Rovaneimi - Christmas Kitsch

Greetings from Rovaniemi, where it’s still Christmas or maybe it never stops. Wherever you go in this little city you cannot escape Christmas! It’s the official home of Santa. Just out of the city you can find the Santa Park and also Santa Claus Village (that Sonia has nicknamed ‘A Christmas Nightmare’) featuring a whole hall full of Christmas souvenir shops, Snowman World, visit the big man himself, see the official Post Office and the list goes on. You can also cross the Arctic Circle here too! Today’s activities also included a snowmobile along the frozen waters of the Ounasjoki River, to then take a ride on a sledge led by a poor suffering reindeer whose very existence is to pull sledge loads of loud tourists. Rovaniemi is not a terribly exciting place, even the buildings say so, block after block of what I would consider ‘soviet’ style bland looking structures. Thankfully though no high rises. Wandering the streets to our dinner destination we did however find a couple of little shops that will be visited in the morning before we head out to Kittilä.Read more