REINDEERS, huskies, helping elves make Christmas presents and a whole lot of ice and snow – visiting Santa Claus in Lapland is a magical adventure for you and your little ones, discovers Karen Pasquali Jones.
IT WAS like a scene out of Narnia. Crisp virgin snow crunched underfoot, fairy lights twinkled in the twilight and the scent of pine trees hung in the frosty air. I peered into the frozen forest expecting the lion Aslan, The White Witch or faun Mr Tumnus – the characters from C S Lewis’ classic children’s fantasy novels – to appear.
But it was someone far more important my six-year-old son was searching for. ‘Can we meet Santa Claus now?’ Deme asked, looking round for the big man with the white beard. I smiled.
He’d only ever met Father Christmas in the local shopping centre. Now we’d just touched down in Kittila, deep in the heart of Finnish Lapland, and he couldn’t wait a moment longer.
‘Let’s go on a Santa hunt,’ an official-looking elf said, leading us towards a hut where we could change into thermals, snow suits, hats, gloves and ski boots as it was -20 outside.
‘I want one of these,’ Deme said, choosing a Miners-type light to wear around his head. Then it was off through the snow deep into the middle of the winter wonderland.
It was 11am but already dusk. ‘It’s beautiful,’ Deme whispered, staring at the trees surrounding us, their branches bowing under two feet of snow. Small fires lit up the pathways into the forest for us to follow on our first adventure – snowmobiles. ‘Faster, faster,’ my son shrieked as we sped off.
Deme clung to me as I burnt snow. I was only going 30mph but icy wind whipped our faces, turning our noses as scarlet as Rudolph’s. I could feel my eyelashes freezing but I didn’t care. This was truly magical – like being inside a Christmas card.
Catherine our elf was waiting with steaming mugs of hot chocolate to warm us up when we arrived back. ‘Did you see Father Christmas?’ she asked.
Deme and the other children shook their heads. ‘Nooo,’ they shouted, pantomime-style. ‘Right let’s go on and look for him,’ Catherine said. She led us single file through the forest to a village, our boots sinking knee-deep in fresh snow.
I could hear them before I could see them – huskies. Six wolf-like dogs, their eyes shining in the gloom, were pulling at the reins of our sleigh.
‘Can I drive?’ Deme asked but we had a professional husky driver. Instead he snuggled under the fur blankets as the huskies pulled us along.
It was bumpy as we raced along further into the forest, which was closing over the top of us, shutting out the stars.
‘Luckily I’ve got my light on so we can see,’ Deme said, his cheeks now matching his red nose. Finally, we felt the huskies slowing and we stopped at another village perched on top of a hill.
‘Is Santa here?’ Deme asked. We were on the top of a hill, surrounded by a cluster of wooden huts. ‘Try down there,’
Catherine the elf said, pointing to a toboggan. Deme sat in the front while I wrapped my arms and legs around him. ‘Ready, steady, go,’ Deme said, tipping the toboggan over the top of the slope.
Then we were careering down the hill, Deme steering us surprisingly straight, as we got faster and faster. ‘Stoooop,’ I yelled as we neared the bottom.
Deme pulled on the brake and we came to a gentle halt, breathless and giggling.
‘Good job,’ I said, picking up the toboggan and running back up to the hill to go again. Six goes later, we’d finally run out of energy.
‘Once more,’ Deme begged but I was too out of breath.
‘Let’s go find Santa,’ I panted. Time for a break.
We went inside a restaurant, naturally decorated outside with glistening icicles. Once we were full-up and warm, we set off on our Santa hunt again.
This time we knew we were getting close – Rudolph himself was taking us. I knew it was him because of the red nose.
Luckily, Deme didn’t notice it might have come from Comic Relief, and was happy to jump in the back of the sleigh for our final journey.
Six of these magnificent creatures – as tall as me, their breath clouding above them like steam – thundered through the forest.
They were going so fast their hooves were a blur and I half expected us to take off and fly over the frozen Arctic circle.
But we were slowing already and I could see dozens of elves scurrying around a bigger village. ‘ I thought elves were supposed to be small,’ Deme whispered.
‘These are big – in fact they’re teenagers.’
I looked away so didn’t see me laugh.
‘Come on let’s see if Santa’s here,’ I giggled and followed Catherine on a tour of Elf city.
‘What’s in here?’ Deme asked, pushing open the front door of a tiny house.
He jumped back, shocked. Inside was a bedroom with bunk beds – and an elf asleep in the top one.
‘He’s snoring,’ Deme laughed as we crept past.
Down a corridor we went – and emerged in a workshop.
It was packed with elves all making and wrapping gifts.
‘Wanna help?’ an elf asked Deme and he sat down and began to wrap.
OK, so he managed to rip the paper and stick the Sellotape to himself more than the present but at least he was trying. ‘Now you need to write your Christmas list,’ the elf said, handing him a pen and paper.
Normally, Deme has a wish list so big it would empty an entire toy shop. Suddenly he didn’t know what to ask for.
‘I just want to meet Santa,’ he said.
I had to cajole him into writing something down and then he hesitated.
‘What will Anais want?’ he said. His baby sister was only seven months old and I’d had to leave her at home with my husband.
Babies who can’t yet walk are advised not to travel to Lapland because it’s below freezing and they can’t control their body temperature.
‘How about a dolly?’ I said, touched by his brotherly love.
He pulled a face. ‘Yuck,’ he spluttered.
‘Do I have to?’
Then it was time for us to go through a heavy wooden door and we both gasped.
There, finally, stood the big man himself.
‘Father Christmas,’ Deme croaked.
Santa was sat at the back of the room, his hair as white as the snow outside, his thick beard flowing down to his waist.
He was wearing small round glasses and a striped shirt beneath his scarlet jacket. ‘It’s really him,’ Deme said, moving forward when Santa beckoned.
He stood chatting to the man we’d been looking for all day, telling him all about his favourite hero, Ben 10, his little sister and asking about Rudolph.
Afterwards he ran to show me the two gifts Father Christmas had given him.
‘One’s for Anais,’ he said. ‘I told him she’d been a good girl. And he knew I hadn’t been naughty for ages.’
Now we had just enough time for a snow fight and then we headed back to the airport for our flight home.
Deme was ready to fall asleep as we took off and the twinkling villages below us began to disappear.
‘Looking for Santa was hard work,’ he yawned.
‘But it was worth it. I’ve had the best day ever.’
I leant back in my seat, sure he’d dozed off when he opened his eyes. ‘Can we bring Anais next year?’ he said. ‘I want her to meet Father Christmas too.’
It was an exhausting, thrilling day full of festive magic that Deme still hasn’t stopped talking about. But it was so amazing it’s snow wonder!
GETTING THERE:Monarch Holidays’ Lapland programme offers day trips plus three, four and five night stays on a choice of dates in December with departures from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham .
Day trips (from £379 per adult/£335 per child) are available on a choice of dates and are inclusive of ski boot/suit hire, toboggan, reindeer, husky dog and snowmobile rides, plus a trip to Santa’s Post Office, a private meeting with Santa including a present and buffet lunch. For more information on all Monarch Holidays’ Lapland trips and to book, visit www.monarch.co.uk or call 0871 423 8642.
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