Sleigh bells in the
snow 
MALCOLM ROGERS makes tracks for Santa’s snowy hideaway —
and finds a little bit of Christmas magic in faraway Lapland. If
you’ve promised the children a white Christmas you could always
take a flyer on going to Ireland.
Macgillycuddy Reeks in the south-west of the country quite often gets
a dusting of snow mid-winter, but you’ll have to trail your family
up to 3,000 feet to have any chance of experiencing a substantial
accumulation of the white stuff.
On the other hand, you could always head for the centre of the
country. Birr in Co. Offaly regularly records temperatures in December
and January around the zero mark.
Up north, unsurprisingly, is likely to be your best bet. Omagh holds
the record for the lowest temperature ever recorded in Ireland —
just shy of -20°C. However, that was away back in 1881. Still, the
middle of Ulster is likely to be the coldest part of Ireland, and when
you hear an Ulsterman saying, “It’s a bit draughty around the
Sperrins” he’s referring to the mountains, not any part of his
exposed body.
Now, having done my best there for the Northern Ireland Tourist Board,
the stark reality is that if you want a guaranteed white Christmas
you’re going to have to head a lot further north than Tyrone. And if
you want to have a Santa and his elves thrown in, then Lapland is your
only realistic destination. But be prepared — even for a day trip
the experience is going to cost you something northwards of £300 per
person.
Every year British tour companies bring thousands of children to
either Swedish or Finnish Lapland, within the Arctic Circle, to meet
Santa Claus and his reindeer, see the elves make the toys in their
workshop, and watch how all those letters from children round the
world are sorted out. The visit can be done in a very long day, or, in
three to five day breaks, with time to go on husky dog and reindeer
sleigh outings, snowmobile safaris, or sledging and skiing
expeditions.
Rovaniemi, well inside the Arctic Circle, is the main Santa airport.
After landing at the small airport a coach picked our party up and
headed for Santa’s cottage through the star-studded blackness of an
Arctic mid-winter night.
There’s only a couple of hours of daylight at this time of year, and with the sun not even lifting above the horizon even daylight is no more than what we would consider twilight. However, if you’re lucky and the aurora borealis makes an appearance, then the sky will resemble a mosaic of green, crimson and purple moving veils, with a madman of a light engineer playing his giant floodlight across the sky. That alone could be worth the price of the journey.
But it’s Santa we’ve come to see, not the sky performing its uproarious party trick, and not far along the fir-lined highway the coach turned off into the dark forest. The excitement visibly began to mount. The Northern Lights may have entranced us adults, but it’s elves, reindeer, toys and Father Christmas that are the real stars of the show.
There was a dusting of snow on the road (as far as I’m aware, this
was Santa’s magic dust) and soon the pine forest opened up and
we saw the twinkling lights of Santa’s settlement.
Our party, 30 or so strong, were well wrapped up against the elements,
but still and all, as we got off the bus into the cracking cold of an
Arctic night, the iciness took our breaths away. But this only added
to the experience.
We were now following a path through the forest marked by lanterns and
candles. The only person who could possibly have lived at the end of
such a magical path was, of course, Santa himself. Inevitably, the
last lap of the path led us to the First Lapp, Father Crimbo himself.
In an accent that was distinctly Scandinavian and suitably sonorous,
he welcomed us to his Northerly abode.
Soon we were at his workshop, where Mrs Claus greeted every child,
clasping their hands warmly in both of hers and asking their names. We
were fed warm berry juice and crispy gingerbread biscuits and invited
to sign the guest register. Next stop was the reindeer pen, where some
genuine Lapp reindeer were stabled — Dancer, Prancer and Blitzen,
apparently.
We even got to see where probably the world’s most famous animal,
Rudolph, had his quarters. Regrettably, he was out supervising some
other reindeer and teaching them the tricks of the trade in good time
for Christmas Eve, but we were suitably impressed by his well-kept
room, his red rug and his elf helper pointing out how many miles
Rudolph would be expected to do over the Crumb season. And let me say
this was an elf very proud of his work. No low elf esteem here.
Depending on how long a trip you’ve opted (paid) for, various outings are available for you: Staying overnight in an igloo, going on a sleigh ride, or taking a skidoo trip. Simpler pleasures can be had in the snow, like snowball fights (discouraged by the elves), building a snowman, or making a snow angel, where you lie flat on your back in the snow and wave your arms up and down in the snow and move your legs in a splits-like action. When you get up you will be a bit wet — but you will have left the imprint of an angel in the snow. Even some of the children in our company enjoyed this game.
One evergreen treat is a visit to the post office, where a trunk-full
of children’s letters is left open in the middle of the room for
visitors to rummage through. Pretty much as you might expect, it’s
full of thousands of “I wants”.
It’s a strangely melancholy experience. You feel like saying to most
of these kids: “Tell me what you want and I’ll tell you how to get
along without it.” But it’s Christmas, so I forbore to say
anything too Scrooge-like.
So is it worth the money, this sleigh ride deep inside the Arctic
Circle, with the Northern Lights a-burnin’ bright way above you?
Well, I would have to say it emphatically is.
One of my own earliest childhood memories is visiting Santa’s Grotto
in Robinson Cleaver’s in Belfast, nearly half a century ago. If grey
old Belfast can create the sort of magic spell
that can be remembered decades later, one can only wonder what impact a trip to the Arctic Circle might occasion in a youngster. It’s not cheap, but it’s value for money — and for adults and kids alike it’s a magical experience.
Santa Fact File - For more information, telephone: 0870 128
4823.
Or go to the website at: www.santatrips.co.uk
- At the time of writing prices for the one day trips were:
Airport Date Adult Child
London Gatwick 06-Dec-03 £339 £299
Manchester 07-Dec-03 £339 £319
Manchester 13-Dec-03 £349 £309
London Gatwick 14-Dec-03 £349 £309
Manchester 17-Dec-03 £299 £299
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