haddon Sundblom. Yes, you can also do a drawing and send it to Coke – they may accept it, who knows…

12. Who did Santa’s job before him?

A goat. Yes, before this whole Santa Claus legend, all the Scandinavian countries had a legend of a magical Yule Goat whose job was to go around checking if everyone had completed their Yule celebration prep and demanding gifts. Later on, in the 19th century, the Yule Goat started bringing presents. And then of course, Santa replaced him. The Finnish Yule Goat was called Joulupukki. No, once again, you cannot change the dog’s name.

13. Who made his cool sleigh for him?

Santa’s sleigh as we know it was created by Washington Irving (he of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”-fame). It first came up in 1819 in Irving’s short story collection “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon”. By the way, Irving also inspired Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol. Yes, that’s the person who wrote Oliver Twist and David Copperfield. What? No, not the magician…

14. How do I write to Santa?

Santa Claus is the only person in the world to have his own zip code. Its H0H 0H0. So yes, you can write to him as well with just the zip code. Oh, and by the way, his hometown, Rovaniemi, has a post office just to reply to the letters written to him.

15. So, the Santa at the neighborhood department store is not Santa?

In 1890, there was a businessman in Massachusetts called James Edgar who had a dry goods store in Brockton, MA. He dressed up as Santa to attract kids from all over to his shop – marketing idea. Since then, all stores have Santas – parents buy stuff from the store and get Santa to gift it to their kids. Of course, you can check this out with the next Santa you see in a store – ask him if he has been to the North Pole.

16. Who was Santa’s wife?

Santa was a bachelor for long. His wife was first mentioned by James Rees in his story “A Christmas Legend” in 1849. Her job is to keep Santa in check. Yes, most wives do this… otherwise the men go berserk.

17. Was he always loved by everyone?

Actually no. Once there was a “War on Christmas”. In 1655, some Puritans in the English Parliament had Christmas removed as a national holiday. When they sailed into and settled in America, they decided to completely outlaw Christmas celebrations in 1659. And so it stayed till President Ulysses S. Grant in 1870. Yes, Santa Claus was busy handling the other countries at that time.

18. Can I go and visit him this Christmas?

Of course, you can. Visit the good folks at Beyonder (www.beyonder.travel) – they will take you to his hometown in Rovaniemi where you can check out the reindeer, the Arctic Circle, the Post Office with its elves and even meet Santa! As they say at Beyonder, Don’t trip on the usual…

Visiting Santa in Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is the Official Hometown of Santa Claus. The Santa Claus Village is on the Arctic Circle and is an attraction that draws thousands of people from all around the World.

Actually, legend has it that his lies in the mysterious Korvatunturi (“Ear Fell”) in Finnish Lapland. But that cannot be revealed to all, and hence Santa decided to establish an office in Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, in 1985. Rovaniemi received the status of the Official Hometown of Santa Claus in 2010.

The Santa Claus Village is open every day of the year, and getting there is easy by local bus or car… even walking since its only 8 kms from the city centre.

Santa Claus Village and the beginning of the legend

Rovaniemi was devastated in World War II. In 1950, Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of the then US President, came to visit Rovaniemi and check on the rebuilding. She wanted to visit the Arctic Circle, and hence they built a cabin eight kilometres north of the city. This was the birth of the Santa Claus Village. It is around even now – right next to Santa Claus Main Post Office.

Today, this village is one of Lapland’s best-known attractions with activity options, shops, restaurants, cafes and the like.

What to do in the Santa Claus Village and Rovaniemi

Lots and lots of activities. To name a few, husky and reindeer rides, snowmobile tours, shopping for design items and souvenirs, viewing ice and snow constructions, checking out an igloo hotel, heading to the museum to learn about the history of this magical land, etc.

Of course, during the Christmas Season, it takes on a completely new flavor, from the time Santa himself declares the season open. On December 23rd Santa departs on his mission to hand out presents across the world.