WALKING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND
Words & photography by Mari Aho
As summer draws to an end, Santa’s elves start gearing up for the busiest season of the year. The Christmas fairy tale comes alive in the Finnish town of Rovaniemi, the gateway to the more rural parts of the unspoilt landscapes of Lapland. With some of the world’s most spectacular winter landscapes, undisturbed wilderness, and the spectacular show of northern lights that appears between December and March, Rovaniemi has all the magic of a perfect winter holiday. Twinkling lights among blankets of snow, reindeer and huskies pulling sleighs, and a real-live Santa Claus surrounded by his little helpers make the perfect backdrop to a Christmas Village, known among the Finns as home to Santa Claus. Though Rovaniemi may seem to hibernate for most of the year, it comes alive at the darkest time of the year. The Christmas Village is where you can meet the King of Christmas himself – bookings are made online, and he’s available any day of the year. To keep in the spirit of Christmas, why not catch a reindeer ride or husky sleigh and enjoy the sights, or get up close and personal with the animals, feeding and petting them. If you’ve ever wondered where your childhood letters to Santa end up, this is it. The post office of Rovaniemi displays letters from children from
82 - EBM MAGAZINE - No 15
all over the world. See if you can find your own or send a postcard with a special Arctic Circle post mark. While there are bigger and glitzier Christmas parks around the world, the one at Rovaniemi has a little bit more of a rustic feel and can claim the prize for authenticity. The city of Rovaniemi acts as a gateway to the larger, more rural region of Lapland, which spans across the northern parts of Fennoscandia, made up of Norway, Sweden, Finland and parts of Russia. This large city (over 8000 square kilometres) with a small population (a little over 60,000 people) is the place to stay if you want to wander the vast wilderness of the north. The abundance of space is characteristic of Lapland, so much so that you can roam around for days without encountering another soul. Lapland’s forests and fells remain largely untouched, and can be described as the last of the world’s true wilderness.
