Day 14 Rovaniemi - or - what does Santa have to do with the Northern Lights???

Day 14

4.4.2024

Our last day in Lapland....sob. I'm already so sad to have to leave this fantastic area tomorrow.

I fell too much in love with the cold climate, the winter wonderland and everything that goes with it. I was never a heat person and the older I get, the more difficult it becomes to endure temperatures above +25 degrees.

I would never have dreamed that I could feel so comfortable at 0 to -20 degrees!

And honestly: when the sun is shining, thanks to the dry cold up here in Lapland, it doesn't matter whether the thermometer shows -5 or -25 degrees.

Only the wind could spoil one or two moments for me - I'm thinking of my half-frozen nose while skiing in -27 degrees... Wind is a nasty factor - but the rest: a dream!!!

Well, today we don't have to eat cereal at the kitchen table anymore, we have a breakfast buffet in the restaurant. What a welcome change!

The surprise in the restaurant: only Germans!! Crazy! At every table, whether couples or (many) families with children: German is spoken!

At a table behind us sits an Italian-speaking family, but otherwise: German!

The buffet is great! Huge selection of muesli, cornflakes, hot food, bread, spreads, cheese, sausage, eggs, cakes, waffles....

I don't even know where to start 😋

After a hearty breakfast, we drive a short distance to the ski jump. The television is already there, filming and interviewing the young talents (these are children and teenagers (!) who jump from this giant jump 😱😱😱).

There is a big competition here at the weekend with cross-country skiing, ski jumping, skiing, etc.

It's a pity we won't be able to experience the fun anymore.

The weather is a dream again - sunshine and not too cold -5 degrees.

Next we go to Santa Claus Village, which my husband is really looking forward to (irony) 😄

A busload of Asians arrived with us and checked in directly at the Santa Claus Hotel. We continued to the house, where there was a large sign saying "Meet Santa" on the outside. However, my son and I stopped in the huge souvenir shop. We fell in love with Finnish bobble hats in Levi, but they weren't available in the colors or sizes we wanted in Levi, Inari, Ivalo or Saariselkä. But they're available here!!! Yay!! And the price is - unbelievable but true - the same as in the Levi supermarket! Perfect - bought. We took a keychain with us to the checkout, where we got a free packet of gummy bears (expires at the end of the month).

Now we go to Santa Claus. We are alone, can just pass the huge queues (it's really like an amusement park) and immediately get a "private audience" with Santa Claus himself. Photography is strictly prohibited - only the Santa photographer is allowed to take pictures, and the picture is then printed out for a mere €35. Merry Christmas - what a rip-off. But whatever, we're not taking a photo with Santa Claus.

Santa first asks his son, then he asks me what I have seen in Lapland. He also asks if we have seen the Northern Lights. We say that unfortunately we have not been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights in the last 12 days and that we probably don't have a chance here in Rovaniemi (I'm thinking of the 5% probability in my app yesterday).

Today's Santa is modern - he takes his phone out of his pocket and opens an app, frowns, searches for something and then presents us with directions to a lake about 20 km outside of Rovaniemi. It is dark there, we should go there after 10 p.m., park in the parking lot, walk a little way onto the lake and then we will see the Northern Lights!

We are allowed to take a photo of the picture from our cell phone (but he is not allowed to be in it), then we say goodbye to Santa and are bid farewell by his elf helper.

( Fun fact: the elf comes from Frankfurt, greets us with "Guude" and says goodbye to us with a casual "Bye" and "Have fun" as we leave.)

Well, I'm curious to see if Santa is right! My men are already telling me how much they want to leave the house again this evening in sub-zero temperatures. Hmm, we'll have to wait and see!

We look at the surrounding houses - almost all souvenir shops and safari offices, walk around the Santa Claus village and look at everything. The post office is quite funny (you are not asked to pay here), then on to Santa's reindeer (rip-off: here a reindeer sleigh ride, where the sleigh(s) are led along the 400m route by a Santa helper) costs a mere €25 or more per person. Pfff....

We want to visit Mrs Santa Claus, but she is apparently already on holiday and has put up a notice saying that she will not be in her cafe. OK, let's move on.

Next stop: Arctic Circle.

It's a bit strange to be standing there with blue skies, sunshine and -5 degrees, AFTER Easter, and to be bombarded with "We wish you a merry Christmas" from the loudspeakers. Funny -- hehe.

In the Santa Claus Office, apart from the information that Santa is present 24/7 all year round, there are only shops and, of course, souvenir shops.

Fun fact: many souvenir shops are run by Chinese people, where Chinese tourists come to buy souvenirs made in China from the Chinese and bring them back to China....

Too crazy!? Yes - kind of!

Next we go to the Huskies, but that is a pure rip-off!!!

They want €10 from us just to be allowed into the small area in front of the kennels and look at the huskies. If you want to pet the one husky that is on a leash in the middle, you will be asked to pay €25 per person!

What?????

RIP-OFF!!!! We politely decline - CHEERFUL - and look for the stables of the signposted Aurora Horses Napapiiri. The snowy path leads a few hundred meters out of Santa Claus Village, through snowy landscape, to a large snow-covered square and the stables, where a handful of horses are standing in the paddocks. That's all. Two private individuals are saddling their horses for a ride, but there's nothing else here. No sign of winter carriage rides. But the season is probably already over here, like in Santa's Snowman World, where everything ended on March 31, 2024.

