Sometimes I get very tired of the constant sun and heat, so it’s a big pleasure for me to watch some movies and read books about northern countries, where everything is under the snow. The thoughts about freezing cold reminded me about my travel to Finland, Lapland, and the journey to Santa Claus so now I am going to tell you a little bit about it.
I was like 9 or 10 years old when our family and the friends of ours flew to Finland for winter vacations. I remember very well how we landed in the total darkness, and as I was very little I didn’t understand well what were we going to see, so when I had realized that everything was under the cover of snow there, I had a kind of shock. Instead of burning sun, palms and the warm sea I met frost, firs and snowdrifts.
But it made so exited that as soon as we had went out of the airport, me and my friend jumped right into the closest sniwdrift we saw. It was amazing! Later we played snowballs, built snowmen and just enjoined the snow in every way we could imagine.
But there is always a flip side of the coin, so quite soon we fell ill cause our organisms were not use to this type of climate. For 3 days we stayed in our hotel and it was a real torment because we strongly wanted to go out and play, so as far as we had recovered we happily went outside to enjoy the weather. It was fantastic!
But the most intriguing thing we couldn’t stop thinking about was visiting the residence of Santa Claus in Lapland. Real Santa Claus! It was so exiting!
It’s a pity that I don’t remember well how it was happening, so I brushed up my memory and search on the internet about it.
The residence is a big village in Rovaniemi, where everybody can see the fairytale in a real life. You can take a ride on deers, have a trip along the forest in the sleight ruled by hasky dogs, meet friendly elves, buy presents, enjoy the magical atmosphere inside the main building, where everything looks like you are in a Christmas cartoon, and, of course meet Santa Claus!
We even crossed the polar circule here! I still have my certificate of it hanging on my wall.
That year I had a dream to get a camera as New Year present, and my parents told me that this time I would have a chance to ask Santa for it in person. I was very exited as we were staying in a queue to his cabinet and when I enter it I saw a big wooden room where was a smell of cookies and old paper. On the floor there were bags with letters from children, on the shelves the had a souvenirs from all over the world and in the corner there were a big fascinating Christmas tree with a plenty of colorful balls and garlands, and on the top of it was a big bright yellow star. In the middle of the room was a big wooden table, and at the head of the table sat a stout bearded man in a red suit and with glasses on his nose - Santa Claus himself.
I couldn’t believe my eyes! He said: “Ho-ho-ho!” and asked me to sit near him. Elves around started to clap their hands and whistle.
“What’s your name, young lady?” said Santa. I told him my name and he greeted me. Then he asked where I had been from.
“Italy” - I said. We had a short conversation about my city, plans for the future and the biggest dreams.
“Oh, I see”, - said Santa -“Good luck, though! I believe you will fulfill everything you want. And I can even help you a little bit! What do you want for Christmas, Sandra?”
“The pocket camera” - I said.
“What color?”
“White, I think...”
And that’s when the magic happend. The opened one of his shelves, and took a packed in the colorful paper little box and gave it to me.
“Marry Christmas, Sandra!” - said Santa and hugged me. I even pulled him lightly at the beard to verify was it real or not and it was! We said goodbyes and I went out of the cabinet.
I took the box Santa had given me and opened it. I couldn’t believe me eyes - inside it was a white pocket camera. I was very happy and impressed! Now it’s still one of the best moments in my life.
Except for the residence, we also visited some parks where we could slide down from the special hills on sleds or skies. In this parks also always where a lot of cafes where we basked, had a cup of hot tea and enjoyed pies.
To say the least, we were delighted by our holidays. Finland is really worth visiting as in winter it feels exactly like you get into fairytale.
So I guess when I will get older I also will take my kids to this fantastic journey!
