Cold and cold surprises

The drive to Rovaniemi is characterized by a snow-covered winter landscape. The roads are becoming more and more icy.

In Rovaniemi we first shop at a Lidl - yes, there is one here too 😁. The prices for food are a little higher than here, but not extremely expensive. Then we go to Arktikum. This is an architecturally interesting building in which the life and culture of the Arctic peoples as well as the flora, fauna and current topics such as climate change are illuminated using modern audiovisual means.

Unfortunately, the Arktikum parking lot is in a depression that can be reached from above via a fairly steep road. It's still quite easy to go down on the very icy snowy road. As we drive up, a car comes along at the junction of the road with a larger one and we have to stop. That was it then. We can't get away, the tires are slipping. So: down the wrong way and up again with a running start - I'm now blocking traffic at the top so that Wilfried doesn't have to stop again. Thank God there are only a few mountains here!

Right next door is the Pilke Science Center, which deals with the topics of forests and wood in the Arctic region.

And finally we visit the Kurundi cultural center with its exhibition of contemporary art.

All three exhibitions are very interesting and really worth visiting!

It's 3 p.m. and it's already starting to get dark. Yesterday we already booked a parking space near Santa Claus Village on the outskirts of Rovaniemi. Now we park our car there and walk a few hundred meters to Santa Claus Village. This is a village made up of several buildings, which mostly house souvenir shops, restaurants and, above all, Santa's chamber. Santa Claus lives there and you can have a photo taken of yourself with Santa Claus for a hefty price.

The Arctic Circle also runs through the village and is very well marked. You can even get a confirmation that this line has been exceeded.

The village is open all year round and is considered Lapland's most famous attraction. We think it's a nice, year-round Christmas market on the verge of kitsch.

Back in our car we cook and eat. Since it is quite cold (-16°), we want to turn on the gas heater in addition to the electric heater. But - oh horror - it doesn't work! Well - we won't freeze to death that night - it's about 15° in the car, but tomorrow we'll go to a camper repair shop here in Rovaniemi. Hopefully they will find the error!

An eventful day comes to an end. There are no northern lights in sight either, so we'll go to bed early.