Woke up in the middle of the night for an hour last night. Dunno why. Other than the static electricity I was comfortable enough, just not sleeping.
Breakfast was pretty decent. After breakfast went for a walk down to the river to photograph the Lumberjack Candle bridge.
Jätkänkynttilä (Lumberjack's Candle Bridge) over the Kemijoki River
After breakfast we had a tour of the town of Rovaniemi with a local guide. She took us to the Lutheran church in town and we got a very detailed explanation of the fresco there.
Rovaniemen kirkko (Rovaniemi Church)
Interior of Rovaniemi Church
Piles of timber in Rovaniemi
Then we headed up north of town to Santa's "office" and the whole tourist kitsch. It's advertised as being on the Arctic Circle, which I thought was pretty cool at the time.
Except.
It's not.
Not only is it a couple of kilometres south of the Arctic circle, it's not even on a horizontal line to match up with any meridian. If you look at it on your favourite mapping application it's on quite a sharp diagonal.
But I didn't discover than until later.
Me and Mum at the Arctic Circle (only it's not and never has been!!)
Me at the fake Arctic Circle
Photo by Mum
Temperature gauge at Santa Claus Village)
Our Insight Vacations tour group
In the meantime, they gave us some time to explore Santa's village there. We wandered into Santa's "office" where you can have your photo taken with the "real" Santa. Mum wanted to do it so we did. Me, I took one look at the prices and declared it *completely* ridiculous. It was 30 Euro for a large print. 35 Euro for five small prints. Or 40 Euro for a digital copy of the photo.
What. The. F@#k. ?????
How can they get away with charging 40 Euro for a digital file that they don't even have to expend any media on?? It's criminal. Needless to say I was not amused. I said I'd given them 10 Euro for the file. The girl wasn't amused. I'm sure she gets it all the time. I certainly wouldn't be doing that job.
Not only that, but you could tell the queue lasted for hours at certain times of year. They had a whole huge setup for the queuing. What made it so bad was that you went in and sat with "Santa" but instead of just taking a photo he makes all this small talk, which later turns out you can buy as a video.
?!?!
If they wanted more money:
1) charge less for the photos
2) cut out the crap and just churn people through instead of making them wait forever
Anyways.
I'm not cynical at all.
Honest ;)
Santa Claus Main Post Office sign
Mum and me with Santa
After that we had a wander through all the little souvenir shops which was fun.
Me at the shops in Joulupukin Pajakylä (Santa Claus Village)
Photo by Mum
Got back to the hotel and given a small lunch break so I had Subway. Because it was across the road. So sue me.
Then we headed out again for the first of our optional tours for the day.
The first stop was the Arktikum, a museum of Arctic life. We had over an hour with the guide which was good, but then only got twenty minutes of self exploration of the museum. Ridiculous.
Arktikum Arctic Museum
Gallery in Arktikum
Gallery in Arktikum
Map of the Arctic Circle
Photo by Mum
Traditional Sami clothing
Traditional Sami clothing
Sleds in Arktikum
The Majestik Møøse
Reindeer
Frame and contents of a traditional Sami shelter
Wolverine
The second stop was a "pioneer farm" which was an old family farm house which had been preserved and turned into a museum. That was a great experience too, but again, ended with only a super short time to explore all the stuff there. Frustrating.
Barn in Rovaniemen kotiseutumuseo (Rovaniemi Local History Museum)
Rovaniemen kotiseutumuseo (Rovaniemi Local History Museum)
Grounds of the Rovaniemi Local History Museum
Living room in the Rovaniemi Local History Museum (weaving was done in winter months)
Fireplaces in the Rovaniemi Local History Museum
Grounds of the Rovaniemi Local History Museum
Kemijoki River
Rovaniemi Local History Museum
Dairy processing equipment
Workshop and tools
Once back in town again there was a couple of hours to kill before dinner, so Mum and I went down to the river to see the bridge, then ended up doing the whole bridge to bridge walk. Whoops.
Jätkänkynttilä (Lumberjack's Candle Bridge) over the Kemijoki River
View to the Rovaniemi Local History Museum
Vanhasilta (The Old Bridge)
Maidolla elämisen alku sculpture by Ensio Seppänen near the Lumberjack's Candle Bridge
Jätkänkynttilä (Lumberjack's Candle Bridge)
The lights at the top resemble a type of fire used by lumberjacks in stumps
Rovaniemi from the Lumberjack's Candle Bridge
Then we had the next optional tour, which was out to a reindeer farm. We got to see one week old baby reindeer which were so adorable, and got to feed some young male reindeer. Then we headed up to dinner which was reindeer with mashed potato and berries. Quite tasty and quite a lovely evening.
Pond and hut at Konttaniemi Reindeer Farm
Laplanders in traditional dress at Konttaniemi Reindeer Farm
Traditional huts at the reindeer farm
Our tour group round the fire in a large hut
Week old baby reindeer!
Photo by Mum
Week old baby reindeer!
Week old baby reindeer!
Reindeer at Konttaniemi Reindeer Farm
Me feeding a reindeer
Photo by Mum
Mum feeding a reindeer
Reindeer at Konttaniemi Reindeer Farm
Then back to the hotel to do computer stuff.
As it turns out, we did actually cross the Arctic circle tonight when we went to the reindeer farm. I saw a sign on the road, and later confirmed it on the map. So I have actually been to the arctic :)
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