OK, we've had enough of Santa Claus for today. We're driving on to Rovaniemi to the Arktikum Museum. There's supposed to be a film showing about the Northern Lights. If I can't see them in "real life", then at least in the cinema! My husband is also looking forward to the "Esson Baari" (a kind of pub/bar) on display, which was extensively "sung about" during the après ski in Levi (music tip: "Esson Baariin" by Poju ).

The glass building alone is an eye-catcher. We pay a reduced price of €11 per adult and €3 per child (instead of €18/€5). At first we are happy about it, but then we are disappointed when we see why the price is reduced: there is no Northern Lights cinema!

Grumml....now I'm disappointed.

We look at the other exhibitions (a lot about Lapland then and now, picture exhibitions in the glass hallway, stuffed animals and much more including a film about Lapland's nature) and of course the Esson Baari cannot be missed 😅

We continue to the ski mountain in Rovaniemi. Not to ski, though. We take a long walk on the 215m high "mountain" of the Ounasvaara ski area in Rovaniemi. We park in the parking lot below the Lapland Hotel Sky and first walk the winter hiking trail to the drag lift "Tottorakka Lift Station" where there is a large starting house above the piste. We climb up the icy steps and could practically "slide" right onto the piste from up here (but we leave it at a photo).

We walk back to the hotel and then continue on the other side to a lookout tower. At the foot of the tower there is a fire pit with a small hut where you can get a fire (all free and open). The embers from the previous group that was here are still burning, so Sohemann fetches a few logs from the little house next door and we warm ourselves up by the fire. This is so cool! I'm really excited!

Everywhere along the winter hiking trails we see special paths for "fat bikes". This is a winter means of transport here. It must be a lot of fun to ride around the winter trails on a fat bike (e-bike).

Afterwards we treat ourselves to coffee and cake in the Laplandhotel Sky Ounasvaara and visit the Aurora Terrace, from where you have a beautiful view over Rovaniemi.

My husband is already thinking about whether we could come here this evening to see the Northern Lights. It's not that far to drive...

Nope - Santa said it has to be dark! From up here you have a great view of Rovaniemi, but nothing is dark here.

On the way back to the chalet we quickly stop at the supermarket and pick up some bread for this evening. I quickly pick up our lunch packages at the hotel reception. Since we have to leave the hotel before 7 a.m. tomorrow, we can't have breakfast (breakfast is only served from 7:30 a.m.). In the lunch package we find apple juice, sandwiches, mandarins, cereal bars and yoghurt for 3 people. Of course, it doesn't compare to the breakfast buffet, but it's better than nothing.

After a sauna session and shower, we were chilling out at the table and on the beds when my Aurora app predicted a 45% probability of polar lights at 10 p.m.! 40% more than yesterday. And for the next hour, it was even supposed to be 55%!

That's my cue: get out of bed and into your thick ski suits!!! We're going to the lake now to hunt for the Northern Lights!

The men aren't in the mood to go outside again (-20 degrees), but there's no way they can back out! We're here to see the Northern Lights. They can sleep at home!!!

Since my husband has already treated himself to a whiskey to "warm up", I get behind the wheel and off we go to the lake that Santa recommended to us.

Lake Olkkajärvi is less than a kilometer away from Apukka Resort, where we passed yesterday.

However, the lake is no longer an insider tip. As we can see on Google Maps, the parking lot is sub-named "Aurora Hunting Olkkajärvi" and when we roll into the parking lot at 10:45 p.m., it is already well attended, including a tour bus full of Asians.

The lake is in full swing. Some Spanish excursion groups have built a large campfire on the edge. People are dancing, drinking and partying. We walk further forward onto the frozen lake and look up at the sky.

A murmur goes through the crowd as we see a faint green stripe in the dark sky (between the stars).

I manage to stabilize my tripod (unfortunately too light and wobbly) in the snow, strap the phone onto the mount and try to hold it as still as possible. Unfortunately, it's just too wobbly and my phone only manages to switch to astro mode with long exposure twice.

After a few minutes, the narrow strip becomes a large, wide strip, and then the bright green suddenly spreads across the entire sky. We can't even see it that quickly. The lights jump and dance, are above us, then next to us, sometimes behind us. They wander around the sky, then disappear in a long veil next to and behind the trees, when I see the next lights over the lake.

We are speechless! I had no idea what it would be like to see the Northern Lights live. Unbelievable, I can't even put it into words. A unique experience that everyone should put on their bucket list!

We are totally blown away! With every new dancing light, the tourist groups next to us whistle and cheer. An Aurora Borealis party!

Simply insane!!!

After 45 minutes I can't move my fingers anymore (I can't use the phone with gloves on), but I'm happy with my "night mode" shots, so we jump back in the car and drive back to Rovaniemi.

According to my app, the northern lights were even stronger and more active between 1 and 2 a.m., but we saw them. Soooo amazing!

Thank you Santa! You were right! A dream came true 😍😍😍

Key data:

Accommodation: Lapland Hotels Ounasvaara Chalets

Arktikum: 11 € / adult; 3 € / child

Weather: mostly sunny at -16 to -5 degrees during the day

Distance travelled: 60 km