Tag 28. & 29. Christmas

Hello everyone,

now we're off to Finland 🇫🇮. After breakfast, we leave the Ikea parking lot on Midsummer Day and say goodbye to Sweden 🇸🇪 for now. From now on, we will pay in euros again. First, we will look for a gas station ⛽️ on the Finnish side and be happy about paying €1.18 per liter of diesel.

Our destination for today is Rovaniemi, where we want to cross the Arctic Circle and meet Santa Claus in his hometown. Rovaniemi and especially the village of Santa Claus 🎅 is exactly what you would expect! Christmas music is played over speakers all year round and in countless souvenir shops, you can get everything your heart desires for Christmas. From Christmas tree decorations to reindeer fur, everything is available.

But the real highlight is that you can meet Santa Claus 🎅 there! Not just any imitation, no no, the real one. Of course, we can't miss that, we have to go there. Well said, well done, off we go to Santa Claus 🎅! Through the workshop, along an icy corridor, and there we are, at the bottom of a staircase. Above us, a huge wooden gear, which is part of a giant clock that counts down the time until Christmas 🎄. Now we just have to wait in line for a little while, because we're not the only ones who want to see Santa Claus. By the way, the audience with him, oh what a Christmas miracle, is free of charge. In return, a few photos will be taken of us and Santa Claus, which we can then buy 🤔.

But they really did a great job! Charlotte was quite intimidated at first, but then she became more and more comfortable after Santa Claus spoke to her in very good German (but what did I expect, Santa Claus 🎅 can speak all languages).

He asked us about the rest of our travel itinerary and informed us that at the North Cape, there is only wind, cold, and bad weather.

He said goodbye to Lotte with the words that they will see each other again in 163 days. After a few more visits to the various souvenir shops, it's time to prepare dinner in the motorhome. And then we get ready for bed and go to sleep.

Oh yeah, the parking space is right next to Santa Claus Village and costs €0 😀.

Otherwise,

see you tomorrow......

And here comes the next morning. Today, at the top of the list, is crossing the Arctic Circle. We're crossing the Arctic Circle! I instantly feel like Reinhold Messner and Indiana Jones. 😅

After crossing this line, we are on our way to get our certificate, which confirms our almost humanly impossible achievement.

But this is not a joke....we are officially standing in line with great adventurers and we have it written on a certificate, all for only €4.50 per person. 😅

Later in the day, we will visit various things and decide to celebrate our newly acquired glory with a meal 🎉.

In a tipi tent, salmon is cooked over an open flame. 🤤

After this delicious meal, we decide to change our plans and stay in Rovaniemi for another night.

All this daring makes you quite tired 😴! So,

see you tomorrow.....