Check that off the list - going to the Arctic Circle

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 I like lists, lists of books, countries, counties and geographical markers, like 0 degrees longitude (Greenwich), Land's End and the freshly crossed off the list - The Arctic Circle. Apparently, I am not the only person with that idea based on the throngs of people visiting at the same time as me. It wasn't as hard to get to as one might imagine, in fact, once there, I was kicking myself for not trying to work out the details and avoid traveling with an annoying tour group. But let's not dwell on that. 

We arrived at Santa's Christmas Village around 9 or 10 in the morning and were given an orientation and then left to our own devices. I went to Santa's Post Office which seemed like pure chaos to me, but I was determined to send a Santa postcard to my friend in Australia who has worked as a Santa for over twenty years, and then get out of there. I really just meandered around, looking for some good photo ops, maybe a souvenir or two, although my suitcase was too small for anything extravagant. I think if I had a better idea of what we would find and what things were available to do, I could have planned better. I did find a nice cafe, walked outside, walked inside, and then decided to take a sleigh ride, pulled by a reindeer.  




 plenty of photographic proof
This was a wonderful visit, and it was good for half a day. What else was available? Please don't get me wrong, I really wanted to come here, but I thought it would be a little different. I did get into Rovaniemi and walked around the city. I tried to get lunch, but it was Independence Day and places were either closed or had a two hour wait. I am not kidding. But I won't dwell on that. I loved the scenery and the people I met were wonderful, and I did enjoy telling them that I was from Minnesota, where a lot of Finns emigrated to (that is a terribly ungrammatic sentence, sorry). 

I enjoyed the sleigh ride, even though it was pretty pedestrian and a lot like a kids' pony ride. Still glad I did it. 






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